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Security glass types

Blast-resistant glazing

Laminated glass, retention systems and frames designed to hold together under explosion pressure and cut flying-glass injuries.

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What is blast-resistant glazing?

Blast-resistant glazing is laminated glass fitted in a frame and fixing system designed to stay in the opening, or fail safely, when hit by the pressure wave from an explosion. Its purpose is to stop glass becoming high-speed fragments, which cause most injuries in a blast, and it is designed from a threat assessment rather than chosen off the shelf.

In a blast the glass nearly always breaks. What matters is what happens next: ordinary glass sprays into the room, while a properly designed laminated pane cracks, bulges and stays bonded to the frame or is caught by it. Glass is classed against explosion pressure in shock-tube or arena tests, for example ER1 to ER4 under BS EN 13541, and ISO 16933 and 16934 are also used for whole glazing systems.

Because the interlayer can only do its job if the edges are held, the frame, the bite of the glass into it and the fixings back to the structure are all part of the design. For existing buildings a lower-cost route is often anti-shatter film with an edge-retention system or blast-resistant net curtains, sized to the threat. We work to the specification set by your security adviser or engineer and quote tested products and systems to meet it.

How much does blast-resistant glazing cost?

Our guide range is £450 to £1,495 plus VAT (£540 to £1,794 inc VAT) per m², supplied and fitted. The exact figure depends on size, glass makeup, frame condition and access, and your fixed price is confirmed in writing after the free survey. See all glass prices.

Specification and options

  • Laminated glass with thick or stiff interlayers
  • Glazing classed to BS EN 13541 or tested to ISO 16933 and 16934
  • Deep-bite frames and structural silicone or mechanical retention
  • Anti-shatter film with edge-retention systems for existing windows
  • Blast-resistant net curtains as a fragment-catching layer
  • Sealed units with a laminated inner pane
  • Work planned from the threat assessment and engineer's design
  • Manufacturer's test evidence supplied with your quote

Where blast-resistant glazing is used

  • Government, council and civic buildings
  • Offices in city centres and near potential targets
  • Embassies, courts and police premises
  • Transport hubs, venues and stadium frontages
  • Laboratories and industrial sites with process risks

What to decide before you order

New glazing or retrofit

New facades can be designed as a full tested system. Existing buildings often get film with edge retention, internal secondary glazing or curtains instead.

Who sets the level

The design pressure comes from a threat and risk assessment by a security adviser or blast engineer, not from the glass supplier.

Frame and fixings

The frame must hold the glass and the fixings must hold the frame. Upgrading glass alone can move the failure to the frame.

Fragment hazard

Some designs accept that glass will break but keep it in place; others allow controlled failure into a catching system. Both aim to stop flying shards.

Rules across the UK

Safety glazing, building regulations, planning and listed building rules differ between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. These are the points most relevant to blast-resistant glazing; local pages show the version for your nation.

England (similar principles apply in Wales, Scotland and NI)

Glazing in workplaces

Regulation 14 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 requires windows and transparent surfaces in walls, partitions, doors and gates to be of safety material or protected against breakage where health or safety makes that necessary, and to be marked so people notice them. The employer or the person in control of the premises decides what is needed through their risk assessment.

Fire-rated glass is different

Glass in fire doors, fire screens and protected escape routes has to be fire-rated glass tested as part of that door or screen system, under Approved Document B and the fire safety duties of the building's responsible person. Laminated and security glass are not fire-rated unless the product says so. Where a pane needs both fire and security performance, it must be a product tested for both.

Planning permission

Changing the glass in an existing window or shopfront does not usually need planning permission, because the building looks much the same afterwards. A new or altered shopfront, or security features added to the outside of a building, may need planning permission from the council. Bollards or barriers on the pavement need the highway authority's consent, which is normally the council.

How it works

Tell us what needs securing

Use the guide price tool or form, or call. Pane sizes and a few photos help us give a guide figure straight away.

Free survey

A surveyor measures each pane, checks the existing glass, frame and beads, and talks through the rating that suits the risk.

Fixed price in writing

You get a written quote listing each pane, the glass type and class, the price and the lead time. Nothing is ordered until you accept.

Made to measure and fitted

Glass is made to order and fitted by glaziers working under our contract with you, then cleaned, checked and explained.

Blast-resistant glazing: questions

How much does blast-resistant glazing cost?

Blast-resistant glass usually costs from £450 to £1,495 plus VAT (£540 to £1,794 inc VAT) per square metre supplied and fitted, depending on the design pressure, makeup and framing. Film and edge-retention retrofits can cost less; full tested facades cost more.

What does ER1 to ER4 mean?

They are explosion-pressure classes in BS EN 13541. Glass samples are tested in a shock tube, with higher classes meaning higher pressures. The class applies to the glass, so the frame must be designed to match.

Can existing windows be made blast-resistant?

They can often be improved. Anti-shatter film with an edge-retention system, laminated replacement glass in strengthened frames or internal secondary glazing can cut the flying-glass hazard, depending on the threat.

Who decides what level of protection we need?

Your security adviser, insurer or a blast engineer, based on a threat and risk assessment. Government guidance from the National Protective Security Authority covers the approach.

Is blast film enough on its own?

Film helps hold glass together but works much better when the film is anchored to the frame so the whole pane cannot fly in. Plain film without retention offers less.

Does blast glazing affect fire doors and fire screens?

Glass in fire-rated doors and screens must stay fire-rated glass tested in that system. Blast measures there need fire-rated products or a specialist design, never a swap to plain laminated glass.

Find blast-resistant glazing near you

Choose your county or region for local information and the rules that apply where you are.

England

Wales

Scotland

Northern Ireland

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Tell us about the glass you want to upgrade or replace. The survey is free for new installations and your fixed price comes in writing.

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