Fire Glazing Fitting in the UK

When specifying glazing to be used in a wall or a door in a UK commercial building, it would be useful to visit the 2 main suppliers of fire rated glass systems:

Their websites provide technical information over which product to use. This will cover the size of apertures to glaze and the application, Door or Wall.

fire door glass with wire reinforcement inside

As a general rule of thumb Fire protected glazing comes in 2 styles Clear and Wired. The Wired Fire Protected Glazing used to be referred to as ‘Georgian Wired’.  This now has specific trade names because, along with the clear glazing, it comes in various thicknesses to suit applications.

Also there is a considerable cost difference between Clear and Wired glazing. On a like for like basis Clear glazing is in the region of 5 times more expensive than Wired.

Fitting to Doors

As a rule of thumb it is much better to purchase Fire Doors already glazed and there is a wide selection available. However in certain circumstances with certain Fire door leafs it is possible to fit fire glazing, subject to the manufacturer’s guidance.

Specifying Fire Glazing

On choosing between Clear of Wired glazing the choice is between the utilitarian/institutional appearance of Wired Glazing or the Contemporary look of Clear and of course your budget.

Also to be taken into account should be the size of aperture to be glazed. The larger the aperture (especially in walls) the likelihood is that the thickness of glass will increase having a knock on effect on the budget.

Possibly looking at the manufacturers website will give an optimum size for the thickness of the glazing to size. The specification of the frame and intumescent seals used, will also go up as the aperture gets larger again having a knock on to the budget.

On deciding on fitting fire glazing one should consider:

  • Fire-resistance performance criteria integrity and/or insulation 30 / 60 / 90 / 120 / 180 minutes
  • Internal or external application
  • Safety and security requirements
  • Acoustic or thermal performance
  • Aesthetic preference
  • Frame type and finish
  • Fixing details.