Buying security glazing for a school, without the guesswork.

Write the scope before the request for pricing

Schools that get comparable bids usually define three things first: the objective (for example, fragment retention and entry delay at specific entry glazing), the opening schedule, and the documentation they expect at the end. Without those, vendors fill the gaps with their own assumptions and you end up comparing different projects.

Building the opening schedule

• Group openings by type: entry doors and sidelites, vestibule glass, classroom door lites, corridor and office windows.
• Record approximate sizes and counts. Note insulated vs. single pane, and any tempered or laminated markings.
• Describe locations with internal codes. Keep detailed maps of priorities out of public bid documents where your policies allow.

Our project brief tool generates a checklist from these inputs entirely in your browser.

Evaluating responses

Use a line-by-line comparison rather than a total. Our proposal comparison guide has a checklist you can paste into a scoring sheet. Pay attention to attachment details and exclusions; they are where scopes most often diverge.

Project requirements and funding

School safety requirements, funding programs and deadlines change and differ by state and district. Before building a scope around any of them, confirm the current rules and program criteria directly with the administering agency. One scope boundary worth knowing: 3M's Ultra S800 technical specifications limit specified blast-mitigation applications to commercial and non-educational government facilities, so blast claims don't belong in a school scope.

An existing project, for context

Shore Tint & More has worked with Sussex Academy across multiple years — per Shore's own write-up, roughly 4,000 sq ft cumulatively of 8 and 14 mil security film plus solar and privacy films. We link it as an example of a phased, multi-year scope, not as evidence of how the glass would perform in an attack.

For planning steps and stakeholder roles, read planning a school security glazing project.