Importing shower screens and glass from China: AS1288 and what to check
9 August 2026 · 10 min read
Why builders import shower screens and glass from China
A frameless or semi-frameless shower screen from an Australian glass merchant runs $800 to $2,500 installed per bathroom, and custom sizes push the top of that range higher. Sourced direct from a Chinese factory, the glass panels and hardware for the same screen typically land in Australia for $250 to $900 per set, before your glazier fits it. Across a multi-bathroom build the saving is real, but glass is the least forgiving product to import because it is heavy, fragile, and safety-regulated.
This guide covers the one standard that matters most (AS1288), how to specify toughened glass and hardware, how to stop panels arriving cracked, sizing for Australian openings, and a realistic landed cost.
AS1288 and safety glazing: the point you cannot skip
Glass in a shower is a high-risk location under the Australian glazing standard AS1288, which governs where safety glass is required and how glazing must be selected and installed. In practice this means shower screen glass must be Grade A safety glass, which for a shower almost always means toughened (tempered) glass, typically 8mm or 10mm for frameless panels and 6mm for framed.
Two things follow from that:
- The glass must be genuinely toughened and marked. Toughened safety glass carries a permanent stamp in a corner identifying it as complying safety glass. Insist the factory applies a compliant safety marking and provides a test certificate. Unmarked glass creates a compliance problem for your glazier and a safety risk in use, because toughened glass shatters into small blunt granules while ordinary annealed glass breaks into dangerous shards.
- AS1288 also governs the installation, not just the glass. Fixing, support, and clearances are the glazier's responsibility on site. Importing the glass does not remove that step.
Treat this as the starting framework and confirm current requirements with your glazier and certifier, since standards are periodically revised. If you want the broader picture on glazing compliance from Chinese factories, our guide to AS2047 compliance for Chinese windows covers how to read a test report and what NATA accreditation means.
How to specify the glass and hardware
A shower screen is glass plus hardware, and the hardware is where cheap screens fail.
Glass.
- Thickness: 10mm for frameless fixed and door panels, 8mm acceptable on smaller frameless panels, 6mm for framed screens.
- Toughened Grade A safety glass with a permanent compliance mark.
- Edgework: fully polished (flat polished) edges on all exposed edges of frameless panels. Arris-only edges look unfinished and chip.
- Coating: an optional easy-clean hydrophobic coating is worth specifying on frameless glass to reduce water spotting.
- Low-iron ("ultra clear") glass if you want to avoid the slight green tint of standard float glass, which shows on thicker panels.
Hardware.
- Hinges, brackets, and channels in 316 marine-grade stainless steel for a wet, sometimes coastal environment. Ask for the grade in writing. Lower grades pit and rust.
- Finish applied by PVD (physical vapour deposition) rather than electroplating. PVD holds up far better on matte black, brushed brass, and gunmetal, which are the finishes most likely to fail early if cheaply coated.
- Confirm the hinge and bracket set matches your glass thickness and panel weight.
Stopping breakage in transit
Glass is the highest-breakage category you can import, and a cracked panel is worthless on arrival. The freight plan is as important as the glass spec.
| Risk | What to demand from the factory |
|---|---|
| Panels flexing and cracking | Rigid timber or plywood crates, not cardboard alone |
| Edge chipping (chips propagate into cracks) | Foam or rubber edge protection on every edge |
| Panels rubbing in transit | Individual interleaving between panels, no glass-on-glass contact |
| Whole crate handling damage | Fragile and this-way-up marking, and crating rated for stacking |
| Any loss | Marine cargo insurance covering glass breakage |
Even with perfect packing, plan for a small breakage allowance on a large order and confirm the insurance covers glass, because some policies exclude it. Order a spare panel on big jobs so a single cracked screen does not hold up a bathroom.
Sizing for Australian bathrooms
Shower openings are rarely perfectly square, and glass has no tolerance for a bad measurement.
- Measure the finished opening, after tiling, at multiple heights, and give the factory the smallest width. Frameless panels are cut to a fixed size and cannot be trimmed on site the way a framed screen can be.
- Decide fixed-panel-plus-door, single fixed panel, or a walk-in return before you order, and give a dimensioned drawing with hinge side and swing direction.
- Confirm the glass height you want, commonly around 2000mm, and whether you need a notch or cut-out for a tiled hob or a mixer.
- Because frameless glass is unforgiving, many builders order shower glass only after the wet area is tiled and finally measured, which shortens the lead time you have to work with. Plan for that.
If your project also needs matching tiled surfaces, our guide to importing tiles from China covers ordering the wall and floor tiles in the same program.
What a shower screen costs landed in Australia
A worked example for a single frameless screen (a fixed panel plus a hinged door, 10mm toughened glass, 316 stainless hardware in matte black), imported in a mixed container:
- Factory price: $220 to $520 AUD per screen depending on size and finish
- Sea freight share: $50 to $130 per screen in a consolidated container (glass is heavy, so freight weighs in more than for light goods)
- Customs duty: often around 5 percent, but the rate depends on the tariff classification of the glass assembly, so confirm with your customs broker
- GST: 10 percent on the CIF value plus duty
- Clearance and delivery share: $40 to $90 per screen
- Breakage allowance: budget 3 to 5 percent on the glass cost for a large order
Total landed: roughly $380 to $850 per screen (glass and hardware only) for a specification that retails installed in Australia for $1,000 to $2,500. Your glazier's fit is on top of that. Duty and tax figures are indicative ranges only, so have a customs broker classify your specific assemblies and confirm current rates.
Common mistakes when importing shower screens
Accepting unmarked glass. Toughened Grade A safety glass must carry a permanent compliance mark. Unmarked glass fails AS1288 and cannot be responsibly installed. Demand the marking and the test certificate.
Cheap hardware in a wet area. Non-marine-grade stainless pits and rusts, and electroplated matte black flakes. Specify 316 stainless and PVD finishes in writing.
Measuring before tiling. Frameless glass is cut to a fixed size. Measure the finished, tiled opening, not the framed opening, and give the smallest width.
Underpacking the glass. Cardboard alone does not survive a sea container. Insist on timber crates, edge protection, interleaving, and glass-inclusive marine insurance.
No breakage allowance and no spare. Even well-packed glass occasionally cracks. On a multi-bathroom job, order a spare panel so one breakage does not stall a bathroom.
Frequently asked questions
Can I import shower screens from China to Australia? Yes. The glass and hardware are freely importable. The glass must be Grade A safety glass (toughened) with a compliance mark to satisfy AS1288, and installation remains the glazier's responsibility.
What thickness glass should a frameless shower screen be? 10mm toughened is standard for frameless fixed and door panels, 8mm is acceptable on smaller frameless panels, and 6mm is used for framed screens.
How do I stop the glass arriving broken? Specify rigid timber crating, edge protection, panel interleaving, and fragile marking, take out marine insurance that covers glass, and order a spare panel on large jobs.
Is Chinese shower glass compliant with Australian standards? It can be, when it is genuinely toughened Grade A safety glass with a permanent compliance mark and a supporting test certificate. Confirm the marking and documentation before you order, and confirm installation requirements with your glazier.
Threadline sources shower screens and glass alongside windows, doors, and tiles from audited factories, checks the safety marking and hardware grade at pre-shipment inspection, and crates glass to marine standard with breakage-inclusive insurance. See our windows and doors page, or start a request with your bathroom set-out and glass schedule.
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