What the code asks of glazing
Radiant heat breaks glass before flame arrives. The wildland urban interface code asks for multi-pane units with at least one tempered pane, or glass block, or a rated assembly, and frames that are ignition resistant or noncombustible. Tempered glass resists the heat that shatters annealed glass; the second pane keeps the room sealed if the outer one fails. We specify that on every window and every glazed door in Malibu, Topanga, and the Palisades.
The opening is the job, not the unit
Most windows that fail in a fire fail at the frame, the flashing, or the gap between the unit and the wall. That is a builder's problem, not a glazier's. We install the sill pan, the flashing, and the air seal, and we detail how the frame meets the siding or stucco so there is no gap for an ember to sit in. On a rebuild the openings are drawn with the wall assembly. On a standing home we open the wall, fix what is behind it, and close it properly.
Exterior doors and garage doors
Entry doors, sliders, and multi-slide systems in aluminum, steel, or fiberglass with tempered multi-pane glass. Solid core or metal clad where the code asks for it. Garage doors are their own trade and they are ours too: see garage doors.
Keeping your windows: the film alternative
If replacement is not in the budget yet, safety film on the interior glass is the retrofit. It holds broken glass in place the way a laminated interlayer does, keeping embers and heat out after the outer pane cracks. It is not a code-rated laminated unit and we say so. Film on a sealed insulated unit can affect the window maker's glass warranty; the film installer's warranty stands in from then on. See fire retrofits.
One crew for the envelope
Windows, doors, cladding, vents, eaves, the five foot zone, and the fence that touches the house are one envelope. We build all of it, so the window frame and the wall it sits in are detailed by the same people. See fire hardening and Zone Zero fences and gates.
Questions we get about windows and doors
What does the fire code require of windows in Malibu?
The California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, which absorbed Chapter 7A on January 1, 2026, asks for tempered multi-pane glazing in exterior windows, with at least one tempered pane, and ignition resistant or noncombustible frames. Every window we install in Malibu meets that as the baseline.
Can I keep my current windows and still harden them?
Yes. A clear safety film applied to the interior glass holds broken glass in place the way a laminated interlayer does. It is a retrofit, not a code-rated laminated unit, and film on a sealed insulated unit can affect the window maker's glass warranty. Details on the fire retrofits page.
Do you do the whole opening or just the unit?
The whole opening. The unit, the flashing, the sill pan, and the wall on both sides. Most window failures in a fire are at the frame and the flashing, not the glass, so we do not hand that part off.