SCREENS | CASE STUDY
WINDOW SAFETY WHILE
ENJOYING THE BREEZE
E
ach year in Australia, over 50 children fall from windows or
balconies and are injured or worse. Most of these falls occur
in the child’s own home, especially during the warmer months
when their windows are left open for the breeze. The largest group
at risk are one to five year olds.
The National Construction Code (NCC), comprising the Building
Code of Australia (BCA), includes requirements to protect certain
openable windows to reduce the risk of falling from heights. From
1 May, 2013, the BCA required protection for openable windows
in bedrooms of new residential buildings where the floor below
the window is more than two metres above the surface beneath.
Windows must be fitted with either a device to restrict the window
opening or a suitable screen, so a 125 mm diameter sphere cannot
pass through. The device or screen must also be able to withstand an
outward horizontal force of 250 N.
While building their dream home in Mango Hill, Queensland, the
owners realised that with ten windows on their second storey level,
the need for a fall prevention s