Flying glass - new glass testing law to come in

Following on from last month’s news about the letter from Brisbane Lord Mayor Campbell Newman concerning the dangers of glass falling from tall buildings, an article in the Courier Mail recently “Tough New Glass Law” covered the announcement that Queensland is set to introduce a mandatory test of glass installed on high rise buildings.

Queensland Government Infrastructure and Planning Minister Stirling Hinchcliffe announced details of the new law, which would see every piece of glass used above 5 metres needing to pass a strict shatter test. The test involves heating the glass to a temperature of 290C in an oven for two hours.

“It is pretty arduous testing and if glass is going to fail, it fails that test,” said Mr Hinchcliffe.

Testing will be phased in from May 1 this year but will only apply to new buildings, not existing buildings.

The proposed new law follows a number of incidents in the Brisbane CBD that the Lord Mayor referred to in his recent letter. Waterfront Place on Eagle Street put a canopy in place after a series of glass failures in 2008. One report indicated that more than 200 windows on the building had shattered in the past 20 years.

The testing technology, called ‘heat soaking’, has been a European standard for at least four years, and will cost new developers $30-$60 a metre.

Image from www.freefoto.com

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