Glass Safety Standards?

demo9pro

demo9pro

Likes Dirt
Hey, just been on holiday with some mates, and we where staying in this cheap old motel on the 4th floor. The other night one of us leant against the window and it broke.

It fell down in massive shards of glass, big enough to do some serious slicing if it touched anyone.

He is now trying to make us pay for the breakage even tho it was accidental, and we dont even think that the glass is upto standards for commercial use on the fourth floor of a biulding. The force that was used to break it was minimal, and lightly hitting the window, causes it to shake.

Im just wondering does anyone know the standards for the glass used in biuldings like this. And can he legally force us to pay? Also, we asked him why he doesnt want to use his insure and he stated that he doesnt want to loose his no claim bonus....
Thanks
 
Customjimmy

Customjimmy

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The insurance excess is probably more than the glass, so I can understand not claiming. As far as building codes go, standards for materials and building are only effective when it gets built. Council approves the plans, checks the construction and ticks it off. Sometimes codes change and upgrades are enforced, good examples are the height of railings on balconies or swimming pool fences. I can't imagine a council saying "righto, all windows pre-1981 must be replaced with stronger ones!"

You could check the glass with the appropriate building code but at the end of the day, glass windows will always be breakable and leaning on them or hitting them should be avoided!
 
J

Jsun

Squid
Tell the manager you will be reporting him/his business to the department of occupational health and safety and that he will be hearing from them very soon. That should be enough to scare him and make him forget about the bill, Lol :D
 
R

red death

Likes Bikes
demo9pro said:
Hey, just been on holiday with some mates, and we where staying in this cheap old motel on the 4th floor. The other night one of us leant against the window and it broke.

It fell down in massive shards of glass, big enough to do some serious slicing if it touched anyone.

He is now trying to make us pay for the breakage even tho it was accidental, and we dont even think that the glass is upto standards for commercial use on the fourth floor of a biulding. The force that was used to break it was minimal, and lightly hitting the window, causes it to shake.

Im just wondering does anyone know the standards for the glass used in biuldings like this. And can he legally force us to pay? Also, we asked him why he doesnt want to use his insure and he stated that he doesnt want to loose his no claim bonus....
Thanks
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will you be staying there again? It would cost him more to chase you for the $ than the cost of the glass. In the US I even bet he'd get sued for having windows which break!

If it was genuinely an accident any half decent establishment will wear it themselves. If it wasn't an accident you'd no doubt be happy to pay. Why should you have to pay for the full laminated glass when you only broke the cheap stuff anyway?

it wouldn't be worth it for him to chase you for it.
 
demo9pro

demo9pro

Likes Dirt
Nah, never staying there again. Worst place ever. He does have a photo copy of drivers licence etc...
 
N

NoFearNick7

Likes Bikes and Dirt
LISTEN TO MY STORY CHILDREN:

My friend and I went rock climbing, and he for some reason didn't see the door (or thought it was open) and just walked straight into it. It was one of those full reinforced glass doors and him just walking into it was enough to crack it (it didn't shatter) but there were all those lines you see when something hits glass hard without shattering it.

Anyway he ended up having to pay for it, I reckon he should have sued because he actually hurt his kneecap from walking into it.
 
danv

danv

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demo9pro said:
Nah, never staying there again. Worst place ever. He does have a photo copy of drivers licence etc...
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Does he have a copy of a credit card?
How old was the building?
How much does he want?

Call a relevant OHS body or similar for that industry (i don't know the details, the hotel association?) and report it. See what they say. Then tell him what you've done and that you will take further action if neccesary.

If it went to court, I'm guessing it would all depend on wether he WAS required to provide reasonably strong window glass on a fourth story window (i guess thats the quesiton you're trying to answer here...). If he wasn't then it's your fault, if he was then its not. A relevant industry association like the master builder associaton or hotel association should be able to answer this.
Was the window something you could have fallen out of?
http://hia.com.au/
http://www.masterbuilders.com.au/index.asp
http://www.hmaa.com.au/hmaa/website/
http://www.aha.org.au/ourhotel.html
 
R

Rik

logged out
Am I the only one hear that's thinking "sucked in" for breaking a piece of glass being leant on... that's like headbutting a wall and complaining it's hard.
 
