The standards that actually sit under a pane of glass

This is the long page. If you only need a room, use a hub. If you need the paper trail, stay here. Every factual claim below is meant to be checkable on a Standards Australia or ABCB URL. Where the standard itself is paywalled, we cite the public description and the NCC’s own words — we do not invent clause numbers from a brochure.

This site is not a building surveyor. State variations exist. Read the adopted NCC edition that applies to the job.

1. What AS 1288 is — and is not

AS 1288:2021 is titled Glass in buildings — Selection and installation. The Standards Australia store says it sets out procedures for the selection and installation of glass in buildings, subject to wind loading, human impact, and special applications, and that glass strength is specified based on tensile stresses on the surface of the glass. It was published on 25 June 2021.

The Standards Australia spotlight adds, in public language:

• It helps architects, builders, glaziers and building surveyors make decisions about glass strength, installation methods and special applications to support safety, durability and NCC compliance.
• It covers glass strength, installation procedures, and special applications including overhead glazing, barriers, and assemblies.
• It does not cover glazing in lift cars and wells, furniture glass, and certain other applications.
• Key considerations include wind loads, human impact safety, framing and fixing methods, and thermal stress.

That is the whole public box we will stand in. We will not pretend to republish the tables inside the paid document.

If a quote only says “AS 1288” with no assembly type, no actions and no thickness, it is a slogan.

2. What the AS/NZS 1170 series is

The NCC 2025 referenced documents list, among others:

• AS/NZS 1170 Part 0:2002 — Structural design actions — General principles (with listed amendments).
• AS/NZS 1170 Part 1:2002 — Permanent, imposed and other actions.
• AS/NZS 1170 Part 2:2021 — Wind actions (with listed amendments).
• AS 1170 Part 4:2024 — Earthquake actions in Australia.

The same table lists AS 1288:2021 against Volume One B1D4, Spec 11, Spec 12, Volume Two H1D8, and Housing Provisions 8.3.1.

So “AS 1170” in a glass meeting usually means one of two things: imposed actions on a barrier (Part 1) or wind actions (Part 2), sometimes via the simpler housing path in AS 4055 that Housing Provisions 8.3 discusses for perimeter glass. We will not assign your site a wind region. That is a design input, not a blog guess.

Housing Provisions 8.3.1 says glass used in barriers, except a window serving as a barrier, must withstand loading forces in accordance with AS 1170.1. Housing Provisions 11.3.4 repeats that a barrier, except a window serving as a barrier, must be designed to take loading forces in accordance with AS/NZS 1170.1.

3. The NCC split: AS 2047 versus AS 1288

Volume One B1D4 is the sentence surveyors already know and homeowners almost never see.

AS 2047 — glazed assemblies in an external wall that are:

• windows (except those sent to AS 1288)
• sliding and swinging glazed doors with a frame, including french and bi-fold doors with a frame
• adjustable louvres
• shopfronts
• window walls with one piece framing

AS 1288 — all glazed assemblies not covered by that list, and specifically:

• all glazed assemblies not in an external wall
• revolving doors
• fixed louvres
• skylights, roof lights and windows in other than the vertical plane
• sliding and swinging doors without a frame
• windows constructed on site and architectural one-off windows not design tested to AS 2047
• second-hand, re-used and recycled windows
• heritage windows
• glazing used in balustrades and sloping overhead glazing

B1’s introduction is worth quoting in spirit: the Part is there to safeguard people from injury caused by structural failure and from injury that may be caused by failure of, or impact with, glazing. Functional statement B1F2 says glazing is to be installed to avoid undue risk of injury, including because people did not see it.

The long worked examples live on windows and doors and AS 2047 versus AS 1288.

