28
OCTOBER 2016 PRO INSTALLER
GGF NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
QUESTIONS ABOUT
INSULATING GLASS UNITS
The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has seen an
increase in questions being asked about the ability of
Insulating Glass Units (IGUs) to meet certain regulations.
In particular, the questions
concern durability of IGUs
and if they conform to
regulations such as BS EN
1279-5:2005 + A2:2010 and
the Construction Products
Regulation (CPR).
The designs in question are those
marketed as Thin, Slim, Heritage
or similar names. These names do
not refer to any specific component brand or tradename, and a
more accurate description of the
IGU would be ‘Narrow cavity IGU
with reduced edgeseal sightline.’
The GGF has received a number of enquiries relating to such
units and their durability. In some
instances these units have shown
evidence of failure of the edge seal
construction through condensation
developing in the cavity.
This failure may be attributable
to either the durability of this ‘reduced sightline’ edge seal design
or the method of glazing. Given
these units are used exclusively
in timber frames and are generally glazed using a fully bedded
method, both the IGU design
and method(s) of glazing may be
questionable. The cause of failure
may be either of the above or a
combination of both.
The main issue in relation to
durability is not about the cavity
width - the industry has successfully produced 6mm cavity IGUs
for many years. It is whether IGUs
constructed with an edge seal
depth less than that usually seen
in standard IGUs, can be manufactured in accordance with the
harmonised European Standard
(hEN).
The issue facing IGU manufacturers is caused by growing demand
from clients, often as the result
of planning requirements. Specifiers often require an IGU with a
maximum cavity width of between
4-8mm.
IGU manufacturers have responded to this growing demand by producing IGUs using
a reduced height spacer bar and
also reducing the amount of outer
(secondary) sealant below that
recommended by sealant manufacturers.
Once these modifications to the
edge seal are made, manufacturers
cannot use their existing EN 12792, EN 1279-3 or EN 1279-4 test
evidence to support their claim of
compliance to the product standard when making a Declaration
of Performance and CE marking
these units. At present, the GGF
has not been able to obtain copies
of any IGU manufacturer’s test
evidence for these ‘Narrow cavity
IGUs with reduced edgeseal sightline.’
The GGF said that when manufacturing IGUs, it is the IGU
manufacturer’s responsibility to
ensure the products being placed
on the market are manufactured
in conformity with the product
standard and have the necessary
test evidence available.
More information is available
in the GGF Narrow Cavity
leaflet: http://www.ggf.org.uk/
publication/narrow_cavity_leaflet
GGF SHORTLISTED
FOR G16 AWARDS
The GGF has been shortlisted as a finalist at the G16
Awards in two categories:
• Promotional Campaign of the
Year for MyGlazing.com
• Customer Care Initiative of the
Year for the CTSI Approved
GGF Consumer Code of Practice
James Lee, GGF director of marketing and communications commented: “I am delighted we have
been nominated as finalists in two
categories at this year’s awards.”
The nominations are clear recognition of the great progress the
GGF staff has made on both MyGlazing.com and the implementa-
tion of the GGF Consumer Code
of Practice which gained approval
from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute earlier this year.
The announcement of the finalists also included 18 GGF members across all 12 categories.
Nigel Rees, GGF Chief Executive
commented: “It is particularly
pleasing to see the GGF being
shortlisted and my congratulations
and best of luck to all members
who have been nominated.”
To see the full list of finalists
and find out more about the
G16 Awards please go to www.gawards.com/g-16-finalists/here.
‘The nominations are
clear recognition of the
great progress the GGF
staff has made on both
MyGlazing.com and
the implementation
of the GGF Consumer
Code of Practice which
gained approval from
the Chartered Trading
Standards Institute’