Technical information
Glass canopies
A glass canopy is a pane of toughened laminated glass fixed to the wall over a door or walkway, held by brackets and rods above it. It keeps the rain off without blocking the light.
At a glance
- Glass
- Toughened laminated, 13.5, 17.5 or 21.5 mm
- Toughening
- Toughened safety glass to BS EN 12150-1 on every piece.
- Edges
- Polished edges
- Holes and cut-outs
- For the brackets and rod fittings
- Sizes
- Widths from 500 to 4,000 mm and projections from 300 to 1,500 mm in the designer
- Priced
- By hand, from your design or drawings
Where it is used
- Over front and back doors
- Shop entrances
- Walkways and bin stores
- Balconies below another storey
How it is priced
Draw the canopy in the canopy designer or send us the width and projection. Canopies are checked and priced by hand.
What we supply
Glass in our canopy designer
- 13.5 mm toughened laminated
- Toughened laminated: overhead glass must hold together if a pane breaks.
- 17.5 mm toughened laminated
- Toughened laminated: overhead glass must hold together if a pane breaks.
- 21.5 mm toughened laminated
- Toughened laminated: overhead glass must hold together if a pane breaks.
Support systems
- Tension rods above the glass
- Slim stainless rods run from the wall above down to the front of the glass; the back edge is fixed to the wall.
- Brackets below the glass
- Arms fixed to the wall hold the glass from underneath, with nothing above it.
Processing and the build-up
- Toughening and lamination
- Toughened panes (BS EN 12150-1) laminated together (BS EN ISO 12543): overhead glass must hold together if it breaks (BS 5516-2).
- Holes
- For the brackets and rod fittings, from the fitting's template. Holes follow the BS EN 12150-1 limits for toughened glass: at least as wide as the glass is thick, and clear of edges and corners by a multiple of the thickness. Our drawing checks every position before cutting.
- Heat soaking
- Heat soaking (BS EN 14179-1) lowers the small risk of a toughened pane breaking on its own from a nickel sulphide inclusion. Worth specifying overhead, above public areas or where a pane is hard to reach: tell us when your specification calls for it.
- Made to measure
- Toughened glass cannot be cut, drilled, notched or edge-worked after it is toughened. Every size, hole and cut-out is fixed on the drawing before the glass is made.
Regulations
Approved Document A (structure)
A floor, roof or canopy, and the glass in it, must carry the loads of its use safely. The project engineer sets the load class from BS EN 1991-1-1 and confirms the glass and its supports.
England. Walk-on glass, roof lights and canopies.
Installation
- The wall fixings go into sound masonry or structure that can carry the canopy, its snow and its wind loads.
- Fall the glass slightly away from the wall so water runs off the front edge.
- Glass sits on the gaskets supplied with the fittings and never touches metal.
- Laminated glass edges are sealed with a neutral-cure silicone that is compatible with the interlayer. Acetic (vinegar-smelling) silicone and solvent sealants attack the interlayer and the edge clouds.
Care and cleaning
- Clean with warm water and a little washing-up liquid or a household glass cleaner, using a soft cloth, a chamois or a squeegee, then dry with a lint-free cloth.
- Never use scouring pads, wire wool, razor blades, scrapers or powder cleaners: they scratch the surface for good.
- Wipe stainless steel fittings with fresh water and dry them. Near the sea or a pool, do it every few weeks to stop brown tea staining.
- Clear leaves and moss from the top of the glass.
Questions
How far can a canopy project?
It depends on the glass and the fixing system. The designer accepts projections from 300 to 1,500 mm; the projection for your glass is confirmed on the quotation drawing.
Why laminated glass?
Glass overhead must hold together if it breaks, so nothing falls on people below.
Standards that apply
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| BS 5516-2Patent glazing and sloping glazing for buildings. Code of practice for sloping glazing | Glazing laid at a slope or overhead, such as roof lights and canopies: why the lower pane should hold together if it breaks. |
| BS EN 12150-1Glass in building. Thermally toughened soda lime silicate safety glass. Definition and description | What toughened safety glass is, its fragmentation test, flatness and edge work, and the limits for holes and notches. Every toughened pane carries a mark naming the standard. |
| BS EN ISO 12543Glass in building. Laminated glass and laminated safety glass | Laminated glass: two or more panes bonded with an interlayer that holds the pieces together if the glass breaks. Part 2 covers laminated safety glass. |
| BS EN 14449Glass in building. Laminated glass and laminated safety glass. Evaluation of conformity / Product standard | The product standard under which laminated glass is declared and marked. |
| BS EN 14179-1Glass in building. Heat soaked thermally toughened soda lime silicate safety glass. Definition and description | Heat soaking: toughened glass held at about 290 °C so that panes with a nickel sulphide inclusion break in the oven rather than in the building. It lowers the risk of spontaneous breakage; it does not remove it. |
Documents
The specification sheet carries this page's content with today's catalogue figures, in three printable pages.