Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal treatments to increase its strength as opposed to normal glass, which does not require this additional treatment. The manufacturing process places the outer surfaces under compression and the interior in a state of tension. Tempered glass is approximately four times stronger than “regular” or annealed glass. Also known as safety glass, tempered glass fractures into small, relatively harmless pieces. As a result, tempered glass is used in those environments where human safety is an issue. Tempered glass is commonly used for specific applications such as shower enclosures, glass tops, glass railings and so on. Our heat-treated tempered glass meets the current North American standards of ANSI Z97.1-04, ASTM C1048 and CAN/CGSB-12.1-M90, which are currently in place for safety glass.
Tempered glass cannot be cut, polished or drilled. All of the glass work must be performed prior to the tempering process.