The Science and Technology Division of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently released the final draft and notes of 19 mandatory national standards (including a revised list). Among them, the “Flat Glass” for the building materials industry and the “Technical Specifications for the Safety of Motor Vehicle Glass” for the automotive industry are also included for approval.

It is understood that the new “Flat Glass” standard will replace the GB 11614-2009 “Flat Glass”. The proposed implementation date is 6 months after the approval. Compared with GB 11614-2009 “Flat Glass”, in addition to the editorial revisions, the major technical changes of the new standard draft are as follows: addition of the definition of iridescence; change of the classification to classification and grades; products are divided into qualified product, first-class product and superior product according to the quality of the appearance. The three grades are modified to ordinary grade and high-quality processing grade; change of requirements on optical distortion; change of the thickness deviation and thickness difference; change of the minimum value and allowed number of spot defects; change of transmittance deviation and color uniformity requirements on the tinted flat glass; addition of requirements, inspection methods, and determination guidelines of iridescence.

As a product, flat glass products have their unique characteristics. They can be used directly or as the raw material for subsequent processing. The quality requirements for direct use and further processing are indeed different. Taking into account the difference in usage, cost and quality, this revision divides the product quality into ordinary grade and high-quality processing grade. The grading and requirements provide the limitation and guidance. Customers may choose products according to their own needs while manufacturing enterprises can position their products based on their own situations.