Specifying the correct safety glass solution for external balustrade applications can be a difficult task, particularly when the goalposts keep moving. Following the ban on certain laminated glass systems, the industry has begun to look for other options, leading to the re-emergence of monolithic (ie single pane) toughened glass. While ideal in low-rise applications, it is not without its challenges in high-rise applications. After the tragic events of the Grenfell disaster in 2017, there have been numerous regulatory amendments (such as to Approved Document B) and many changes generally across the entire fire safety industry - all to improve safety measures and prevent such tragedies from happening again. One of these alterations was to ban the use of plastic foil laminated glass (with a PVB or EVA plastic foil interlayer) in high-rise buildings over 18 metres tall (since revised to 11 metres). Such laminated glass previously rose to prominence as a safer substitute to single pane monolithic glass - a product which already had a range of safety concerns surrounding its use in high-rise buildings.
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