SafetyShield 1500
A 15 mil multi-ply laminate with a break strength of 450 lb per inch of width. At 88% visible light transmitted it is essentially clear, so the building keeps its appearance and its daylight.
Safety and security film
The film holds the glass. The frame has to hold the film.
Film cut to the visible edge of the glass leaves the strip under the frame untreated. SafetyShield with 4-sided FrameGard anchoring closes that gap and turns the window into a time barrier.
What a conventional application leaves untreated
Window film applied conventionally is a daylight application, cut to the visible edge of the glass, so the strip of glass that sits under the frame is never covered. The film holds the broken glass together as one membrane and the pane comes out of the opening in one piece. Glass retention was achieved. Entry was not prevented.
What is specified instead
The offer is a system. The film and the anchoring are specified together, because SafetyShield safety film reaches its rated performance only when it is mechanically anchored to the frame.
4-sided FrameGard anchoring
A patented aluminium extrusion, screw-fixed through the film into the window frame on all four sides, with a gripped clamping surface and an optional colour-matched cap. Tested to hold 500 to 800 lb per linear foot of attachment.
A movement zone, not a rigid clamp
FrameGard has a patented movement zone that lets the film stretch and absorb impact energy before the load transfers to the fixings and the frame. A radiused edge stops the profile cutting the film.
Fixed to the frames you have
FrameGard works on steel, aluminium and timber frames, and installs in a finished, occupied building. No glass replacement, no frame replacement, no scaffolding and no closure.
The standards, and the numbers
Every figure below is from Madico's published data. None of it is a Grafiks claim.
- UL 972
- Anti-intrusion. Madico is the only window film manufacturer holding it.
- GSA Category D
- Blast performance criteria, with ASTM F1642
- Categories 1 to 3
- GSA injury hazard, against category 5 for plain annealed float glass
- ASTM F3561 Level 1
- Forced entry after simulated active shooter
- 500 to 800 lb
- Per linear foot of attachment, tested holding capacity of FrameGard
- 450 lb
- Break strength per inch of width, SafetyShield 1500
- 32,000 PSI
- Average tensile strength, machine and transverse direction
- 88% and 99%
- Visible light transmitted, and ultraviolet rejected
- EN 356
- Manual attack, with ANSI Z97.1 for safety glazing
Figures from Madico data sheet V-9447-R06 and Madico brochure V-0570. The optical properties of SafetyShield 1500 were independently verified by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. ASTM E-84 measures surface burning characteristics only.
Certified performance
The performance is certified rather than asserted. Madico states that it is the only window film manufacturer holding UL 972 anti-intrusion certification, and a certification of that kind can be checked independently.
For blast, the system is specified against GSA Performance Criteria Category D with ASTM F1642. The anchored build-up achieves GSA injury hazard categories 1 to 3, where plain annealed float glass sits at category 5.
What an installation involves
Survey
An on-site assessment of the windows. Pane sizes, frame material and section, bead depth, access, the condition of the existing glass, and which elevations carry the priority.
Specification
The film and the attachment system matched to what the building has to resist. A written specification per site, naming the film, the anchoring and the standards for that configuration.
Supply
Product ordered factory-direct from Madico in Pinellas Park, Florida. Grafiks manufactures nothing.
Installation
Supervised installation from inside on the existing glass, in a finished, occupied building, out of hours where the space cannot be released. No glass replacement, no frame replacement, no scaffolding and no closure.
After-sales
The manufacturer's warranty on the installed system rather than the film alone, issued through the Madico SafetyShield Premier Partner programme, with the specification for the compliance file and maintenance support afterwards.
Pricing is issued after a site survey. The survey is free and carries no obligation.
SafetyShield 1500 with 4-sided FrameGard anchoring
On a branch frontage, an embassy elevation or an ATM lobby that distinction is the whole of the security case, and it is not visible on a finished job. Two installations can look identical and perform differently.
FrameGard clamps the film mechanically into the frame on all four sides, so the load path runs from the glass, through the film, into the frame and into the building. That is the difference between a pane that holds and a pane that is removed intact.
The offer is therefore a system and is described as one. SafetyShield 1500 with 4-sided FrameGard anchoring. Not a film.
Madico's own literature spells it FrameGard, with a d.
- 1 Glass Breaks, and is held as one membrane
- 2 Film Carries the load in tension
- 3 FrameGard Clamps the film on all four sides
- 4 Frame Steel, aluminium or timber
- 5 Building The load ends in the structure
Without anchoring on all four sides, the sequence stops at the film and the pane leaves the opening.
A diagram showing load transferring in sequence from the glass, through the film, into the FrameGard batten, into the window frame and into the building structure.
Injury hazard, on the published scale
Glass is the single largest injury source in a blast event, which is why the General Services Administration criteria measure the hazard a glass build-up presents rather than only whether it broke.
The anchored system achieves GSA injury hazard categories 1 to 3. Plain annealed float glass is category 5. Daylight film applications and laminated glass in a standard rebate typically do not beat category 4.
