News Codes and standards
Update to AAMA 501.8 impact-resistant glass standard

The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance has updated a specification providing a standard laboratory procedure for evaluation of simulated human impacts on window systems intended for installation in behavioral care hospitals and facilities. This evaluation procedure also applies to occupancies with similar concerns, excluding other hazardous locations as defined in the International Building Code (IBC) or International Residential Code (IRC). AAMA 501.8-23.  Standard Test Method for Determination of Resistance to Human Impact of Window Systems Intended for Use in Behavioral Care Applications, an FGIA document, is now available for purchase in the FGIA online store. This document was last updated in 2014.

“This standard has been updated for windows subject to human impact,” said Lothar Erkens Winco Window, Vice Chair of the FGIA Human Impact of Windows Systems Update Task Group. “Guidance is given for the specifier of windows mounted at higher-than-usual window locations. Also, a clarification was added to post impact evaluation without changing the pass/fail criteria.”

It is the intent of this test method to help determine whether window systems intended for installation in behavioral care facilities perform at or above minimum acceptable levels when sustaining human impact from the interior, restricting patient passage to unauthorized areas, confining patients, reducing the opportunity for self-harm and delaying escape attempts.