A qualitative assessment of fire hazard posed by laminated glass balcony balustrades was carried out through an in-depth analysis of empirical evidence from six (6) past balcony fires with glass balustrades to deduce the type of glass used and understand the mechanism for fire spread in these fire scenarios. Post-fire conditions of these balconies were studied based on their post-breakage integrity and presence of decolourisation/delamination in order to determine the type of glass used in these balconies. A visual observation of the overall fire spread during the fire and extent of damage post-fire was then carried out to determine whether there was a correlation between the type of glass used and the extent of fire spread. It was found that fire spread was mainly driven by combustible materials around the balcony construction as the fire damage on the balustrades was limited to the area in the vicinity of the combustible materials and the balustrade glass did not contribute to the fire. Given the current regulatory framework in England that limits the use of laminated glass in balcony balustrades from a fire safety perspective despite its architectural benefits and structural safety, this study shows that there is no evidence that the use of laminated glass would constitute a fire hazard when used as glazed balcony balustrading.

通过深入分析过去六 (6) 次使用玻璃栏杆发生的阳台火灾的经验证据，对夹层玻璃阳台栏杆造成的火灾危险进行了定性评估，以推断所使用的玻璃类型并了解火灾蔓延的机制这些火灾场景。根据这些阳台的破损后完整性和脱色/分层的存在，研究了这些阳台的火灾后条件，以确定这些阳台中使用的玻璃类型。然后目视观察火灾期间的整体火势蔓延和火灾后的损坏程度，以确定所使用的玻璃类型与火势蔓延程度之间是否存在相关性。结果发现，火势蔓延主要是由阳台建筑周围的可燃材料引起的，因为栏杆的火灾损害仅限于可燃材料附近的区域，而栏杆玻璃并没有助长火灾。鉴于英格兰目前的监管框架从消防安全的角度限制在阳台栏杆中使用夹层玻璃，尽管它具有建筑优势和结构安全性，但本研究表明，没有证据表明在以下情况下使用夹层玻璃会构成火灾危险用作玻璃阳台栏杆。