TECHNICAL GUIDANCE PAPER

FGMA TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

REVISION OF BS 6180, THE

CODE OF PRACTICE FOR BARRIERS
 REVISION OF BS 6180, THE CODE OF PRACTICE FOR BARRIERS
BS 6180, the British Standard code of practice in and about buildings, is one of the most commonly cited
references in glass specifications. Last updated in 2011, BS 6180 is need of a significant revision, which has been
acknowledged by BSI. In particular, several of the sections on glass are open to interpretation. More worryingly,
some of its recommendations could be considered as being far from best practice. In this paper, the Flat Glass
Manufacturers' Association (FGMA) highlights the areas that need to be addressed in any revision and proposes
suggestions to improve the standard.

Introduction

BS 6180, referenced by Building Regulations through the UK, may be considered to be the most commonly
applied Code of Practice for the design of glazing acting as guarding, and for glass within balustrade applications.
BS 6180 may also be considered to contain several limitations, specifically with regards the guidance provided for
containment, ambiguity around the application location of loads and the design methods to be applied.
With the imminent publication of both prEN 16612 and prEN 16613 [1, 2] and more consideration to risk given
within the latest revision of BS 6262-4 [3]; it is essential that BS 6180 is updated to accommodate the application
of these design methods and provide greater clarity on how glazing risks can be assessed.

The following issues with the standard are noted, and will be discussed;
1. Glazing installed into a wall as a window is only considered as full-height glazing, and so may be considered
to be inadequately defined.
2. Containment for full-height glazing is poorly considered.
3. Modern design approaches for glass design are not considered, including load combinations.
4. Application areas for loads are poorly defined, and ambiguous.
5. Edge cover is above what may be expected for most framing systems.

Due to the complexity of glass design, it may be considered logical to restrict any reference to, or guidance on, this
aspect of barrier design to a single section within BS 6180. This would allow this section to be updated more
readily should associated regulations and/or guidance change in the future, and would also assist in removing
some of the ambiguity where reference is made to design aspects that don’t logically apply to glass as a material.
1 Barrier Types
BS 6180, Clause 8.1.2, provides definitions for 3 types of barriers using glass;
• Full-height glazed barrier,
• Barrier with a glass infill panel
• Free-standing glass protective barrier
Glass within a framing system may also be considered as part of a “full height barrier”, where glass is “…part or
whole of a wall element…”. Glass within a framing system would be considered as such.
However, the definition applied to a “barrier with a glass infill”, where “…the main of the barrier (i.e. top rail and
baluster) should be designed to withstand the loads applied to the top rail and the glass should be used to form
the infill panels.” Is on occasion considered by some to apply to glass within a framing system. This is based on
the reasoning that the framing system mullion may perform as a baluster, and a transom as a top rail.
For clarity, the FGMA would suggest “Barrier with a glass infill panel” be redefined as “Balustrade with a glass
infill panel”, which would then limit any consideration of glazing to the “Full-height barrier” application.
Full-height barriers would currently be considered to include glazing within a wall, however, design
requirements may differ, specifically with residual containment requirements. Based on this, and the above, the
addition of another barrier type; “Glazing within a wall” may assist the design process.
The addition of diagrams to illustrate barrier types may also assist in defining them. DIN 18008-4 provides some
useful examples.

Figure 1 1 - DIN 18008-4 [4], Figure 1, Barrier by Category

2 Load Application and Design
There are several issues noted with the definitions of load applications areas, how glazing should be
treated in specific circumstances when acting as full height glazing, and load combinations.

2.1 Minimum Barrier Heights 2.4 Line Load Application

Table 1 within BS 6180 provides minimum barrier Section 6.3.1. states that the “Horizontal uniformly
heights, but fails to make specific reference to distributed line load should be applied at design
glazing acting as guarding within a wall, i.e. height as presented in Table 1 or at design level (1100
“full-height glazing”, as with Building Regulations mm) for barriers higher than the design height.”,
Approved Document K [5], Diagram 3.1. where the design height may be less than 1100 mm
from finished floor level.
In the case of both “Single-family dwelling” and “All
other uses” barrier heights for full-height glazing However, Figure 1 states that “In design, the
should be aligned more clearly with those within horizontal uniformly distributed line load acts at a
Building Regulations; height of 1.1 m above datum level, irrespective of the
actual height of the element.”

