BS 6206 has now been superseded and replaced by EN 12600. Marking of safety glass has now changed. Please see BS 6262 Part 4 for requirements.
EN 12600 defines the term ‘breaks safely’ by reference to the outcome of the impact test.
- Toughened glass breaks safely if the glass breaks into sufficiently small fragments after impact, I.e. if the weight of the 10 largest crack-free particles weigh no more than the equivalent of 6500 mm2 of the original test piece.
- Laminated glass, wired glass and filmed glass are deemed to have broken safely if, after the impact, any glass fragments which fall off are not too large (defined in EN 12600) and it is not possible to pass a 76 mm diameter sphere through any opening formed in the glass.
Other glass products used for glazing, e.g. annealed (ordinary) glass, or heat strengthened glass, do not break safely, and can only pass the requirements if they do not break in the test.
The test requires either a standard size or the maximum size of pane available if this is smaller than the standard size. The test specimen size is 865 x 1930 mm.
A safety glass only complies with EN 12600 if it is marked as doing so. The standard requires that all installed panels shall be marked to include the following:
- An identifiable name or trademark or other mark capable of identification through a suitable source
- The type of material
- The number of the British Standard, i.e. BS EN12150 or BS EN 14449&
- The classification relating to impact test behaviour (Class 1, 2 or 3)
These marks shall be permanent and applied before installation in a position to remain visible after installation. All suppliers of final cut sizes of safety glass should mark the glass in accordance with BS 6262 Part 4.