What is laminated glass?

Laminated glass is glass made of two or more glass panes with one or more PVB interlayers between them. This tough plastic interlayer holds the glass together when it breaks, so no dangerous shards are created. Laminated glass therefore limits injury, and with sufficient thickness you cannot fall through it.

Types of interlayer

The most commonly used PVB interlayers are the clear interlayer, the matt interlayer and the acoustic interlayer. There are also coloured interlayers and interlayers with a custom print. Read more about this in What types of PVB interlayer are there?. The difference with tempered glass is explained in Is laminated glass always tempered glass?.

Which composition do you need?

The situation, the size and the mounting method determine which glass thickness and composition you need. A windscreen on the ground floor in a residential area, for example, needs a very different composition from a balcony partition on the twentieth floor by the sea. See also Which composition of laminated glass do I need?.

There are NEN standards (Dutch standards) that prescribe certain thicknesses and compositions. Every situation is different and needs to be looked at carefully. This is safety glass, and with the wrong composition you only create a false sense of safety. On the websites of the Glas Branche Organisatie (Dutch glass trade association) and the Kenniscentrum Glas (Dutch glass knowledge centre) you can read more about the standards for injury safety and fall-through safety. Look at the NEN 3569 (reliable glass compositions) and the explanation of the NEN 3569 (injury safety).

If your situation is unusual or you are in doubt, have the required thickness calculated by a technical engineering firm or, for example, by the Kenniscentrum Glas. Based on the situation and the NEN standards, they give a technically sound answer about the composition. You are responsible yourself for choosing and applying the right composition and for following the NEN standards.

Once you know what you need, you put together your custom laminated glass in our configurator.