Quality Standards

To us at Arctic Glass, issues of quality and safety are paramount. We have quality systems in place to consistently provide products that meet customer and regulatory requirements.

Copies of our certificates are available upon request.

Arctic Glass is committed to providing a specialist safety glass and sealed unit manufacturing service, and consistently deliver to our client's expectations in terms of quality, reliability and satisfaction.

Our rigorous processes and procedures enable us to demonstrate competency to existing customers, potential customers and independent auditing authorities.

Arctic Glass is committed to providing a specialist safety glass and sealed unit manufacturing service, and consistently deliver to our client's expectations in terms of quality, reliability and satisfaction.

• Inspection Standards

  As used by the Glass and Glazing Federation, and accepted as the standard for the inspection of flat glass. All Arctic Glass products to be inspected using the same criteria as toughened products.

  Transparent glass used in the manufacture of insulating glass units, is identical to that used traditionally for single glass, and will therefore have a similar level of quality.

  Both panes of the sealed unit shall be viewed at right angles to the glass from the room side, standing at a distance of not less than 2 meters (but for toughened , laminated or coated glass), not less than 3 meters, in natural daylight and not in direct sunlight, with no visible moisture on the surface. The area to be viewed, is the normal vision area with the exception of a 50mm wide band around the perimeter of the unit.

  Flat transparent glass, including laminated or toughened glass, shall be deemed acceptable if the following phenomena are neither obtrusive nor bunched: Totally enclosed seeds, bubbles or blisters, hairlines or blobs, fine scratches not more than 25mm long, minute embedded particles. Obtrusiveness of blemishes shall be judged by looking through the glass, not at it, under light conditions described in paragraph 2.

  When thermally toughened glass is reviewed by reflection, the effect of the toughening process may be seen under certain light conditions. The visibility of the surface colouration or patterns does not indicate physical deterioration in the physical performance of the toughened glass, because of the nature of the toughening process, distortion will be accentuated, when the glass is viewed in reflection, or incorporated in insulated glass units.

  Visual double reflection can occur under certain lighting aspect conditions, especially when viewed from an angle. This is an optical phenomenon arising from multiple surface reflections in sealed units.

  The manufacture of flat laminated glass does not usually effect the visual quality of the glass incorporated in insulated glass units. However, the faults generally accepted in paragraph 3 may be increased in number if several glasses and interlayers are used, in the protection of laminated glass. When viewed under certain light conditions, insulated glass units incorporating clear or tinted flat laminated glass, may show a distortion effect caused by reflection on the multiple surfaces of the components of the laminated glass. Note: Patterned glass – the above criteria does not apply to patterned glass, due to the method of manufacture. Imperfections such as seeds and bubbles are deemed to be acceptable.

  Edge condition Smooth ground edges giving a flat profile with small ground arris, shells or chips at edges will be ground out prior to toughening and do not constitute a reason for rejection.

  Corners may be dubbed. Some variation in edgework may be discernible on exposed edges where different machine and/or hand forming is a requirement for manufacture. Such variations shall be kept to a minimum.

• External Condensation

  If you are concerned about external condensation, please read this article from Pilkington Glass.

  We receive a lot of enquiries about the appearance of external condensation particularly in the spring and autumn. Whilst we state in our literature that fitting modern low glazing increases the chances of external condensation, it does seem to surprise many customers. Firstly we need to say that the appearance of external condensation is not a fault in the glass or the windows. The phenomenon is a natural and predictable event caused by the outer pane of the glazing being colder that the glass that it replaced.

  With single glazing and older style double glazing a larger proportion of heat was lost to the outside through the glass. With modern low e glass products more of the heat is kept inside and the outer pane is not heated as much. Moisture condenses out of the air onto a cold surface that is said to be below the dew point. The dew point varies with the air temperature and the amount of moisture it contains. In spring and autumn in particular the glass temperature can fall to a low level during the night and the dew point can be comparatively high in these seasons. The glass is more often likely to be below the dew point in these conditions and the moisture condenses onto the surface.

  We are all obliged to fit more thermally efficient windows in our homes to comply with the building regulations. There are only a few exceptions to the regulations and they tend to apply to unheated spaces that would suffer external condensation to the same extent anyway. The trend is to use glass that has lower U values over time and the lower the U value the lower the outer pane temperature is likely to be and the bigger the risk of condensation on the external surface. In northern European countries where they use triple glazing with very low U values the phenomenon is understood and accepted. The householders are focused on saving energy and maintaining a comfortable internal environment.

  There is not much that can be done to avoid the risk of condensation to the outside. Heating the room more would have an effect but this understandably is not a good option. In many cases the condensation does not last long. A little heat from the sun warms the outer glass enough to evaporate the moisture and a gentle breeze or wind will do the same job. Self-cleaning glass is as prone to condensation as any other glass but the properties of this product means it doesn’t allow the water to form beads on the surface of the glass and so you don’t see the effect to the same degree.

  You may notice that not all of the panes are affected by early morning condensation even in the same window. Even subtle differences in orientation and the position of objects outside the window can change the surface temperature of the glass to the point that one pane suffers and another does not. Any object (be it an overhang, canopy, tree etc.) blocking off the window to a clear night sky will also have the effect reduced or eliminated.

  A plus point is the knowledge that your windows are keeping the heat in as they are designed to do thus proving that you have a superior insulating glass product.

  If you are experiencing condensation to the inside of the room or there is condensation between the panes of glass then there may be a different problem. Misting between the panes indicates a seal failure and the glass should be replaced. Misting inside the room may be as a result of a failed unit seal but is more likely to be the humidity or moisture content of the air in the room being very high, e.g. from a bathroom or kitchen. Bottled gas heaters produce a lot of moisture and even breathing expels enough moisture in an unventilated space to cause the formation of condensation. Increasing the ventilation to such spaces helps control the problem.

  The presence of external condensation in a particular season does not mean that the glass will suffer the same throughout the year. Any occurrence is beyond the control of the window supplier and is a natural result of the environmental conditions.