4. Human impact in houses — Part 8.4

Housing Provisions Part 8.4 applies, subject to H1D8, to areas with a high potential for human impact: everyday places where a person could fall into or against the glazed panel. It then points to specific subclauses:

• 8.4.2 doors — Grade A safety glazing to Table 8.4.2, with the 10 mm rule for unframed doors other than shower or bath enclosures.
• 8.4.3 side panels — framed glass within 300 mm of a doorway is generally Grade A to Table 8.4.2, with height and louvre exceptions.
• 8.4.4 full-height panels — a pane that can be mistaken for an opening needs Grade A to Table 8.4.2 unless a listed “not an opening” test is met (width, sill height, motifs, a 40 mm chair rail at 700 mm, or a floor-level change greater than 1000 mm).
• 8.4.5 low perimeter glass — framed glazing with a lowest sight line less than 500 mm from the floor is Grade A to Table 8.4.2, or 5 mm monolithic annealed up to 1.2 m².
• 8.4.6 kitchens, bathrooms, ensuites, spa rooms — including shower doors and screens. Framed panels: Grade A to Table 8.4.2. Exposed-edge panels: toughened to Table 8.4.6, minimum 6 mm. Annealed mirrors and splash-backs only on the stated bench/adhesion paths. Gas splashbacks: explanatory pointer to AS/NZS 5601.
• 8.4.7 visibility — an opaque band not less than 20 mm high, upper edge not less than 700 mm and lower edge not more than 1.2 m, if the pane is not otherwise made apparent, unless a listed exception applies.
• 8.4.8 identification — permanent etching or a non-reusable label stating the test standard, manufacturer or supplier, grade, nominal thickness and type.

Table 8.4.2 is public on the ABCB page. It pairs glass types with minimum nominal thicknesses and maximum areas. We are not going to turn it into a marketing “cheat sheet” that drops the notes. Read the table, including the annealed and leadlight limits.

8.3.1 also says safety glass must be legibly marked in accordance with 8.4.7 and made visible in accordance with 8.4.8 — the Housing Provisions numbering on that line is the Code’s own cross-reference. In practice, ask for both the mark and the visibility treatment.

5. Barriers in houses — Part 11.3

Part 11.3 is the fall-prevention part. The numbers that matter on a house deck:

• A continuous barrier is required where a fall of 1 m or more is possible from listed trafficable surfaces (11.3.3).
• Barrier height not less than 1 m above balcony and landing floors; not less than 865 mm above stair nosings (11.3.4).
• Openings must not permit a 125 mm sphere (11.3.4).
• Face-fixed gap not more than 40 mm (11.3.4).
• Where the fall is more than 4 m, horizontal elements between 150 mm and 760 mm must not facilitate climbing (11.3.4).
• Glass barriers and windows serving as barriers must comply with H1D8 and Part 11.3 (11.3.4).
• Barriers other than windows serving as barriers take AS/NZS 1170.1 loads (11.3.4).

Pool barriers are pointed to H7D2. Do not mix that file with a deck quote.

The explanatory text under 11.3.1 is the cleanest public explanation of windows-as-barriers: a window that forms part of a barrier follows Section 8 for the glazing assembly and is not required to comply with AS/NZS 1170.1, because Section 8 already considers wind and human impact. The window still has to meet 11.3 for height, openings and climbability.

6. A working order of documents

When you brief a practitioner, ask for this pile — not a vibe:

1. Building class and the adopted NCC edition, including state variations.
2. Assembly type mapped to B1D4 (2047 or 1288).
3. Human-impact clause in Part 8.4, if people can hit the glass.
4. Barrier clause in Part 11.3, if people can fall.
5. Actions: 1170.1, 1170.2 and/or AS 4055 wind class.
6. Glass type, nominal thickness, process, interlayer.
7. The 8.4.8 mark on the pane.
8. Any AS/NZS 5601 issue near a gas appliance.

If a document is missing, the specification is missing. Costs will rise when someone has to produce that pile after the pane is already made. That is a factor, not a price.

7. What this page will never do

It will not give you a thickness for “a normal balcony in Sydney”. It will not rank toughened against laminated as “safer” in the abstract. Laminated and toughened fail differently; the Code and AS 1288 care about the application. It will not quote a percentage of Australian homes. It will not name a preferred certifier.

If you need the room-level walk-through, use splashbacks, shower screens, balustrades, mirrors or windows. If you found a clause we flattened, send the ABCB URL.

The footer disclaimer is doing real work on this page: general information, not professional advice. The Code is the Code. This is a map.