Safety Glass Code &Compliance Checker

The federal rule came first. CPSC 16 CFR 1201 was written in 1977 after years of injury data from people walking through sliding doors and sidelights, and it sets the impact test that architectural glazing has to survive: a 100 pound bag swung from a specified drop height. Category I covers smaller panes, Category II covers anything over 9 square feet and anything in a door.

The building codes then say where that federally-tested glass has to be used. IRC R308.4 lists the hazardous locations for houses and IBC 2406.4 does the same for everything else. The lists are nearly identical, which is why the answer above rarely changes with building type.

The three that catch people out

• Sidelights. Anything within a 24-inch arc of a door edge with its bottom under 60 inches. Homeowners replacing a broken sidelight with annealed glass is one of the most common violations there is.
• Stair windows. Glazing next to stairs and landings under 60 inches above the walking surface, plus anything within 60 inches horizontally of the bottom tread.
• Guard panels. Structural glass balustrades must be laminated, not merely tempered. A single tempered lite with nothing above it is the classic failed inspection on a deck railing.