DTI to revise product standard on flat glass to enhance quality

The Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Product Standards (DTI-BPS) is revising the Philippine National Standard (PNS) on flat glass to enhance the quality and global competitiveness of these products.

The new flat glass standards would provide stakeholders with a nationally-accepted guide that would serve as basis for fair competition, the DTI said.

Trade and Industry Secretary Juan B. Santos said with the present industry trends, the DTI sees the need to revise the standard on flat glass to provide manufacturers and importers an updated reference standard to enable them to compete globally.

"The new standards would ensure consumers that flat glass products such as mirrors, doors, windows and tables they commonly use at home or in the office are reliable and will not easily break or cause untoward incidents," BPS director Jesus Motoomull added.

Flat glass products are primarily used for mirrors, coatings, glazing, special application and general architectural, residential and commercial construction.

These products are known by their process of manufacture as sheet, polished plate glass, float or patterned glass.

The BPS Technical Committee on Glass and Glass Products (BPS/TC 28) has prepared a new flat glass specification which covers the quality requirements of annealed, monolithic flat glass of rectangular shape supplied as cut sizes or stock sheets.

It also specifies the quality requirements of flat, transparent, clear and tinted glass having glossy, apparently plane and smooth surfaces, patterned or wired glasses.

As specified, flat glasses are classified into two types namely, transparent flat glass (Type I) and patterned and wired flat glass (Type II).

The thickness tolerance, distortion level and surface blemishes or inclusions are some of the significant parameters that determines the quality of flat glass.

In the revised standard, the third type of flat glass (rolled) was deleted as this type is already covered in Type II.

The standard requires manufacturers of flat glass products to mark the package of their products with the manufacturer’s name and address, trademark, quality level, dimensions (length, width, thickness), net volume, net mass, and quantity in box.

"Due to several consumer complaints received by the bureau regarding the breakage of flat glass during handling and installation, BPS has undertaken a review of the standard and recommended it for mandatory implementation," Motoomul said.

The Bureau is presently preparing the Department Administration Order and the implementing guidelines for the mandatory implementation of the revised PNS on flat glass," Motoomull said.

Under the BPS product certification scheme, manufacturers and importers are required to have their products tested at the BPS Testing Center or any BPS-accredited or BPS-recognized laboratory prior to sale.

Only those manufacturers or importers whose products passed the tests are issued with the PS license and the ICC.

Inclusion of flat glass products in the BPS mandatory product certification ensures consumers that the flat glass products sold in the market are safe and reliable.

The move would also curtail the proliferation of substandard flat glass in the market.