The International Window Cleaners Association (IWCA) and Glass Association of North America (GANA) the have partnered together to provide an updated edition of the Proper Procedures for Cleaning Architectural Glass Products Glass Informational Bulletin (GIB). Architectural glass products play a major role in the comfort of the living and working environment of today’s homes and commercial office spaces by providing natural daylight, views of the surroundings, thermal comfort and design aesthetics.Read More
This is in interesting for sure. I suppose it is a step in the right direction, but at the same time doesn’t feel right. It does not address the issue or cause of scratched glass (hold the glass industry responsible or accountable); Fabricating debris. In a way it begs the question: why do we feel the need to get approval from the glass industry as to how to clean glass? Isn’t that our job? Shouldn’t we decide ourselves what is acceptable procedure and what isn’t?
As far as I am concerned we were in the right side to begin with and had no need to answer for our procedures. It was the glass industry that caused the problem with scratched glass and it was their problem to solve not ours. The procedures our industry has been using has worked for as long as the industry has been in place. The glass industry has failed to perfect their process to produce quality glass. This is not our problem to solve. As far as we should be concerned it is not our problem. It seems to me that the glass industry is looking for us to adopt different procedures to compensate for their problem. As far as we should be concerned, as long as we have a waiver signed we are not responsible for the defective product put out by some glass manufacturers. IT seems more like an effort on the part of the glass industry to alleviate themselves from any liability.
At first glance this may seem like a positive step but I think in the long run it hinders our industry and gives up protections that we had in place that eliminated us from any liability. It seems to take on more liability and responsibility that was not ours, and should not be ours, in the first place
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I liked this part:
“The end result is real world cleaning guidelines that will assist in maintaining the integrity of architectural glass surfaces. However, the document does not address the rampant cranial rectal inversion of actual architectural designs."
And I absolutely agree with this part:
“GANA’s Tempering Division members are pleased to announce the publication of the Proper Procedures for Cleaning Architectural Glass GIB. This updated document was a joint effort between IWCA and GANA. The joint group has worked hard to put together a usable document for the entire glazing industry. Except Old Castle. Screw those guys.”
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Its almost like the IWCA was falling all over themselves to be recognized by GANA.
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Unfortunately GANA holds more weight than the iwca. The reality seems to be that due to the types of glass that are being manufactured, that are desired and sometimes required, there doesn’t seem to be a sure fire way to stop fabricating debris. Maybe there’s a way to retool a manufacturing facility, but how many millions is that, or is it possible?
I will say this, I am seeing more and more that glass is being delivered with a thick plastic coating on it and is being kept on the glass until the final clean. We have one construction company we work for and they won’t accept any windows without this plastic film on them and now only uses manufactures that put the put the film on them. When we show up, we literally are just pulling plastic film off the glass, scrubbing the frames, and doing a standard cleaning on the glass. It’s not full proof, sometimes the film tears or whatever, but its pretty good.
I don’t see any reason why we are doing “new construction” cleaning at this point. GANA should release a guideline to manufacturers that basically states that all new glass should have a protective film put on the glass by them until it is removed by the owner of the glass.
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But then GANA would release a procedure on how to remove the plastic to avoid creating a defect in the glass. Or some stupid thing.
This issue of fabricating debris on tempered glass and problems with newer types of glass being put out are separate issues. Scratched glass due to fabricating debris is a cleaning issue. From what I understand the glass is not being cleaned properly and or the rollers need to be cleaned of fabricating debris so it doesn’t transfer to the glass before being treated. It is not an industry wide problem as some manufacturers have addressed the issue with their process. The problem with not addressing the fabricating debris issue is that now the unsuspecting home or building owner has defective glass. Anytime the glass is soiled and needs a razor blade to remove debris (paint, dirt, seeds etc.) then the homeowner is stuck with the problem.
The problem with their new cleaning standard is that it ties our hands. It states that a razor blade is not necessary and should not be used to maintain the cleanliness of the glass which is not true. Even cleaning the glass on a quarterly bases stuff gets on the glass that needs a razor blade to remove. Now the IWCA, who would seemingly represent the window cleaning industry to those outside the trade (those inside the trade never elected them as their representative), has created an official document, presumably on our behalf, that states Razor blades are not necessary or should not be used to regularly maintain clean glass. This posses a major problem. Now if we use a Razor blade and scratch glass on a maintenance clean, even with a waiver, this document calls into question our procedures as the culprit. Before a waiver would protect us and hold the manufacturer accountable or at the very least alleviate us from any negligence.
This is now a major liability for all window cleaners. If you think one document doesn’t matter think again. The one document put out by the head of the glass industry years ago, stating and outlining that fabricating debris was an issue in the glass industry, has been used by Dan Fields to win almost every court case that has involved thousands of Dollars. That one document has been the Achilles heal for the glass industry on this issue and our shield of protection from liability.
The way it looks to me is that the glass industry has given us a Trojan horse. They have duped the IWCA into creating an official document that will serve as our Achilles heal and a shield for the glass industry. The IWCA sold out every window cleaner for a bowl of stew. Their desire to be recognized as an official industry and to be crowned head of that industry has enticed them to give away our protection! Meanwhile glass industry is walking away with a smile.
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I guess I’m not as concerned with it because we don’t use scrapers to clean currently, on maintenance cleans.
the IWCA is irrelevant these days
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I wouldn’t say they are irrelevant, they are still the main organization that works with OSHA policy affecting our industry. Like it or not, that’s pretty important. No other group is working on these issues with government agencies.
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That’s exactly my point Kyle. To most of us inside the industry we recognize that they are not a controlling organization in our industry. However to those outside our industry looking in, their the best candidate to set industry wide standards. In a court of law I think this new document would be viewed as an industry standard, even though the majority of our industry may not feel they speak for our industry.
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Mshramek as far as using razors on maintenance cleans that would be true for the majority of commercial work but the issue would boil down to how you defines maintenance clean. The document some what leaves that open to interpretation which does not leave us with an airtight case. Its never a big deal until you get sued. Most people who have found themselves in court never thought it was a big deal either. A former business partner was sued by a customer after a clean and they didn’t scratch the glass. The scratches were already there before the clean. They ended up having to resurface all of her glass at his own expense. Contrary to how some might think it is an important issue and we had the upper hand until this new document has undercut that solid footing. I guarantee the glass industry doesn’t see it as a small issue, otherwise why would they be giving the IWCA the time of day and even more by going as far as to create a cooperative document to set outline procedures for both industries.
Does anyone think the glass industry would be wasting their time with this if the document meant nothing to them? Of course it means something. I guarantee they see it as an official cooperative standard between both industries to use in future efforts to settle disputes in and out of court. The glass industry has lost a lot of money due to lost court cases over glass scratch lawsuits and customer claims, so much so that they feel the need to validate the glass industry with a cooperative document. In the past they wouldn’t have given the window cleaning industry the time of day other than giving their own standards they feel we need to abide by.
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I see the IWCA doing more for the highrise industry. Those of us doing residential or storefronts…zero
I have mixed opinions about what they are doing with the high rise industry. The guy who was heading up their safety training course had the goal of trying to impose regulations on the industry and his ultimate goal was to unionize the industry. It stunk of a desire to use his knowledge to become a fat cat making money off of regulating everyone else while he could retire to a lazy boy recliner and push a pen around while everyone else worked much harder to pay their dues as well as their house payment.
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