AAMA vs AS 2047: testing a unit two ways

The AAMA route, class-first

In North America the unit is tested to the fenestration standard and given a performance class — R, LC, CW or AW — that bundles an air-infiltration limit, a water-penetration pressure, a structural pressure and a size limit for that class. The class is the headline: an AW unit is a different product from an R unit, and the architect specifies the class before the size. The test is on the rated size, and a larger unit can fall out of the class it passed in.

The AS 2047 route, pressure-first

In Australia the unit is tested to the site wind pressure, and the air, water and structural results are reported against that pressure — the design wind pressure the project sets from AS 1170.2, not a fixed class. That makes the report project-tied: the same frame can pass at one site wind pressure and need a heavier build at another. The reach is set by the tested size, and the impact case (AS 2208) sits on top for the cyclone region.

Why both, on one order

An order that ships to a US project and an Australian project carries two test columns on one platform, because the frame does not change for the market — the glazing, the hardware and the paperwork do. The drawing office runs the unit through the route the destination sets: the AAMA class or the AS 2047 project pressure, with the impact and cyclone additions where the region requires them. One supplier, two reports, one product.

What to put on the schedule

• The destination market, because it sets the test route — AAMA class in the US, AS 2047 project pressure in Australia.
• The class or the design wind pressure the project requires, stated on the schedule.
• The tested size and its limit, so the unit is inside the reach the report covers.
• The impact or cyclone addition where the region requires it: Miami-Dade in the US, AS 2208 in Australia.