GSA injury hazard category
Lower hazardHigher hazard
Categories 1 to 3SafetyShield with 4-sided FrameGard anchoring
Typically no better than category 4Daylight film applications and laminated glass in a standard rebate
Category 5Plain annealed float glass
Lower is better. The scale is the General Services Administration performance criteria used on diplomatic and institutional estates.
A scale of GSA injury hazard categories from 1 to 5. Plain annealed float glass sits at category 5. SafetyShield with 4-sided FrameGard anchoring achieves categories 1 to 3.
SafetyShield 1500, verified figures
From Madico data sheet V-9447-R06. The optical properties were independently verified by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
| Structural component | 0.015 in, 15 mil |
|---|---|
| Total thickness | 0.017 in |
| Structure | Multi-ply laminate |
| Tensile strength | 32,000 PSI average, machine and transverse direction |
| Break strength | 450 lb per inch of width |
| Adhesive | Acrylic pressure sensitive |
| Peel strength | 5 to 6 lb per inch. G2 generation, 10 to 12 lb per inch |
| Visible light transmitted | 88%, essentially clear |
| Ultraviolet rejected | 99% |
Madico states that SafetyShield has been evaluated against more international standards than any other safety and security film over 25 years. That is Madico's claim, made in the SafetyShield G2 launch announcement of 3 September 2025.
FrameGard, verified figures
From Madico brochure V-0570.
- A patented aluminium extrusion, screw-fixed through the film into the window frame on all four sides, with a gripped clamping surface and an optional colour-matched cap.
- A patented movement zone lets the film stretch and absorb impact energy before the load transfers to the fixings and the frame. A radiused edge stops the profile cutting the film.
- Tested to hold 500 to 800 lb per linear foot of attachment.
- Achieves GSA injury hazard categories 1 to 3.
- Works on steel, aluminium and timber frames.
- Installs in a finished, occupied building. No glass replacement, no frame replacement, no scaffolding and no closure.
Patents GB 2327700, PCT/GB98/02285, Canada 2,298,646, US 09/463,894.
Certifications
- UL 972
- Anti-intrusion. Madico is the only window film manufacturer holding this certification, which is the strongest single statement available about the product and is verifiable independently.
- GSA Performance Criteria Category D
- Blast, with ASTM F1642.
- ASTM F1642
- Standard test method for glazing systems subject to airblast loadings.
- ASTM F3561 Level 1
- Forced entry after simulated active shooter.
- EN 356
- Manual attack resistance.
- ANSI Z97.1
- Safety glazing materials used in buildings.
- ASTM E-84
- Surface burning characteristics.
ASTM E-84 measures surface burning characteristics. It is a material surface test, not a classification of how a glass assembly behaves in a fire. Nothing of that kind is claimed for this system anywhere on this site.
Independent test footage exists for this configuration
Madico has published test footage of SafetyShield 1500 with 4-side FrameGard at a 10 psi blast load, and of SafetyShield 800 with 4-sided FrameGard against a satchel charge. It can be shown at a survey, which is more useful than a brochure.
Where the thicknesses sit
The safety and security range runs from clear glass-retention film at 2 mil to SafetyShield 2100 at 21 mil. Clear and Solar Safety films CL and LCL change nothing about how a window looks. SafetyShield 800, 1500 and 2100 are the security line, and combination products add solar or decorative performance to a security thickness.
Clear and solar safety
- CL 200 2 mil
- Madico Solar Safety 4 mil
- Madico Solar Safety 8 mil
- LCL 1400 14 mil
SafetyShield
- SafetyShield 800 8 mil
- SafetyShield 1500 15 mil
- SafetyShield 2100 21 mil
Thickness is one variable. On a security specification it is the anchoring that decides whether the pane stays in the opening.
A scale of film thicknesses in mil, from CL 200 at 2 mil through LCL 1400 at 14 mil, to SafetyShield 800, 1500 and 2100 at 8, 15 and 21 mil.
The Madico safety and security range
Everything Grafiks supplies is Madico film, supplied and installed. Grafiks manufactures nothing. What suits a given building is settled at the survey.
Safety and security
Glass retention through to certified anti-intrusion and blast mitigating systems.
- Clear and Solar Safety, CL and LCL
- Clear glass-retention film with no change in appearance, from CL 200 at 2 mil to LCL 1400 at 14 mil.
- SafetyShield 800, 1500 and 2100
- The security line at 8 mil, 15 mil and 21 mil. SafetyShield 1500 with 4-sided FrameGard anchoring is the flagship system.
- Combination products
- Solar or decorative performance added to a security thickness.
Anchoring systems
Security film reaches its rated performance only when it is mechanically anchored to the frame.
- Wet Glaze
- A structural silicone bead around the perimeter. Lowest cost and lowest profile.
- GullWing
- Flexible edge battening.
- FrameGard
- A mechanical aluminium batten screwed into the frame on all four sides, and the system specified on the flagship SafetyShield 1500 build-up.
- LifeLine
- A capture cable system for glass retention.
Anchoring systems are supplied only with SafetyShield safety film, and SafetyShield requires certified dealer installation. None of them is sold as a standalone product.
