FGIA Updates Evaluation of Human Impacts of Window Systems

The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) has updated a specification providing a standard laboratory procedure for evaluating simulated human impacts on window systems intended for installation in behavioral care hospitals and facilities.

The FGIA has updated a specification providing a standard laboratory procedure for evaluating simulated human impacts on window systems intended for installation in behavioral care hospitals and facilities.

The standard, AAMA 501.8-23, Standard Test Method for Determination of Resistance to Human Impact of Window Systems Intended for Use in Behavioral Care Applications, was last updated in 2014.

“This standard has been updated for windows subject to human impact,” says Lothar Erkens, vice chair of the FGIA Human Impact of Windows Systems Update Task Group. “Guidance is given for the specifier of windows mounted at higher-than-usual window locations. Also, a clarification was added to the post-impact evaluation without changing the pass/fail criteria.”

The test method aims to help determine whether window systems in behavioral care facilities perform at or above minimum acceptable levels when sustaining human impact from the interior, restricting patient passage to unauthorized areas, confining patients, reducing the opportunity for self-harm and delaying escape attempts.