FGMA would advise that this is clarified to avoid

ambiguity.
2.2 Point Load Application Position

Within Section 6.3.1, the statement “Point load

should be applied at the most onerous point
anywhere on the barrier structure” Is in
contradiction with the statement “…point load
applied to part of the infill”, which would be
expected to be any area at or beneath the design
height. This latter text is also within Table 2.

Whilst it may be considered to be the case that the

“barrier structure” is in reference to any element
that is not the infill, this section could be clarified to
ensure that the point load application to glass infill
panels is limited to the region below the line load
height, i.e. the infill.

2.3 Point Load Application Area

Application areas of both 50 mm x 50 mm and 100

mm x 100 mm have been provided in specification
requirements, as no industry standard has yet to be
adopted. It may be advised that the most onerous
load application area of 50 mm x 50 mm be
applied, unless other requirements are deemed
applicable by the designer. This may be outside the
scope of this standard, and for inclusion in an
additional part of the BS 6262 series.
2.5 Load Combinations 2.7 Design Standards

Section 6.1 states that “Barriers should be designed to It may be expected that BS 6180 would provide
resist the most unfavourable likely imposed loads and references to applicable “appropriate” British
wind loads separately (see 6.3) without unacceptable Standards, including adopted EN documents, for
deflections or distortions (see 6.4).” various materials in use. In the case of glass, this will
likely be “EN 16612”.
With the publication of prEN 16612, as well as existing
CWCT TU14 [6] guidance, consideration to BS 6180 will need to be updated to reflect this
combinations imposed loads and wind loads needs should prEN 16612 be published before the BS 6180
to be permitted. revision. In the event that it’s not published,
reference should be made to current relevant
Nationally adopted design standards.

2.6 Working and Characteristic Loads

With the introduction of prEN 16612 for glass, it may

2.8 Load Definitions
be expected that a limit state design methodology
may need to be applied to all glazing assessments, Whilst reference is made to BS EN 1991-1-4 [7] for
and as such, the use of loads within BS 6180 as applied wind loads, no reference is made to BS EN
“working loads” would then lack validity. 1991-1-1, the UK National Annex and PD 6688-1-1 [8,
9, 10] for occupancy loads. These references could
potentially replace Table 2 should this also be
suitable for all other materials. This would need
wider discussion with representatives for other
materials.
 3 Deflection Limits
Deflection limits are defined by barrier type, but could be clearer within the standard.

3.1 Definition of “L”

Section 6.4.1 states that “Where the infill of a barrier is subjected to imposed loads given in Table 2, or if
appropriate, other calculated design loads, the displacement of any point of the barrier should not exceed L/65
or 25 mm, whichever is the smaller where L is the given in 8.3, 8.4 or defined in 8.5. A suitable fracture load,
factored by a minimum partial safety factor of 4.0 (as recommended in BS 4592-0) should be obtained from the
material manufacturer when considering glass barrier design.”

Where “L” is being referenced, this needs to be better defined, as Section 8.3, 8.4 and 8.5 fail to defined which
dimension of the glazing should be considered. Guidance could be provided for each barrier type in a tabulated
form.

3.2 Deflection Under Combined Loads

If load combinations are considered, then the deflection limits, in some cases, may be considered too onerous.
With consideration to wind and occupancy load combinations, it may be considered that deflection limits could
be based on the loads applied. For example, the lesser of L/65 or 25 mm where occupancy loads are considered
alone, and where in combination with climatic loads, the lesser of L/65 or 50 mm.
Tables of allowable deflection criteria for glass could be included, and should be based on deflection of the glass
only, not including movement of fixings, which needs to be considered separately.

4 Stress Limits
Section 6.4.1 states that “A suitable fracture load, factored by a minimum partial safety factor of 4.0 (as recommended
in BS 4592-0) should be obtained from the material manufacturer when considering glass barrier design”. BS 4592-0
[11] is relevant to stair treads and handrails, not specifically to glass, and so the recommendation for the application of
a partial safety factor of 4.0 for glass, without consideration to a design approach, makes little sense and should be
removed.

It may be suggested that with the introduction of prEN 16612, this may be referenced as the design approach to be
adopted, inclusive of partial safety factors.
5 Fixing of Glass
Consideration needs to be given for full-height, balustrade and free-standing types.

