The Building Regulations, Approved Document N details acceptable standards for glazing materials and protection, including the critical areas shown in Figure which require safety glazing.

The critical locations are defined as follows:

• glass within 800 mm of the finished floor;
• glass within 1 500 mm of the finished floor and contained in a door or adjacent side panel.

Glazing is accepted as safe if it satisfies one of the following definitions:

• It has ‘safe break’ characteristics determined in BS 6206: Specification for impact performance requirements for flat safety glass and safety plastics for use in buildings.
• It is robust or in small panes (see below).
• It is permanently protected by a screen