The Simple Fact Is We're Surrounded by Architectural Glazing Products

The simple fact is we're surrounded by architectural glazing products. Whether they enable us to look outdoors, optimize indoor lighting, enhance aesthetics, or provide a much-needed measure of visibility or safety -- all should be constructed in a manner that protects the people who rely on them.

Who we are...
The Safety Glazing Certification Council (SGCC) is a non-profit corporation that provides for the certification of safety glazing materials. Established in 1971, SGCC is comprised of safety glazing manufacturers and other parties concerned with public safety. SGCC is managed by a board of directors comprised of representatives from the safety glazing industry and the public interest sector.

What we do...
SGCC maintains a certification program under which manufacturers of safety glazing products voluntarily submit their products for testing to an SGCC-approved independent testing laboratory. To cover testing and program costs, a nominal per-product fee is charged to the manufacturer. The testing procedures used in SGCC's program are consistent with those established in ANSI Z97.1 and/or CPSC 16 CFR 1201. These specifications call for practical safety tests -- to establish that safety glazing materials, if broken, will tend to reduce the risk of injury or death.

How we do it...
Safety glazing products that comply with these specifications are assigned an exclusive SGCC certification number, which identifies the product, its manufacturer, and its plant-specific origin. This number is affixed to the product itself as part of an SGCC-approved certification label and also appears in SGCC's Certified Products Directory. The directory is published twice a year and is distributed free-of-charge to more than 2,500 building products manufacturers, architects, contractors, regulatory agencies, and code-making groups. To ensure continued compliance, SGCC conducts a follow-up program in which random samples of the certified products are re-tested during an unannounced, bi-annual production facility visit.

How the SGCC benefits the safety glazing industry...
SGCC certification is in everyone's best interest. In the glazing marketplace, specifying engineers can be confident in their selection of SGCC-certified architectural glazing products. Builders take comfort in the fact that the SGCC-certified glass they handle and install has met industry standards. Building owners are afforded an extra degree of risk minimization through third-party review. And -- whether they know it or not -- occupants benefit from the rigorous testing that precedes SGCC certification.

More than a mere regulatory formality, SGCC certification benefits safety glazing manufacturers, too. SGCC certification affords manufacturers the peace of mind of knowing that their products have been subjected to independent, third-party review and have been evaluated to accepted standards. This translates into confidence in the marketplace, assurance of reduced liability, and pride in one's craftsmanship. Those manufacturers who purchase safety glazing components for use in their own completed architectural or building products appreciate these same benefits of SGCC certification.

Moreover, the SGCC listing and safety label are handy, visible assurances for code-enforcement officials charged with the responsibility of ensuring safe building construction in our nation's homes, workplaces, and public spaces.

How SGCC safety certification protects you...
Most of us enter and exit our homes, places of employment, and the public buildings around us without a thought to glazing safety. But as windows themselves prove, sometimes "unseen" things yield important benefits. While we may not "see" the SGCC certification process when we look "through" a glass door or window -- that process is there to help protect us in case of on-the-job accidents. And in case of mishaps in the commercial, institutional, and residential structures we frequent on a day-to-day basis.