Standards & Compliance — Glass Railings in Quebec

Balconies, decks and terraces

When a guard is required

A guard is mandatory as soon as a balcony, deck or veranda sits more than 600 mm (24 in) above the ground.

Minimum heights

Openings

No opening in the guard may allow a 100 mm (4 in) sphere to pass. This includes the gap beneath the glass panel and the gap between the glass and the top rail when the panel is set back — a detail that is routinely missed on glass installations and routinely flagged by inspectors.

Climbability

No element between 140 mm and 900 mm may be usable as a foothold. This is where glass wins outright: a full panel offers nothing for a child to climb.

Interior railings

Stairs, landings, mezzanines and open floor edges all require guards. Inside a dwelling the minimum is 900 mm (36 in); 1,070 mm (42 in) applies elsewhere. The 100 mm opening rule applies exactly the same indoors — including under the bottom edge of the panel.

Pools — a completely separate regulation

Pool enclosures are governed by the Regulation respecting the safety of residential swimming pools, not the Construction Code. It applies to any pool where the water can reach 60 cm (24 in) — in-ground, above-ground, and even removable pools.

• • Enclosure of at least 1.2 m in height
• • No opening may allow a 10 cm sphere to pass — including decorative openings
• • The enclosure must not be climbable. Hedges and shrubs do not qualify as an enclosure
• • Every gate must have a passive safety device that closes and latches it automatically — installed either on the inside of the enclosure in the upper portion of the gate, or on the outside at a minimum height of 1.5 m
• • No climbable structure or equipment within 1 m of the pool wall or the enclosure
• • A municipal permit is required for the pool and its installations, including the enclosure

The September 30, 2027 deadline

Pools installed before November 1, 2010 were grandfathered for years. That exemption is ending: owners now have until September 30, 2027 to bring their installation into compliance. Non-compliant installations are subject to fines.

Tempered glass panels are a strong answer to this rule — nothing to climb, no gaps, and unlike a chain-link or ornamental fence, it doesn't take your view away.

Important: a pool enclosure and a guard are not the same thing. If your deck is attached to the pool, both sets of rules can apply at once — 1,070 mm on the open side, self-latching gate on the water side.

The glass itself

Not all glass is legal in a railing.

• • Safety glass only — tempered or laminated, meeting CAN/CGSB-12.1
• • Laminated glass is the stronger choice in high-traffic areas and in guards without a continuous top rail: if a tempered panel fails, it leaves an opening — a laminated panel stays in place
• • Glass must be engineered for load, calculated to CAN/CGSB-12.20-M, and the guard must resist the horizontal, concentrated and top-rail loads set out in the Code
• • CSA A500 Guards is not referenced in Quebec's Construction Code, but it is a recognized design standard with mandatory testing — we use it as our benchmark
• • Marine-grade stainless hardware, because Quebec winters punish anything less

Chipped or cracked panels cannot be installed. Ever.

Permits and licensing

Permits. Municipalities enforce the Construction Code on single-family homes through their own building bylaws, and many are stricter than the provincial minimum. A permit is required before work begins on a pool enclosure, and often for deck and balcony work as well. We tell you what your city requires before we start.

Licensing. Guard and railing work requires an RBQ licence — subclass 5.2, Metalwork Contractor, which explicitly covers guards, railings, balconies and stairs. Ask any contractor for their licence number and check it in the RBQ licence holders' registry before you sign anything.

Our licence: RBQ 5742-4152-01

Documentation. Every installation we complete comes with the panel specifications, the anchor details and photos showing measured heights. Years later, when a buyer's inspector asks, you have the file.

Glass certification

Our safety glass — tempered and laminated — is SGCC certified (Safety Glazing Certification Council), compliant with ANSI Z97.1 and CAN/CGSB-12.1.

Paint process attestation — electrostatic powder coating

We certify that our paint process relies on advanced electrostatic powder spray technology, delivering a finish that is uniform, durable and resistant to mechanical and environmental stress.

1. Treatment process

Parts undergo degreasing and a ceramic treatment in a temperature-controlled bath. This process ensures optimal cleanliness in every season and builds a protective film on the surface before paint is applied.

2. Surface preparation

After the ceramic treatment, parts are placed in a sealed drying oven, guaranteeing the complete removal of moisture and ensuring perfect adhesion of the coating.

3. Paint application

Parts are then moved into a spray booth. Using a high-voltage electrostatic generator, the powder is ionized and projected onto the surface of the parts under the effect of an electrostatic field. This technology ensures a uniform, even coating.

We use an automatic ring electrostatic spray machine, giving the powder optimal adhesion to the surface of the parts through electrostatic action. The powder is then polymerized by high-temperature curing to form a final coating that offers:

• • High mechanical resistance
• • Strong adhesion
• • Excellent resistance to corrosion and aging
• • Different finishes depending on the powder type used

4. Curing and polymerization

We use an imported gas heating system combined with a thermal circulation fan. This system guarantees a uniform temperature in our 60-metre-long oven, with variation under 5°C, ensuring perfectly consistent color and finish.

The polymerization process includes four essential steps: powder melting, layer leveling, gelling and final polymerization.

5. Quality control

After cooling, every part undergoes rigorous inspection. We test in particular for:

• • Coating thickness
• • Gloss and color uniformity
• • Hardness and impact resistance
• • Adhesion
• • Resistance to salt fog and corrosive agents

The paint process follows a rigorous sequence — hanging the parts, degreasing, cleaning, ceramic treatment, cleaning, drying, electrostatic powder spraying, curing and polymerization, cooling, unloading the parts, then quality inspection — to guarantee a coating of superior quality, meeting the strictest requirements for performance and durability.

Frequently asked questions