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demo9pro

demo9pro

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danv said:
Does he have a copy of a credit card?
How old was the building?
How much does he want?
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No copy of a credit card, we payed in cash. The biulding looks to be 60's-70's, he wants $550 for the glass and 2 Nights worth of lost income. I told him to sit and spin....
 
N

NoFearNick7

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Rik said:
Am I the only one hear that's thinking "sucked in" for breaking a piece of glass being leant on... that's like headbutting a wall and complaining it's hard.
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Someone has to quote that for their sig, its absolutely hilarious.
 
danv

danv

Likes Dirt
Rik said:
Am I the only one hear that's thinking "sucked in" for breaking a piece of glass being leant on... that's like headbutting a wall and complaining it's hard.
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Disagree. It's like leaning on a wall and complaining when you fall through. It just dependns on the window. Wether it was actually a wall, wether it was just a little window.
 
rockydog

rockydog

Likes Dirt
Current Building Code standards would definitely require safety glass in a door.
If it's an older building they might get away without updating everything tho'
 
tu plang

tu plang

knob
NoFearNick7 said:
I reckon he should have sued because he actually hurt his kneecap from walking into it.
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I really hope you are joking. That is the single stupidest thing i have ever read on this forum.

"I'm taking you to court because i ran into your door and hurt myself?"
 
fallboy

fallboy

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demo9pro said:
No copy of a credit card, we payed in cash. The biulding looks to be 60's-70's, he wants $550 for the glass and 2 Nights worth of lost income. I told him to sit and spin....
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Alright here it is. The door and window glass safety standars are ambiguous at best and only relevant for the time when the building was built. However as a hotel I believe that they would need to offer a certain level of safety which would include safety glass and manifestation ( the stickers that stop you from walking into the glass). I think if he tries to pursue you for the money he will not suceed because it is a very grey area and I would imagine that any glass in a public place that is possibly exposed to human impact should be safety glass. If the large shards had hurt you they establishment would defienately be liable.
 
N

NoFearNick7

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tu plang said:
I really hope you are joking. That is the single stupidest thing i have ever read on this forum.

"I'm taking you to court because i ran into your door and hurt myself?"
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First, it would have saved him $800. Secondly it was a very hard to notice door as it was completely see through. Thirdly it could be a safety issue for other people, who cannot see very well.
 
sawtell

sawtell

The Great White Rooks Hunter
fallboy said:
Alright here it is. The door and window glass safety standars are ambiguous at best and only relevant for the time when the building was built. However as a hotel I believe that they would need to offer a certain level of safety which would include safety glass and manifestation ( the stickers that stop you from walking into the glass). I think if he tries to pursue you for the money he will not suceed because it is a very grey area and I would imagine that any glass in a public place that is possibly exposed to human impact should be safety glass. If the large shards had hurt you they establishment would defienately be liable.
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bingo.. and also if the building as changed hands in the time since it was built, and after new standards came in place, any issue's regards to safty should have been rectified? i am pretty sure.:confused:
 
R

red death

Likes Bikes
tu plang said:
I really hope you are joking. That is the single stupidest thing i have ever read on this forum.

"I'm taking you to court because i ran into your door and hurt myself?"
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Happens all the time. Jones v Bartlett HCA 2001

Having seen someone walk into a glass door I think it's more than a good idea to have some sort of sticker or similar across the glass so you can actually see its there. There's no doubt he didn't do it on purpose and his eyes & the lighting were OK. He wasn't rushing or anything, he was simply unfamilar with the site and the door was VERY clean. It was reasonably forseeable that this could happen.
 
danv

danv

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red death said:
Happens all the time. Jones v Bartlett HCA 2001

Having seen someone walk into a glass door I think it's more than a good idea to have some sort of sticker or similar across the glass so you can actually see its there. There's no doubt he didn't do it on purpose and his eyes & the lighting were OK. He wasn't rushing or anything, he was simply unfamilar with the site and the door was VERY clean. It was reasonably forseeable that this could happen.
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Glass door is a wierd situation... because they can be so invisible sometimes, its one of those really open questions as to wether there was a duty of care or not. I think for a full glass door or wall, it could seriously go either way.

I ran into a 'glass door' once. It was probably 40% wood frame, 60% glass window and covered in posters... I smashed the glass too. Luckily it didn't go to court because i'm a dick and I pissed off before anyone could stop me :rolleyes:
 
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