When choosing new windows, we often see the glass simply as a transparent material that lets light through and (ideally) keeps the cold out. However, plain glass (float glass) is an extremely dangerous, fragile material. If someone trips and falls against it, the huge, sharp fragments act literally like a guillotine, causing amputations or even fatal accidents.
For this reason, the choice between plain glass and safety glass (Triplex or Securit) is not solely a matter of budget or taste. European and Greek legislation, through strict standards (such as EN 12600), clearly defines the so-called "Critical Impact Zones". In these zones, the use of safety glass is absolutely mandatory.
Whether you are an engineer, a contractor, a school principal, a shop owner, or simply a parent renovating your home, this is the survival guide (and legal compliance guide) you need to know.
A "critical zone" is any location where there is an increased risk of a person (especially a child) losing their balance, not seeing the glass and crashing into it at speed.
Any glazed surface on a door, regardless of height, must be safety glass. This includes apartment-block main entrances, internal glass doors and, of course, sliding or hinged balcony doors in the living room. The illusion that "the space is open" leads to thousands of collision accidents every year.
If you have a window that starts very low (e.g. less than 80 centimetres from the floor), it is considered equally dangerous as a door. Young children in particular, who run and play at floor level, are at risk of falling against the low pane.
The bathroom is the most slippery room in the house. The law (and common sense) mandates that every glass shower enclosure must be built strictly from thermally toughened glass (Securit), usually 8mm or 10mm thick. If you slip and break the enclosure, Securit will crumble into "coarse salt", saving you from lethal cuts.
Here the risk is double: it's not just about cuts, but primarily about falling from height. Frameless glass balustrades must use thick, multi-layer glass (Laminated / Triplex), ideally the Securit-Triplex combination. If the pane breaks, the elastic PVB membrane must stay in place, supporting the weight of the person who fell against it.
Anything glazed above your head falls under the strictest regulations. The inner (lower) side of a glass roof MUST be Triplex (Laminated). If a heavy object falls on the roof and breaks the glass, the fragments will stay bonded to the membrane instead of "raining" glass into your living room.
In public gathering spaces, and especially where children are present, the regulations leave no room for exceptions.
All glass panes in doors, corridor windows, gymnasiums and classrooms (at heights accessible to students) must be safety glass. A broken plain pane in a school playground is a recipe for legal and moral sanctions.
What happens if you ignore these regulations to save a few euros on the aluminium contractor's quote?
If you are a business owner, contractor or project engineer and an accident occurs because you installed plain glass in a "critical zone" (e.g. in a shop front or a hotel entrance), you bear full civil and criminal liability for the injury. It is a risk simply not worth taking.
Adding Triplex or Securit glass slightly increases the cost of the window, but it is the cheapest "life insurance" you can buy. In older homes from the 1980s and 1990s, the huge sliding balcony doors were made with single, plain 4mm glass - a genuine ticking time bomb. Replacing them with modern, energy-efficient safety glass is the first step towards a truly protected home.
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