Laminated or tempered glass — which do we actually need for the balcony, shower and a partition? Getting conflicting advice.

Both are "safety glass," but they solve different problems — which is why you're getting conflicting advice. Quick version, then your three spots.

Tempered (toughened): heat-treated to be roughly 4–5× stronger than ordinary glass, and when it *does* break it shatters into small, blunt granules instead of shards. Great for impact resistance and human safety on contact. Downside: if it breaks, the whole pane is instantly gone — it doesn't stay in place.

Laminated: two (or more) panes bonded with a plastic interlayer. When it breaks, the pieces stick to the interlayer and the pane stays in the opening — so it resists fall-through and forced entry, and it also cuts UV and noise. This is different from the tempered-vs-laminated trade-off people assume is just "strength."

Your three spots: - Frameless shower screen → tempered. This is the classic toughened-glass application: impact safety, and if it ever fails it granulates rather than leaving blades. Standard everywhere. - **Balcony balustrade / glass railing → laminated (often laminated *and* tempered). Here the real risk is someone leaning on it and the glass failing with a drop behind it** — you need glass that *stays in place when broken*, which is laminated. A frameless balustrade is typically laminated-tempered for both strength and hold-together safety. - Internal partition → usually tempered is fine (impact safety); go laminated if you also want acoustic separation or security, or if it's a large frameless span.

Rule of thumb: overhead or a fall/drop behind it → laminated; contact/impact safety at floor level → tempered. Pairing the right glass with a low U-value unit on external openings also helps the cooling load. If you want it assessed and supplied to the right spec per location, that's core glass works in Dubai — a good glazier will spec each opening rather than blanket-quote one type.