from my experience about your only real option is all new glass or sash.Taking apart the glass you have now and appling a piece of tempered and resealing the IG unit is not much of an option as far as I know.

Sigh. So as a wildly uneducated guess, I'm thinking that putting on a storm window with tempered glass will satisfy the requirements, and it sounds less expensive than buying a new replacement sash, right? Thanks for your advice!

I have no idea if a storm unit will pass, did they tell you it would?

No, I think we're all afraid to ask the inspector, or even bring it up to the building office, since it's a small town! I just pulled up the code that talked about this, and that's all the requirements mentioned:

704A.3.2.2 Exterior glazing and windowwalls. Exterior
windows, window walls, glazed doors, and glazed openings
within exterior doors shall be insulating-glass units
with a minimum of one tempered pane, or glass block
units, or have a fire-resistance rating of not less than 20
minutes, when tested according to ASTM E 2010, or conform
to the performance requirements ofSFM12-7A-2.

I have the same situation! just installed allnew windows plus an addition. now i cant move aheads until I fiw my milgard windows. I would think the salesman would have advised me that these windows are nolonger legal.

Juniork- For the WUI issue you can temper either piece of glass, I would get new insulated units and have them installed with the correct glass but the storm window option is interesting. I'm guessing they would deny it because it's not permanent and could be removed.
Val- It's tough for a salesman to get it right unless he was working off a set of plans that had it marked on them. If you gave him a window schedule that you made up then he probably wouldn't know. One block could be WUI but across the street it's not required.

Ok, I am a builder and I get the need for improving the way we build. But...this code is freekin ridiculous!!! Really, temPered glass for fire safety?? What if the damn window is OPEN?? What'd next, tempered screens? Or maybe we should be required to weld the freekin window shut! Or better yet, start a new building enforcement department that goes around and fines people for oPening their own damn windows during fire season.

Late to this thread, but yes, much of the WUI codes, especially for windows, are very misguided. I totally get why you need that extra 20 minutes of fire rating--to wake up, realize the mountain and grass fire is outside your door and you gotta wake up and get to the car and get out--but did you know that a metal screen works even better than the WUI standard to repell radiant heat? And honestly, think about it: A much smarter and more affordable code would be to require houses to have a 10,000 gallon water tank with gravity fed sprinklers, or if gravity isn't available, a generator or solar battery array that would kick in automatically to power a sprinkler system. That would save your house. That would save your life. That would allow you to get to the car. That saved anybody in Napa, Sonoma and Paradise who had one, and there were people who had one. That works. And spending $10-15k on that is so much smarter than spending $40k-100k or more on these WUI standards for every new house. My humble opinion. Another thing is that they make house design harder because the materials are so darned fugly. The off the rack stuff is fugly, and the custom made prettier stuff is hard to certify as WUI, so you are darned if you do and darned if you don't. Furthermore, with all this money being spent by thousands of home owners on WUI standards, which force private citizens to foot the bill, you'd figure local government could force themselves to pay for new infrastructure, under ground power lines, and a solar power grid that would prevent 87% of these fires. Look it up. Google that. In Europe and most of China and Asia, almost all power is piped underground. Even in the country. No overhead power lines, nothing to break and fall to the ground during a storm or winds caused by global warming, no sparks, no wildfires, no dead people. 87% of CA fires were caused by this one thing. Billions of loss in property and all those lives. Sorry to rant, but it's so much cheaper to put the power underground than kid yourselves with the WUI standards. These WUI codes are to us, what the nuclear bomb shelters were to the suburban building boomers of the 1950s. Good luck with those windows when a real fire comes. Sleep tight knowing that those tempered window panes are going to.... Do practically nothing. (Licensed CA Contractor and builder here.)

I would expect the architect , builder or installer to know the code. If you are playing the general the blame would reside with you.

Storm windows can’t go on vinyl windows and can void warranties on modern wood windows. Newer Windows often don’t have a Good way to mount them like old ones do.

I’d ask the inspector first or read deeper into the rules to see if there are any exceptions.

The Ultra are fiberglass windows i see.

not sure how they would accept storms, even if you can mount them there may not be enough clearance to tilt them in, which would mean you have to remove them to clean them. Replacing the glass sounds best , you may have to also replace the balancers if they are double hungs.

Replacing the sash may be the easimet option

Hi All. Has anyone got around this? I am in the exact same boat as the OP. Milgard Ultra Fiberglass windows. Let me know if you have found another way around this. Maybe a film aftermarket?

so this would pass for WUI requirements? Do you have a link?

Hello everyone,

I find myself in a similar situation, needing to bring my window glass up to WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface) standards for city compliance. I'm wondering if anyone has explored alternative methods to achieve this standard, such as using specialized films or any other relatively straightforward options.

Your insights and experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Best Regards

Kanth

Hello everyone,

I find myself in a similar situation, needing to bring my window glass up to WUI (Wildland-Urban Interface) standards for city compliance. I wonder if anyone has explored alternative methods to achieve this standard, such as using specialized films or other relatively straightforward options.

Your insights and experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Best Regards

Kanth

" I wonder if anyone has explored alternative methods to achieve this standard, such as using specialized films or other relatively straightforward options. "

No.

What about European-style Rolladen metal roll-down shutters? They could serve to keep heat and light and cold out besides fire.

Alternate methods may be approved by the building department. If it is not offered in the code (and it isn't) an alternate method would not be specified by the architect.