As of March 2011 the British Standard relating to the frameless balustrasde industry has been updated, BS 6180:2011 has now superseded BS 6180:1999.
This has mainly been carried out to align the British Standard with harmonisation into a European CE standard expecting to come into force in 2013.
Both our Posiglaze and Origin frameless systems comply with this new standard.
Important note on handrails
In recent years the UK has seen an increase in the use of glass balustrades without the installation of handrails. The new BS 6180:2011 clarifies this issue, we have detailed this below, if you need any clarification please get in touch or talk to your local building control.
If using toughened glass a handrail must also be used, in addition it must be adequately
secured to act as a secondary barrier should the glass fail i.e. the handrail should remain in-situ if a panel breaks.
If toughened laminate glass is used then it is permissible to have no handrail as long as the following aspects are put into place;
- The glass to be used must meet the design load, this will be a; line load, uniformly
distributed load & a point load test (detailed within BS 6180:2011). Manufacturers of glass, have to provide the technical requirements on required glass thickness on meeting the required loadings.
- Should a panel break and not meet the required criteria then guarding must be fitted immediately.
- The glass selected must resist the appropriate design load and provide containment.
What is laminated glass?
Toughened laminate glass consists of two sheets of toughened safety glass bonded together with a strong plastic interlayer.
This gives enhanced safety and security along with the retention of glass fragments in the event of glass breakage. Due to this interlayer the glass does have a slightly lower light transmission than ordinary glass of the same thickness.
The benefit of laminate glass is its strength and performance under impact. It is able to cope with large loads and in the unlikely event of any breakage the fragments will remain in situ by the interlayer and other panel of glass. This is beneficial as it means the panel can remain in place until a suitable replacement time is available.