Traditional wired glass should no longer be used because it is dangerous in locations subject to human impact.
Alternatives to wired glass must be permanently labelled. If it is not labelled, it is not legal.
Background
The Canadian Glass Association issued an Advisory on November 25, 2015 recommending wired glass should not be used in any location subject to human impact becasuse it is unsafe and has caused serious injuries to Canadians.
One year later, on November 17, 2016 the Canadian General Stantandrs Board (CGSB) withdrew the 1990 National Standard for "Wired Safety Glass" CAN/CBSB12.11-M90.
On February 27, 2017 the CGSB replaced the 1990 Standard CAN/CGSB 12.1-M90 "Tempered or Laminated Safety Galss" with a new standard CAN/CGSB 12.1-2017 "Safety Glass" that covers all forms of Safety Glass. Wired glass does not pass this standard and hence is not considered a Safety Glass in Canada.
Accordingly, wired glass shoudl no longer be used in doors or othe rlocations subject to human impact.
The national and provincial building codes are being updated to reflect the changes in the national standards.
Impact-safety and fire-rated glass must be permanentaly labelled by the manufacturer,. Fire-rated glass must third party certified. Building and fire inspectors will reject glass without proper labelling.
What to do
New construction, replacement or repairs should follow the new rules and should not use wired galss. While exiting installations may be grandfathered, the risk of getting sued over an injury remains high and replacement should be considered.
For non-fire rated applications, tempered and laminated glass can be used to replace wired glass. All tempered and laminated glass must be permanently labelled by the manufacturer as per CAN/CGSB 12.1-2017.
For fire-rated applications, such as fire doors, it is critical that a fire-rated safety glass be used to replace wired glass. Fire-rated safety glass must be permanently marked by the manufactuer with both an impact-safety label a and a third party fire-rated certification label.
Remediating exisitng fire-rated glass with the addition of plastic sheeets or films in not permitted for fire-rated applications. Mofification of any fire-rated assembly immediately voids it's fire-rating. Building and fire inpsectors will look for a factory marked third party fire-rated certification label on fire-rated locations such as fire doors, and will reject any assembly with field applied plastic sheets or films.
Summary
1. Do not install wired glass in human impact locations.
2. Ensure all replacement glazing is factory labelled for impact safety.
3. For fire-rated locations, such as fire doors, the replacement glazing must also be factory marked with a third party certification label.