Product level performance figures are issued with a specification after a survey, because they depend on the glass the film is applied to. No performance table is published here.
Written for three readers
The mechanism is the same in each case. What it is worth is not.
Banks and financial institutions
Heads of engineering, premises, physical security and facilities procurement.
- Smash and grab on branch windows and ATM lobbies. The glass stops being an entry point and becomes a time barrier, and attack time is the variable a response plan turns on.
- Glass is the single largest injury source in a blast event, and the FrameGard movement zone is engineered for that load case.
- Business continuity. A branch with held glass can open the next morning. A branch with a blown out frontage cannot.
- No disruption to install. Applied to existing glass, workable out of hours, so the branch trades normally the next day.
- Insurance and liability. A certified system installed by a certified installer, against published test standards, with the warranty covering the installed system rather than the film alone.
- Cost and phasing. Far below replacing the panes with laminated security glass, and each site is surveyed on its own, so an estate can be rolled out branch by branch against a capital plan.
Embassies, ministries, schools and hospitals
Facilities directors, security officers and estates managers at diplomatic missions, public buildings, universities, hospitals and international organisations.
- Occupant injury first. The building is full of people who did not choose to be there, and the injury hazard category is a published number rather than an assertion.
- Plain annealed float glass sits at GSA injury hazard category 5. The anchored system achieves categories 1 to 3.
- Specified against recognised standards. GSA Performance Criteria and ASTM F1642 for blast, EN 356 for manual attack.
- ASTM F3561 Level 1 covers forced entry after simulated active shooter, which matters specifically to schools and hospitals.
- Retrofit rather than reconstruction. No glass replacement, no frame replacement, no scaffolding and no closure, and FrameGard fixes to steel, aluminium and timber frames on an estate of mixed age.
- Documented compliance. A written specification naming the film, the anchoring and the standards for the configuration installed.
Homes and villas
Homeowners who want the glass to be safer without living behind bars or shutters.
- Clear safety film holds broken glass together in the frame instead of letting it fall into the room.
- From 2 mil up to 14 mil it does not change how the window looks, and it does not darken the room.
- It is a sensible precaution rather than a fortification, and it is described that way deliberately.
- A house normally wants clear safety film rather than the anchored system specified for banks and institutions, and it is priced accordingly.
- The survey is free and carries no obligation, and it settles which windows are worth doing.
Questions we are asked
What exactly is this system certified for?
Anti-intrusion under UL 972, and blast mitigation under GSA Performance Criteria Category D and ASTM F1642. It is also tested to ASTM F3561 Level 1, EN 356 and ANSI Z97.1. Those are the certifications that exist for it, and nothing beyond them is claimed.
Does the building have to close?
No. The system is applied to the existing glass in a finished, occupied building. There is no glass replacement, no frame replacement and no scaffolding. Work is scheduled out of hours where a space cannot be released.
How does it compare with replacing the glass?
Laminated glass in a standard rebate is still a pane held by a bead, and daylight film applications and laminated glass in a standard rebate typically do not beat GSA injury hazard category 4. The anchored system achieves categories 1 to 3 without replacing any glass.
Can it be rolled out building by building?
Yes. Each site is surveyed and specified separately, so an estate can be phased against a capital plan rather than committed all at once.
Will it change how the building looks?
SafetyShield 1500 transmits 88% of visible light and is essentially clear. The FrameGard aluminium batten is visible at the frame perimeter and can be supplied with a colour-matched cap.
What does the warranty actually cover?
Because Grafiks is a Madico SafetyShield Premier Partner, the manufacturer's warranty covers the installed system rather than the film alone. That is the difference between buying a product and buying an installation.
How is the price arrived at?
After a site survey. Pane sizes, frame type and access decide the specification and the cost, so no rate is quoted before the windows have been seen. The survey is free and carries no obligation.
Why is the anchoring specified separately from the film?
Because the film alone is a glass retention measure. Anchoring is what transfers load into the frame and the structure, and it is what moves the assembly onto the injury hazard scale at categories 1 to 3.
What is the difference between the four anchoring systems?
Mechanism and profile. Wet Glaze is a structural silicone bead, lowest cost and lowest profile. GullWing is flexible edge battening. FrameGard is a mechanical aluminium batten screwed into the frame on all four sides, and it is the system specified on the flagship SafetyShield 1500 build-up. LifeLine is a capture cable system for glass retention.
Can FrameGard be fixed to our existing frames?
It works on steel, aluminium and timber frames. The survey confirms the frame section and the bead depth, which is what decides the detail.
What does ASTM E-84 actually cover?
Surface burning characteristics, which is a material surface test. It says nothing about how a glass assembly behaves in a fire, and nothing of that kind is claimed here.
Can we buy the anchoring on its own?
No. Anchoring systems are supplied only with SafetyShield safety film, and SafetyShield requires certified dealer installation.
Request a site survey
The site survey is carried out by a certified installer. A specification and a price come from the person who saw the windows.
Pricing is issued after a site survey. The survey is free and carries no obligation.
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