Guide
The vanity is a guard, not a style note
Housing Provisions 8.4.6 lets some bathroom mirrors be annealed — if the bench is high enough, deep enough and as wide as the pane. Most tall panes fail that test.
At a glance
The useful facts before the deep dive
This is the long version of the mirror hub. The vanity exception is copied more often than it is measured.
The sentence
8.4.6 allows monolithic annealed glass for mirrors provided a fixed vanity or bench with a height of not less than 760 mm, a depth of not less than 300 mm, and extending the full width of the mirror, is located in front of the mirror. A 400 mm shelf under a 1800 mm pane fails. A mirror that continues past the basin needs a decision about the whole pane.
If the exception fails
Treat the pane as bathroom glazing: framed Grade A to Table 8.4.2, or exposed-edge toughened to Table 8.4.6 at a minimum 6 mm. Ask for the 8.4.8 mark.
Doors that are mirrors
Wardrobe doors and cavity sliders are doors under 8.4.2. Unframed doors other than shower or bath enclosures pick up the 10 mm rule. Silvering does not change that. Film is not automatically Grade A.
Furniture versus fabric
AS 1288 does not cover furniture glass. A pane silicone’d to a stud wall is not furniture. If people can walk into it, also read 8.4.4 and 8.4.7.
Measure the bench, then the glass, then decide if you need a joint. Then ask about the moisture-resistant lining.
Common mix-ups on bathroom mirrors and safety glass
- Using a rail as a vanity.
- Calling film Grade A.
- Treating a wardrobe mirror as décor.
None of those mix-ups are solved by a nicer render. They are solved by naming a clause.
Questions to put on the drawing
- Bench height, depth, width versus glass width.
- Door or wall pane.
- Mark if it is safety glass.
If the practitioner cannot answer those in writing, you do not yet have a specification for bathroom mirrors and safety glass. You have a conversation.
Sources this page is allowed to lean on
Public pages only: Housing Provisions 8.4, Housing Provisions 11.3 when a fall is involved, Volume One B1D4 when the assembly type is in dispute, AS 1288:2021 as described by Standards Australia, and the NCC referenced documents for the AS/NZS 1170 series. We do not invent a thickness for a “normal” house.
The hub stays the map. This guide is the tape-measure note.
This URL is on purpose. The archive already taught people to look here. The sentences are new. The footer disclaimer still applies: general information, not professional advice, and other people’s marks stay other people’s marks.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (1)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (2)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (3)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (4)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (5)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (6)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (7)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Reading order for Bathroom mirrors and safety glass (8)
Read the matching hub first if you arrived here cold. Then read this page for the noun in the URL. Then open safety standards and keep it beside the drawing. Then write the clause on the request for quote. Then let a licensed practitioner correct you. That loop is the method of this rebuild, and it is the only way Bathroom mirrors and safety glass stays honest.
If you are writing a trades or home guest post, cite the ABCB or Standards Australia URL, not a memory of this paragraph. If you are a homeowner, do not treat this extra section as a certificate. It exists so the heritage path is a real guide rather than a stub. The facts still live in 8.4, 11.3 and B1D4.
Questions homeowners ask
What visitors always ask
Each answer starts with the point, then the useful detail.
Can a bathroom mirror be annealed?
Yes, if a fixed vanity or bench at least 760 mm high, 300 mm deep and the full width of the mirror sits in front of the mirror, as 8.4.6 states.
Does a mirrored cabinet door use the vanity exception?
A cabinet door is still a door. 8.4.2 and 8.4.6 both have things to say. Do not assume the vanity sentence covers a hinged door.
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