A broken storefront pane isn’t always a simple glass replacement. If the panel is in a door, beside an entrance, or close to the finished floor, ordinary glass may be unsuitable even when the new pane matches the old one in size.
Not every storefront pane must be tempered, and not every replacement qualifies as like-for-like. Las Vegas storefront safety glass code requirements depend on the pane’s location, exposure to people, product marking, and building jurisdiction.
Identify the Governing Code & Glazing Location
First identify the authority having jurisdiction, then assess the glass location. A storefront in the City of Las Vegas and one in unincorporated Clark County can be subject to different adopted code editions and local amendments, even though both address hazardous glazing locations.
The City of Las Vegas lists the 2024 International Building Code among its currently adopted building codes. Clark County’s adopted 2024 Building Code includes Chapter 24, Glass and Glazing, with Section 2406 covering impact requirements and hazardous locations. The Clark County dimensions below can help identify conditions that need review, but they shouldn’t be treated as current City of Las Vegas requirements without confirming the applicable code and amendments.
Safety glazing is glass or another glazing product tested to resist human impact and break more safely than ordinary annealed glass. The key question isn’t simply whether a panel belongs to a storefront. It’s whether someone could reasonably walk into, fall against, or strike that pane.
Storefront glass also has design requirements beyond impact resistance. Vertical glazing must be designed for applicable wind loads, while glazed storefronts, curtain walls, and glazed partitions must meet applicable seismic requirements. A replacement that changes the pane size, framing, glass make-up, or system loading needs broader review than a pane-for-pane exchange.
Door Glass & Nearby Panels Are Common Hazard Zones
Glass in storefront doors and nearby sidelites presents a clear impact risk. Under Clark County Building Code Section 2406.4.1, fixed and operable panels in swinging, sliding, and bifold doors are hazardous locations, subject to limited exceptions.
For a panel beside a door, measure from the door’s vertical edge. Clark County Section 2406.4.2 identifies a panel as hazardous when its nearest vertical edge falls within a 24-inch arc of either vertical door edge and its bottom exposed edge is less than 60 inches above the walking surface. This condition commonly includes full-height sidelites next to storefront doors.
A quick field review should include:
- Confirm whether the pane is in a swinging, sliding, or bifold door.
- Measure the pane’s nearest vertical edge in relation to each edge of the door.
- Measure from the finished walking surface to the pane’s bottom exposed edge.
- Check for a permanent certification mark before assuming the existing material complies.
Limited exceptions include certain decorative glazing and openings too small for a 3-inch sphere to pass through. These exceptions are narrow. Evaluate a full-height sidelite or broad glazed door panel as a likely safety-glazing location rather than assuming it’s exempt.
Measure Low & Large Storefront Windows
A storefront pane doesn’t have to touch a door to require safety glazing. Under the Clark County provisions, an individual window pane is a hazardous location when all four conditions below apply:
- The pane exceeds 9 square feet in exposed area.
- The bottom edge is less than 18 inches above the floor.
- The top edge is more than 36 inches above the floor.
- A walking surface is within 36 inches of the glazing.
These measurements matter for low display windows, floor-level glass walls, and storefront panels along interior circulation paths. A large pane with a low bottom edge beside a sidewalk, lobby floor, or sales floor warrants an impact-safety review before replacement glass is selected.
Requirements for guards and railings are more direct. Glass used in guards, including structural baluster panels and nonstructural infill panels, is considered hazardous regardless of pane area or height above the floor. Chapter 24 also addresses wet surfaces and stairways, which can affect glass partitions near entries, interior stairs, and amenity areas.
These dimensions are screening tools, not substitutes for project-specific review. Record the pane size, bottom and top heights, and distance to the nearby floor or path, then provide those details to the glazing contractor and building department when the scope is unclear.
Confirm Glass Performance & Permanent Markings
Tempered glass is a common form of safety glazing, but it isn’t the only qualifying choice. It’s heat-treated to break into small fragments, while laminated glass uses an interlayer to help hold broken pieces together. Either type can satisfy a safety-glazing application when the complete product meets the required impact-performance standard.
Clark County generally requires products installed in hazardous areas to meet CPSC 16 CFR Part 1201 Category II impact criteria unless the code indicates otherwise. Glazing outside doors and wet-area enclosures can instead meet ANSI Z97.1 Class A criteria in circumstances allowed by the code. Product selection should account for the storefront’s appearance, framing system, wind and seismic design, and required performance, not merely the word tempered on an estimate.
The installed pane should carry a permanent manufacturer designation identifying who applied the mark and which standard the product meets. Look near a corner or edge for an etched, ceramic-fired, embossed, laser-etched, or similar permanent mark. A removable sticker doesn’t serve the same purpose.
Before Ordering Replacement Glass
Photograph any existing label, measure the pane and its relation to doors or floors, and determine whether the glass is part of an insulated unit, fire-resistive assembly, guard, or framed storefront system. These details help prevent ordering glass that fits the opening but fails to meet the project’s requirements.
Plan Repairs Around Permits & Storefront Design
Describing a repair as like-for-like doesn’t automatically make it permit-exempt. Clark County exempts limited window-glazing replacement only when the replacement is the same size, type, and thickness, requires no wall or frame modification, isn’t part of a fire-resistive assembly, and isn’t required to be safety glazed. If impact-rated glass is required, the exemption doesn’t apply.
Permit rules are jurisdiction-specific. For commercial construction in the City of Las Vegas, only a Nevada-licensed contractor or registered design professional may obtain a building permit. A project involving altered framing, a changed storefront layout, a new door system, structural glass, or a curtain wall should be defined with the authority having jurisdiction and appropriate project professionals before fabrication begins.
A glass replacement must also work with the rest of the storefront system. Front-load and center-load aluminum systems, curtain wall systems, door hardware, framing pockets, and glass thickness all affect what can be installed. Wind and seismic design may control the required make-up even when the pane is outside an impact zone.
Since 1985, our glaziers organized through Glaziers Local 2001 have worked with owners, architects, and general contractors on custom storefront systems. For questions about a planned storefront replacement, call Davis Glass & Mirror at (702) 819-8452 to discuss the glass and framing scope.