5.1 Full-Height Glazing

Section 8.2.3 defines edge cover as at least 15 mm. CWCT TN99 [12] discusses edge cover, and based on this the
reduction of the limit from the current 15 mm to 12 mm, may be considered as a suitable value for fully edge
supported insulating glass units. For single glazing, the current edge cover limit of 15 mm, unless a lesser value can
be proven by calculation, may be advised.

5.2 Balustrade Infill Panels

The fixing details provided in Annex B should be removed. A statement should be present to the effect that fixings
should be evidenced to perform through testing.

5.3 Free-Standing Barriers

Section 8.5.2. relates to handrail attachment and a requirement for the handrail to be attached to the building
structure in order to be considered independent of the glass for support may be considered.

6 Containment
Containment is discussed in section 8.6.

6.1 Full-Height Glazing

For full height glazing, consideration should be given to defining requirements based on perceived risk. As per
previous comments, glazing within a wall and full-height barriers could be defined separately.
At present, the standard will allow for two thermally toughened panes within a full height glazing unit, which may
be considered to offer no residual containment in the event of fracture. It may be considered that this is only
suitable for small first floor windows, but not full-height glazing at several floors up.
Risk assessments should consider the potential for both panes to fail, as well as the strength of a single pane to act
as a barrier in the event of the failure of another. An impact classification for glass types within an insulating glass
unit comprising only thermally toughened monolithic glass would be advised, as with balustrade infills.
A glass type with a suitable declared EN 12600 [13] performance, annealed or heat-strengthened laminated glass
would be considered to offer the greatest level of residual containment, and requirements for laminated glasses in
specific situations, such as overcrowding occupancies, may be advised.
For single pane applications, such as internal barriers, it would be advised that this be limited to laminated glass
types only when acting as guarding.

6.2 Balustrade Infill Panels & Free-Standing Barriers

The required glass types for both balustrade infill panels and free-standing barriers should be aligned.

For these applications, the limitations imposed for free-standing barriers where a handrail is not present should
also apply to balustrade infill panels where no handrail is used. Effectively, this would require a laminated
configuration in the absence of a suitable handrail.

7 Annex B
Annex B provides indicative drawings of balustrade
designs, and these may be considered outdated. It should
be considered if this Annex is removed in its entirety.
8 References

[1] European Committee for Standardization, prEN 16612:2017 - Glass in Building - Determination of the load
resistance of glass panes by calculation and testing, CEN, 2017.
[2] European Committee for Standardization, prEN 16613:2017 - Glass in Building - Laminated glass and
laminated safety glass - Determination of interlayer mechanical properties, CEN, 2017.
[3] British Standards Institute, BS 6262-4:2018 - Glazing for buildings - Code of practice for safety related to
human impact, BSI, 2018.
[4] Deutsches Institut für Normung, DIN 18008-4:2013-07 - Glas im Bauwesen – Bemessungs- und
Konstruktionsregeln – Teil 4: Zusatzanforderungen an absturzsichernde Verglasungen, Beuth, 2013.
[5] HM Government, The Building Regulations 2010 - Approved Document K - Protection from falling, collision
and impact, 2013.
[6] CWCT, Technical Update 14 - Load Combinations, CWCT, 2009.
[7] European Committee for Standardization, EN 1991-1-4:2005+A1:2010 - Eurocode 1. Actions on structures.
General actions. Wind actions, CEN, 2005/2010.
[8] European Committee for Standardization, EN 1991-1-1:2002 - Eurocode 1. Actions on structures. General
actions. Densities, self-weight, imposed loads for buildings, CEN, 2002.
[9] European Committee for Standardization, NA to BS EN 1991-1-1:2002 - UK National Annex to Eurocode 1.
Actions on structures. General actions. Densities, self-weight, imposed loads for buildings, CEN, 2002.
[10] British Standards Institute, PD 6688-1-1:2011 - Recommendations for the design of structures to BS EN
1991-1-1, 2011: BSI.
[11] British Standards Institute, BS 4592-0:2006 - Flooring, stair treads and handrails for industrial use.
Common design requirements and recommendations for installation, BSI, 2006.
[12] CWCT, Technical Note 99 - Design of Glazed Barriers, CWCT, 2018.
[13] European Committee for Standardization, EN 12600:2002 - Glass in building - Pendulum test - Impact test
method and classification for flat glass, CEN, 2002.

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