The size of the glass exceeds 9 square feet.
Tempered glass above floor.
The bottom edge of the glazing is less than 18 inches 457 mm above the floor 3.
According to code check complete.
The last primary state code requirement for tempering involves windows above stairs.
All glass in the bathroom or around a hot tub or sauna must consist of safety glass if the bottom edge is less than 60 inches above a standing or walking surface such as the shower floor.
Any glass within 24 inches of a door along the same wall as the door or perpendicular to it that is less than 60 inches above the floor must be safety tempered glass.
The top of the glass is less than 36 inches above the floor.
Any window glass with 60 of a stair step or landing.
So the glass must be larger than 9 square feet and within 36 inches of a walking area plus the bottom of the window has to be below 18 inches above the floor and top more than 36 inches above the floor.
Windows are exempted from this requirement because the bottom glass is almost never over 9 square feet.
Also any window glass within 60 of the floor that is over a bathtub or in a shower must be tempered.
Where a hot tub is outdoors all glass must be tempered if the bottom edge is less than five feet above the walkway and five feet away from the water s edge according to the international residential code.
Where to install windows with tempered glass is not just dictated by the height of the window.
According to the national glass association there are 4 criteria that require safety glass.
The glazing glass is less than 18 inches above the floor.
You must temper all glass if its bottom edge is less than five feet above a walking or standing surface such as a shower floor.
When is a window required to be made from tempered glass.
Glass doors by definition in the iecc are considered to be those which are more than 50 percent glass in area.
There are also four exception allowed as noted below in the citation from the residential edition of the florida building code fbc and the international residential code irc.
An illustrated guide to the building mechanical and electrical codes by redwood kardon et al conditions requiring a window to have tempered glass include a window lower than 18 inches from the ground larger than 9 square feet in area with a top higher than 3.
The u factor requirements discussed above for vertical fenestration also apply to exterior glass doors.