Standards & norms
Naturally enough, the rapid development of glass as a building material means that the rules governing its use are becoming more stringent and comprehensive. European standards now cover most aspects of the application and testing of various types of glass in the construction industry. But beyond this, a host of national and country-specific regulations and guidelines alsoexist which should be consulted, depending on the application. Regardless of the testing and usage regulations, purely glass-specific parameters must also be observed, and these can have a major influence on the function and longevity of glass products, as has been illustrated in previous chapters.
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1
CE qualification
CE is the abbreviation for Conformité Européenne (European Conformity). Products are identified with CE when they correspond with the coordinated European product standards. -
2
Cleaning of glass
As part of the facade, glass is subject to natural and building-related soiling. Normal dirt, professionally cleaned at reasonable intervals, presents no problem to glass. -
3
European standards
The most important norms for the assessment and the use of glass in connection with buildings -
4
Glass edges
The quality of glass edges of single panes that are built into a glass system has an enormous influence on the longevity of the product. Glass edges without further processing may show micro-cracks, which have negative effects and can lead, in extreme cases, to breakages. -
5
Glass thickness dimensioning
The installed glass is subject to different loads and should therefore be dimensioned according to the conditions. In addition to positive/negative wind and snow loads, its own weight and when using insulating glass, the climatic loads in the cavity should also be considered. -
6
Guidelines for assessing the visual quality of glass in buildings
The appearance of coated glass and defect detection is described in the EN 1096-1 standard. The defects affecting appearance are specific to the glass substrate (e.g. float glass acc. to EN 572-2) or specific to the coating. If a defect specific to the glass substrate is more visible because of the coating, it will be treated as a coating defect. -
7
Material compatibility
As a building material, glass comes into direct or indirect contact with a number of other materials such as PVB films, insulating glass edge seal, setting blocks, press sealing of pressure glazing or sealing mass and elements at joint gaps and glass corners. -
8
Tolerances for standardised requirements
The basic principles for tolerances are specified in the applicable standards. However, these standards are not always sufficient in actual practice. This chapter therefore describes those applications that are listed in the standards where they are not clearly defined or are not specified at all. -
9
Transportation and storage
Glass should generally be transported standing on its edge. This edge generally stands parallel on two cushioned supports.