ASTM F3561 and Security Window Film: What the Standard Tests

ASTM F3561 does not rate window film. It is a laboratory test of a complete window or door system, including the glass, frame, anchoring and hardware, after the glazing has been shot and then struck repeatedly. The International Window Film Association says it was not designed to evaluate retrofit film on existing glass, and that citing it in a bid specification or submittal for film is not appropriate and likely misleading.

That does not make the standard useless to a school or a facility owner. It makes it a standard for replacement entrance and window systems. If a specification calls for F3561, the first job is to find out what the owner actually needs.

Key points

• ASTM F3561 tests complete window and door systems, including frame, anchorage and hardware; results apply only to the configuration tested.
• As published in its 2022 edition, the test fires 10 rifle rounds into the glazing, then strikes it with a 100 pound pendulum at eight rising energy levels, from 50 to 400 foot pounds.
• ASTM lists F3561-25 as the active edition as of October 13, 2026; earlier editions are F3561-22 and F3561-23.
• Glazing tested alone under the standard’s appendix gets a capability statement, not a system rating.
• ASTM work item WK93371, opened January 8, 2025, is drafting a separate test method for retrofit glazing; it is not a published standard.
• F3561 is not a ballistic rating; ASTM states the projectiles may go through the entire specimen.
• Texas school safety rules name forced entry-resistant film as one way to modify glass doors and certain windows, without naming F3561 or any test standard.

What does ASTM F3561 actually test?

The full title is Standard Test Method for Forced-Entry-Resistance of Fenestration Systems After Simulated Active Shooter Attack. It asks a narrow question: after the glazing has been weakened by gunfire, how much repeated impact does the system take before an opening large enough to reach through is created?

As published in the 2022 edition, the test runs in two stages:

1. Weakening. Ten rounds of 5.56 mm rifle ammunition are fired into the glazing in a set pattern. On doors, a separate specimen is shot at the lock.
2. Impact. Within two hours, a 100 pound (45 kg) pendulum impactor with a rounded nose strikes the specimen, starting at the lowest energy level and moving up. There are eight levels, from 50 foot pounds at Level 1 to 400 foot pounds at Level 8, and a specimen must survive two impacts at a level to pass it.

The National Glass Association’s school security glazing paper (FB71-24, updated August 2024) describes the same sequence: ten shots from an AR-15 with M193 bullets, then a 100 pound impactor dropped from a greater height at each higher level, with two impacts required at each height. It also notes that although there is a glass-only option for pre-test qualification, F3561 is a system test.

A specimen passes a level if a six inch test sphere cannot be pulled through the opening by hand with no more than four pounds of force. The rating is a level, not a time. The American Institute of Architects article on the standard, written by glazing manufacturer Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, makes the same point: the rating counts standardized hits, not minutes.

Three conditions in the standard matter more than the numbers. The specimens are complete, ready-to-install systems with their anchorage and hardware. Windows and doors must first meet a minimum level of an ASTM forced entry standard for their type (F476, F588 or F842). And results apply only to the configuration tested, so changing the design generally means testing again.

Which edition of F3561 is current?

ASTM’s store lists F3561-25 as the active edition, with F3561-22 and F3561-23 as earlier versions, as of October 13, 2026. A specification or a test report should name the edition. A report to an earlier edition is not automatically wrong, but you should know which one you are reading, because the details of the method can change between editions.

Why doesn’t F3561 apply to retrofit window film?

Because the standard rates a system, and retrofit film is one added layer on a system nobody tested. IWFA’s statement on ballistics says F3561-22 applies to complete original equipment manufacturer window and door assemblies, and that differences in glass type and thickness, framing, locking mechanisms and structural components make it inapplicable to retrofit solutions. IWFA’s explanation of the standard adds that installed window film does not meet the standard by itself, and that using the test to predict how retrofit glazing would perform is not an allowed use.

The standard does let a manufacturer test glazing on its own, in a nonmandatory appendix. That is the part most likely to be misread. In the 2022 edition, appendix testing uses unframed glazing, and the report has to carry a title stating it is a glazing-only evaluation that is not valid for a system test. ASTM’s scope says the same thing in plainer terms: a component tested this way gets a capability statement, not a system rating.

So if a film product is described as rated to F3561, the right question is which part of the standard was run, on what glass, in what frame. A glazing-only result is information for a manufacturer choosing glazing. It is not a rating for the doors at your building.

Is a test for retrofit glazing on the way?

