Family Day Care is becoming a convenient and popular method of child care, and comes with certain responsibilities relating to child safety that must be adhered to. One area of concern that can be difficult to find accurate information about, is glass safety. Specifically, which windows need to meet the AS1288 Safety Standards as set out in the National Education and Care Services Regulations, and which ones don’t. Although the simplest option is to make sure ALL glass complies, sometimes a Family Day Care setup might only be located in certain parts of the house, or backyard. The following is a copy of the current regulations relating to Glazing.
Education and Care Services National Regulations
(Current version for 1 July 2018 to Present Date; Chapter 4 Part 4.3 Division 3 Regulation 117)
(accessed 12 March 2019 at 10:37)
117 Glass
Subregulation (1): The approved provider of a family day care service must ensure that any glazed area of a residence or approved family day care venue of the service complies with Subregulation (2) if the area—
(a) is accessible to children; and
(b) either—
(i) is at or below the minimum height above floor level, (Note. The applicable height above floor level is 1 metre) specified by AS 1288-2006 Glass in buildings—Selection and installation, approved on behalf of the Council of Standards Australia, published on 16 January 2006, incorporating Amendments Nos 1 and 2; or
(ii) if the residence or family day care venue was approved before 1 June 2014, is 0.75 metres or less above floor level.
Subregulation (2): The glazed area must be—
(a) glazed with safety glass, if the Building Code of Australia requires this; or
(b) in any other case—
(i) treated with a product that prevents glass from shattering if broken; or
(ii) guarded by barriers that prevent a child from striking or falling against the glass.
Note. A compliance direction may be issued for failure to comply with this regulation.
If you’d like more information or a quote provided to bring your glass up to code, get in touch to arrange the next step.
