Australian Standards

Standards and regulations that govern the installation of balustrades are controlled by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB). ABCB publishes and maintains the National Construction Code of Australia (NCC) NCC contains the technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings and structures throughout Australia.

The Australian Standards that apply to balustrades are:

• AS1288 – Glass In Buildings – Selection and installation
• AS1170 - Structural design actions
• AS2208 – Safety glazing materials In buildings

EN14179 – the European standard for heat-soaked glass, Australia has no specific standard and has adopted the EU standard.

The Australian standards for balustrades are referenced in the volumes of the NCC, in many cases the standards do not give specific criteria for the design and installation of the proposed glass barrier as the proposed barrier does not meet the Deemed-to-Satisfy Solutions.

Where no specific criteria for the design of the balustrade can be determined as a Deemed-to-Satisfy Solution then there is provision within the NCC to

What is Performance Based Engineering?

The National Construction Code has provisions for Performance Based Solutions, if the proposed construction type does not meet the deemed to satisfy provisions of the NCC you must use an engineer to approve the solution.

In simple terms if you can't find a table in the Australian standards that provides you with specific details on what you want to build then you must use a registered engineer to design and approve the solution.

Engineered, Tested & Certified

At Exakt Glass we’ve been working with structural engineers and test labs for over 15 years to ensure we meet the requirements of the building codes, by testing and engineering our product range to ensure we provide safe and compliant glass balustrades.

With our external registered engineers and NATA accredited testing labs we have a full suite of glass balustrade products that are fully engineered, tested and certified to all the requirements of the relevant Australian Standards and construction codes.

Engineering Manual

We’ve taken further steps with our consultant engineers to develop an engineering manual that specifies every element of the balustrade construction from;

hoarding effects, wind loads, glass panel sizes, fixing location, fixing methods, fixing selection, fixing embedment depths, fixing edge distances so there is nothing left to chance.

Site Specific Assessment & Certification

With changes to the NCC requirements for building surveyors to ensure glass barriers are fit for purpose and meet compliance requirements the NCC, surveyors are frequently requiring site specific engineering prior to issuing building permits.

We provide a pre assessment and site-specific engineering service that issues a balustrade compliance certificate from external registered engineers to be used for the submission of the building permit.