Possibly. In January 2025, ASTM subcommittee F12.10, which maintains F3561, opened work item WK93371: New Test Methods for Forced-Entry-Resistance After Simulated Active Shooter Attack of Glazing for Retrofit. Its draft scope describes a laboratory test of glazing with a defined retrofit attachment or glazing detail, so that retrofit glazing can be evaluated against F3561 requirements without being built into a specific system.

It is a draft, and ASTM’s page says the title and scope are still under development. The draft scope does not mention window film. Until a standard is published, there is no ASTM forced entry rating for retrofit film, and a claim that one exists deserves a direct question.

How do the security glazing standards compare?

F3561 is one of several standards that show up in school and security specifications. Each tests something different, and only some apply to film.

One more system standard often appears beside these: ASTM F3038-21, a timed forced entry test that manufacturers use to rate products such as windows, doors and walls. Like F3561, it rates a manufactured system, not a film added to existing glass.

The National Glass Association’s school security glazing paper describes the replacement glazing standards in more detail. IWFA’s school security film brochure lists the standards film is commonly tested to: ANSI Z97.1 and 16 CFR 1201 for impact, and ISO 16933 and ASTM F1642 for blast. It also cautions that claims not backed by recognized, industry-standard laboratories or research may not be reliable. For film, the useful documents are the manufacturer’s test results for named configurations. We walk through what those blast tests show, and why a rating belongs to a tested configuration, in What Security Window Film Can and Cannot Do.

Do school safety laws require F3561?

Requirements differ from state to state, so the answer is in your own state’s text. Texas is a useful example of how a state rule actually reads. Its school safety requirements (19 Texas Administrative Code 61.1031, effective May 31, 2023 and amended effective August 11, 2024) require glass doors, and certain windows next to exterior doors or at ground level, to be modified so the glass cannot be easily broken. The rule names forced entry-resistant film as one example of a modification. It does not name ASTM F3561 or any other test standard.

IWFA has reported that Texas, Tennessee, Missouri and Utah have all passed laws requiring schools to find safety solutions, and that the association is unaware of any film that provides ballistic resistance on its own. If your district works under a state requirement, read the requirement itself: it decides whether you need a tested system, a modification to existing glass, or both.

What should you do when a specification calls for F3561?

Find the real requirement behind it. In our experience, F3561 shows up in school and security specifications in two different situations, and they lead to different answers.

If the owner needs an entrance system with a documented F3561 rating, that is a replacement project: a tested door or storefront system from a manufacturer, installed as tested. Film is not that product, and we say so.

If the owner wants more delay at existing glass that will stay in place, the specification should describe what film can actually do and how it will be documented: the named film and thickness, the attachment method and dimensions, the manufacturer’s data sheets and test results for named configurations, and film-to-glass approval. We cover how to write that in How to Write a Commercial Window Film Specification, and the comparison with replacement glazing for entrances in Security Film, Laminated Glass or Polycarbonate for School Entrances.

Sometimes the answer is both: tested replacement systems at the main entrance, and attached security film on secondary glass where replacement is not practical.

How do you check an F3561 claim in a bid?

Ask for the test report, then ask these questions of it:

• Which edition of F3561, and which level was achieved?
• Was it a full system test, or a glazing-only evaluation under the appendix?
• What exactly was tested: the glass makeup and thickness, the frame, the anchorage, the door hardware?
• Does that tested configuration match the openings in your building, or is the rating being carried over to different glass and frames?
• Who ran the test? IWFA advises that claims not backed by recognized, industry-standard laboratories may not be reliable.
• If film is part of the claim, was the same glazing also tested without film? IWFA’s position is that a glazing should be tested with and without film before any improvement is credited to the film.

If a bid credits a film product with an F3561 rating on your existing glass, ask the bidder to show the full system test that rating came from. We cover the rest of bid comparison in How to Compare Commercial Window Film Bids.

What does AAA Glass Tint provide instead?

We do not have an F3561 report for retrofit film, and we do not claim one. What we provide is the manufacturer’s documentation for the system we install, most often 8 mil clear Armorcoat with a four-sided DOWSIL 995 wet glaze attachment: data sheets, the safety glazing classifications, blast test results for named configurations, and film-to-glass approval for the existing glass. As an Armorcoat Certified Partner, AAA Glass Tint can sell and install Armorcoat security film thicker than 8 mil when a project calls for it. Our school security film page describes that work for schools.

If your specification names F3561 and you are not sure which situation you are in, send it to us with photos of the openings, or request a free assessment.