Glass as guards
I wanted to reach out to you with a question that we get from time to time, but our tech team struggles with an appropriate response.
I recall this came up last year in one of the Fen Can Tech Talks, and there was a response from one of the members, but I can’t track it anywhere.
When an architect tries to specs window glass to act as guards, what is the appropriate response?
I’m sure we’re not the only ones to ask about this. If Terry Adamson should really be the one responding, can you forward this to him?
22 Views
AJ: Jerome, this requirement was discussed at Windoor 2020 in the second of two topics in a presentation titled “NBC 2015 and Window Glass Design”. A PDF of the slide deck can be provided by request. Because the glass design would vary with window size and configuration, the glass design is commonly done by engineers registered to practise in the province/territory where the building is located.
TA: Architects specifying guard glazing should be doing so per the requirements in NBC 9.8.8.1 or provincial equivalent.
For years in BC Part 9 homes there was very little attention to glass as guards outside of stairwells.
Over the past 5 years or so we saw a significant uptick in building officials looking for
appropriate glazing in guard areas in single family homes. Often we were going backwards to confirm the glazing met the requirements with our engineer, obviously a problem with site visits and changing glass deemed not compliant.
For glazing in locations that require guard load compliance (BCBC 9.8.8.1 for example), many use a software tool called MEPLA https://www.mepla.net/en/ it is used internally at quote/order stage to design appropriate glazing. We were able work with our engineers so when we were called on it, they would review our MEPLA results and provide sign off. This allowed us to not always engage the third-party engineer until questioned on glazing compliance.