AS 2047 considerations for aluminium windows

AS 2047 is the Australian standard for windows and external glazed doors in buildings. Most fabricators meet it through the tested systems their suppliers provide, but the decisions that decide whether a job complies are made at quoting time, not at installation. This article sets out what the standard covers, which related standards you will meet, and what to settle before a quote goes out.

What AS 2047 covers

In broad terms, AS 2047 deals with how a window or door performs in the building it is fitted to. The areas it addresses include:

• Performance classification. Windows are classified for the wind pressures they must resist, which follow from the site and the building.
• Water penetration. How well the unit keeps driven rain out at the pressures it is rated for.
• Structural performance. That frames, sashes and glazing hold under the design loads without excessive deflection or failure.
• Operating force. That sashes and doors can be opened and closed with a reasonable effort.
• Labelling and evidence. That a compliant product can be shown to be compliant.

The standard is a paid document that is revised over time. Work from the current edition, and treat any summary, including this one, as a pointer to it rather than a substitute.

Related standards you will meet

• AS 1288 covers the selection and installation of glass in buildings: which glass types are acceptable where, and how they are held.
• AS/NZS 1170.2 covers wind actions, which is where the pressures a window must resist come from.
• AS 4055 gives a simplified wind classification for housing, which is how most residential sites end up with a wind class on the drawings.
• The National Construction Code sets the requirements the building as a whole must meet, and points at these standards for windows and glazing.

You rarely need to read all of these end to end. You do need to know which one governs each question a builder or certifier asks, so the answer comes from the right place.

Decisions to settle before quoting

The cheapest time to fix a compliance problem is before the quote is accepted. Settle these with the designer, builder or engineer, and write the answers on the quote:

• Site wind classification. It comes from the project's designer or engineer, not from the fabricator. Ask for it, record it, and quote a system tested to it.
• Glass type. Location in the building, size of the pane and any bushfire, safety or energy requirement all bear on the choice, and AS 1288 governs it.
• Hardware suited to the sash. Stays, rollers, hinges and locks are rated for weight and size. A heavy laminated sash on hardware chosen for a lighter one is a common failure.
• Drainage and exposure. An exposed elevation may need a higher water rating than the same window on a sheltered one.
• Anything non-standard. Oversized units, unusual shapes and custom details may sit outside the supplier's test evidence and need an engineer's sign-off.

Paperwork to keep

Compliance is partly a paper exercise, and the paper is easier to keep than to recreate:

• Supplier test reports for each system you sell, filed where the office can find them when a certifier asks.
• Engineer's sign-off for any unit outside the tested range.
• Your glazing certificate for each job, stating the standards the work was made and installed to, signed by the responsible person in your business.
• Written variations whenever a client asks for something outside what the standard or the supplier recommends, so the decision and its owner are on record.

Where software helps and where it does not

Design software does not make a window compliant, and no fabricator should rely on it to. What it can do is remove some of the ways a job goes wrong on the way to the workshop. Alumetric builds each unit from the supplier's actual profile sections, warns when a pane exceeds the allowable glass size or will not fit the supplier's sheet, flags missing hinges or handles, and produces a glazing certificate template referencing AS 2047, AS 1288 and AS/NZS 1170.2 that you complete and sign. The inputs, the wind class, the glass choice and the hardware rating, remain yours. You can see the documents it produces on the features page.

This article is general information for fabricators, not engineering or certification advice. Check the current editions of AS 2047, AS 1288 and AS/NZS 1170.2 and your project's engineering requirements.