Is laminated glass the same as tempered glass?
No. Tempered (toughened) glass is a single pane heat-treated to be stronger, which breaks into many small pieces. Laminated glass is two or more panes bonded with a plastic interlayer that holds the fragments together if the glass breaks. Laminated glass can be made from annealed, heat-strengthened or tempered panes. For barriers and overhead glazing, it is the ability to hold together after breaking that matters most.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in Tempered Glass Breakage and Glass Railings in Singapore: Nickel Sulphide, Heat-Soak Testing and BCA Barrier Rules. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
Tempered glass can shatter without impact, months or years after installation, when a tiny nickel sulphide inclusion expands inside the glass. Heat-soak testing to EN 14179-1 reduces but does not eliminate this risk. In Singapore, BCA's acceptable solution requires glass in barriers to be laminated, barriers to be at least 1.0 m high, and tempered glass at height 2.4 m or more to be protected.
More questions on this topic
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