Where commercial glass differs from domestic
The glass itself is often the least complicated part. What changes on a commercial job is everything around it: the building is a workplace, the public walks past it, there is a lease and a body corporate involved, and every hour the tenancy cannot trade costs money. That drives three practical differences.
First, security comes before appearance. A broken shopfront gets cleared and boarded immediately, because an open retail frontage overnight in a strip like Sydney Road or Chapel Street is an invitation. Second, most commercial glass is ordered rather than stocked, because the panels are large and laminated. Third, installs get scheduled around trading, which usually means before opening or after close.
The work that comes up
- Shopfront glass — panels, entry doors, sliding and framed systems, plus make-safe.
- Emergency board-ups after break-ins, ram raids, storm damage and vandalism.
- Office and consulting-room partitions and smart privacy glass, where a room needs to be open and then not open.
- Balustrades on mezzanines, stairs and terraces in offices, gyms and hospitality.
- Glass roofs, awnings and skylights over atriums, walkways and courtyards.
- Mirrors at scale for gyms, dance studios, hotels and fitouts.
- Scratch and graffiti removal, which for a commercial landlord is often the difference between polishing a panel and buying a new one.
Graffiti, etching and the anti-graffiti option
Acid etching and scratch tagging on shopfront glass is a running cost for retail across inner Melbourne, and replacing a full laminated panel each time is expensive. Light scratching and many acid tags can be polished out by a specialist, which restores the surface for a fraction of the replacement cost. There are limits: polishing removes material, so deep gouges, tags near the edge of a panel and anything on toughened glass need assessing first for distortion and breakage risk.
The preventative version is sacrificial anti-graffiti film applied over the glass. When the panel gets tagged the film comes off and a new layer goes on, and the glass underneath is untouched. It is worth costing on any frontage that has been hit more than once.
Compliance and the standard
AS 1288 covers commercial glazing the same way it covers homes, and it is stricter in public areas: entry doors, side panels, full-height glazing and anything people can walk into need grade A safety glass, and overhead glazing needs laminated so that a failure does not shower the space below. New installations comply as a matter of course; the risk sits in older tenancies where a previous fitout put in glass that would not be allowed today.
For anything urgent, ring 03 4231 9939. For planned work, the full service list and the cost guide are the places to start, and residential jobs are handled separately.
Frequently asked questions
Can a shopfront be made safe overnight and glazed later?
That is the normal sequence. Shopfront panels are large, heavy and almost always laminated, so they are ordered to size rather than carried on a vehicle. The opening is cleared and boarded the same night so the tenancy is secure, and the replacement panel is fitted on a booked visit, often before trading hours to avoid closing the shop.
What glass is required in a shopfront?
Shopfront glazing must be grade A safety glass under AS 1288, and laminated is the usual choice because it stays in the frame when it breaks and it resists a second blow. A minimum laminated thickness of 6.38mm is the common specification for shopfront windows. Larger panels and exposed sites go heavier again based on the span and wind loading.
Do you work outside trading hours?
Yes, and for most retail work it is the only sensible option. Installs are commonly scheduled early morning, evening or Sunday so the floor is clear and customers are not walking past a glazier on a lifter. Say so when booking, because early starts need to be planned around building access and any centre management rules.