GLASS & SEALEDUNITS
Laminated Glass Ban Webinar Engages GGF Members
» ON THURSDAY 18TH FEBRUARY , the Glass and Glazing Federation ( GGF ) Document B Working Party held a Membersonly Webinar on the GGF ’ s response to the Government ban of the use of Laminated Safety Glasses : Regulation 7 / Statutory Instrument 1230 . The ban applies to building attachments in buildings over 18m high in England and Wales and over 11m high in Scotland .
Since this ban was introduced in 2018 , the GGF has been working on behalf of Members to respond to Government Consultations surrounding this issue and working towards facilitating a lifting of the ban via exemptions in , Regulation 7 for the use of Laminated Safety Glass in Balconies and Balustrades .
In late 2019 , the GGF set up the Document B Working Party and with the help of the GGF Members the GGF has undertaken large scale testing on Laminated Safety Glass .
The resultant GGF Test Report was submitted to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government ( MHCLG ) for consideration in Jan 2021 and is now being submitted to the devolved Governments of Scotland , Wales & Northern Ireland .
The Webinar , titled “ Laminated Glass used in External Facades including Balcony Applications – GGF Response to Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government ( MHCLG ) Ban on Use of Laminated Safety Glasses : Regulation 7 / SI1230 ”, proved extremely popular , with 75 GGF Members logging in , including most of the major companies in the sector , from glass manufacturers and processors through to components companies and installers .
Ben Wallace , GGF Senior Technical Officer , opened with a presentation on the issue and reported on the GGF ’ s work in producing a comprehensive response to the Government Consultation and an in-depth report on the testing of Laminated Safety Glass . The GGF continues to engage with MHCLG to present the case for Laminated Safety Glass to be exempt from the list of banned products .
Following the presentation , the GGF Approved Document B Working Party then took questions from the audience . The Working Party included : John Agnew , GGF Managing Director Ben Wallace , GGF Senior Technical Officer Tony Smith , GGF President Chris Davis , HB Fuller : Kommerling Steve Bond , Pilkington UK John Beddoes , Independent Glass Company
On the Webinar , Tony Smith , GGF President commented , “ Whilst we are restricting circulation of the report until further work on the testing of standard safety glass laminates on behalf of MHCLG is complete , we wanted to ensure that members got some significant insight into the testing process carried out with NSG Pilkington and subsequent outputs .
“ I would also like to thank H . B . Fuller / Kommerling , TuffX Processing Ltd . Glassline Gmbh and Independent Glass Company for their support in this project which I believe contributes significantly to the understanding of the behaviour of Standard Laminated Safety
Glass in a Fire scenario . The team believes that the case for lifting the ban imposed as a result of changes to Regulation 7 SI1230 is strengthened by this GGF led activity .
“ I feel that it ’ s also significant that GGF continues to work with Consortium lead – OFR ( Fire Safety Consultants ) and MHCLG to bring a conclusion to this issue on behalf of the Glass Industry .”
John Agnew added , “ The GGF has put a lot of time , planning and thought into this very important issue that affects many of our Members . We will continue our engagement with Government and update Members as and when we have more information on this matter . My thanks to all who attended and especially those Members in the Working Party who have been an enormous help throughout the consultation , the testing and reporting findings to Government . Fire safety in buildings is of paramount importance to the GGF , but a fair and reasonable approach should be adopted , not just for the benefit of the glass and glazing industry , but also for the wider construction sector and end users .”
Ben Wallace summarised , “ Undertaking such a large scale project remotely in such difficult times , has been extremely challenging . It is crucial that we keep up the hard work and keep working with Government to get the right outcome for our Members , the industry and consumers . We will of course keep working on this issue and continue to communicate any developments to our Members .”
For more information on the GGF ’ s campaign on the Laminated Glass Ban for External Facades including Balcony Applications , please contact Ben Wallace , bwallace @ ggf . org . uk
www . ggf . org . uk
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