Tempered glass is glass that has been heat strengthened to the point that if broken it will shatter into hundreds of blunt pieces that will not seriously injure a person or animal.
Tempered glass requirements in doors.
Any windows in a door must have tempered glass no matter the height unless it is too small for a 3 inch ball to pass through the window.
There are also four exception allowed as noted below in the citation from the residential edition of the florida building code fbc and the international residential code irc.
Anywhere within 5 of a hot tub swimming pool spa sauna shower or bathtub.
The glass is within 36 inches of where people walk.
According to the 2012 international residential code it is required at these hazardous locations.
If tempered glass is so tough why do i have to worry about the window getting broken.
Tempered glass must be used for all glass adjacent to stairs ramps and landings if the glass is located within 36 inches of a walking surface.
All doors manufactured since 1974 have tempered glass.
Anything within 2 of a door on the hinge side.
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Law requires that professionals use tempered glass when building shower doors.
The international code council icc is a non profit organization dedicated to developing model codes and standards used in the design build and compliance process.
See our blog post what are the code requirements for safety tempered glass for doors.
In the event that your shower door breaks tempered glass will cause the glass to break into dull cubes while regular glass will break into jagged shards.
For more on this.
Tempered glass is made to reduce the chances of injury or death.
According to the international building code which has been adopted by the state.
The international codes i codes are the widely accepted comprehensive set of model codes used in the us and abroad to help ensure the engineering of safe sustainable affordable and resilient structures.
Nearby doors change the rules about tempered glass because the swing of a door or the motions of a person going through it can create a situation where a regular window might break.
Don t worry our glass experts will make sure your windows are up to code.
All doors are considered a hazardous location and must have safety tempered glass with just a couple of exceptions for small glass panels in a door and decorative glass.
Any door made of glass sliding french or shower doors are all always made of tempered glass.
Also glass on a perpendicular wall to a door and opposite the swing.