You are nearing the completion date of the building of your new dream home. You have imagined your magnificent new staircase and balconies to be finished with a frameless glass balustrade system. A barrier that will provide you with the necessary safety and that will allow you to enjoy an uninterrupted view of your surroundings, but where do you start in terms of finding a balustrade contractor that will ensure that the system is safe.
Budget vs Safety and Quality
In this day and age, many homeowners that are building a new home are restricted by budget and yet still have to furnish their homes with quality and safe products and they find themselves having to accept the cheaper quote on finishes. However, homeowners don’t think for one second that a contractor in this country would take a shortcut on safety in order to win a job and therefore it makes sense to them to settle on the cheaper quote.
Reality check
Due to years and years of getting away with non-compliant balustrades in an unregulated industry, there are unfortunately still many unscrupulous balustrade contractors that do not deliver a balustrade that is deemed to satisfy as per the South African National Standards (SANS) and they are happy to win a job purely to make a buck, ignoring the consequences.
This is why it is so important for homeowners and building professionals to insist on proof that the frameless glass balustrade system has been designed and tested in consultation with a professional structural engineer. This will settle any doubts the client may have about the safety of the balustrade safety.
Certification
On completion, you need to ensure that your balustrade contractor will supply you with a Form 3, signed only, by a professional structural engineer to ensure that the balustrades are safe for their intended use.
What is a Form 3: It is a declaration by a competent person (Structural Engineer) appointed to design a component or an element of a system, from the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act, 1977 (Act No. 103 of 1977). Any balustrade contractor that cannot provide this Form 3 on completion of your frameless glass balustrade, will not be able to guarantee your safety when using this product.
The Finish
With the use of the correct thickness of toughened safety glass or laminated glass in your new frameless glass balustrade system, fixed correctly with approved components, you can now move into your beautiful new home, assured that you will enjoy your uninterrupted view at no cost to your family’s safety.