Where is safety glass required? The critical locations, room by room

Ordinary window glass breaks into long, sharp blades. Safety glass either crumbles into small blunt pieces (toughened) or cracks but stays in one piece (laminated). The Building Regulations say safety glass must be used wherever people are likely to walk into or fall against glass. This guide maps those places in your home.

The short answer

Safety glass is required in the "critical locations": any glass in a door or in a side panel within 300mm of a door, from floor level up to 1500mm, and any other glazing between floor level and 800mm, such as low windows and glazed walls. Bathrooms, shower screens, balustrades and glass that people stand on or below have their own rules. When a pane in one of these places is replaced, the new pane should be safety glass.

The two heights to remember

Where the glass is	Safety glass needed from the floor up to
In a door, glazed or part-glazed	1500mm
In a side panel within 300mm of a door edge	1500mm
In a window or glazed wall away from doors	800mm

Anything above those heights can be ordinary glass, unless something else applies, such as a shower, a balustrade or overhead glazing.

Worth knowing: "side panel" means the panel next to the door, even if it does not open. People walk into these more often than into the door itself, because they look like part of the opening.

Room by room checklist

Walk round your home with this list and look in the corners of each pane for a safety mark.

• Front door and its side panels: all glass below 1500mm should be safety glass. Laminated on the outside face adds security too.
• Back door, French doors and bifolds: all glass in the doors and side lights, see French doors.
• Internal glazed doors: the same rule as external doors. Older Victorian and 1930s panelled doors often still have plain or wired glass.
• Low windows: any pane with glass below 800mm, common in bay windows and in modern flats with floor-to-ceiling glazing.
• Bathroom: shower screens toughened, and low-level bathroom windows need safety glass by the bath or shower where someone could slip.
• Stairs and landings: glazing next to stairs and landings, and any glass balustrades, need special attention. See glass balustrades.
• Rooflights and glass roofs: the inner pane is normally laminated so broken glass cannot fall into the room. See rooflights and skylights.
• Shelves, tables and splashbacks: not always a legal requirement, but toughened as standard practice.

Toughened or laminated?

Both count as safety glass in critical locations, but they behave differently. Toughened is stronger and breaks into small pieces; laminated holds together when broken, so it is better for security, rooflights and anywhere the glass must stay in the opening. Our toughened vs laminated glass guide explains which to choose where.

What about Georgian wired glass?

Wired glass, with the grid of wire inside, was used for fire resistance. It is not a safety glass in the impact sense: when broken it can leave sharp edges held by the wire. In doors and low panels, replacing it with toughened or laminated glass, or with a fire-rated safety glass where fire resistance matters, is the safer choice. Fire doors need fire-rated glass: see our fire doors page.

Replacing a pane in a critical location

1. Check the location against the heights above.
2. Check the old pane for a mark. No mark, assume it is plain glass.
3. Order safety glass, not a match. Toughened glass cannot be cut once made, so it is made to measure. Our guide to measuring for replacement glass explains the sizes we need.
4. Make the opening safe while you wait, if the pane is broken: see how to board up a window.

We fit toughened and laminated glass marked to the British and European standards in doors, side panels and low glazing as standard. For a broken pane in a door or a low window, call 07915 903485 at any hour, or send a photo on WhatsApp for a fixed price.