Aandacht wordt vaak besteed aan de voordeuren. Achterdeuren worden in-gebroken.
Most commercial buildings have entrance doors that are glazed, looked over, and alarmed. Other doors to service yards, storage areas, and outbuildings are usually unmonitored and offer little to no security. This is where security steel doorsets are installed and where low cost, and often low quality, doors are put in because they are often seen as of little importance.
Where security comes from
One part of a steel door is the steel leaf, but the frame, hinges, lock and fixings need to be as strong. A heavy duty steel door in a light weight frame fixed with a few screws into soft blockwork will fail when someone gets a bar behind the frame. Installers of steel doors see it all the time: the door is intact but the frame is lying on the floor.
Look for multi-point locks instead of latches. Also look for hinge bolts to prevent the door from being lifted out of the frame. The frame should be fixed to masonry rather than drywall.
Rated or not?
Not every security door needs a formal attack rating. For a store room or back door on a unit with modest stock, a well-made, well-fitted steel doorset often makes more sense than a certified one.
Once an insurer names a standard, what’s behind a door can be worth a great deal. In that case, a security rated doorset would be required. A rating means the level of protection has been tested and proven.
How security rated doorsets are tested
LPS 1175 is a standard published by the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB). A test specimen (doorset) is put up against a team of attackers, using a prescribed tool set and given a specified time frame. If it holds out against the attack, then it has passed the test and is rated accordingly. It is a more practical and useful test, and thus why insurance companies trust it.
The ratings in the current issue are shown as a letter and a number. The letter refers to the category of tools used in the attack, starting with simple hand tools at the bottom and powered tools higher up. The number refers to the minimum delay the doorset achieved. Older certificates used SR ratings from SR1 to SR8 and you will still see both on quotes.
You will also see STS 202 ratings. These are another pathway for certification. Neither is always better than the other. What’s important is that your rating is what your insurance company or specification asks for.
What the rating doesn’t tell you
A rating is only applicable to the doorset that has been tested. Exchanging the lock for a less costly one, or adding a vision panel that was not part of the test, or installing the frame into a weak blockwork would no longer allow the doorset that is tested to be used. It is a common way that a rated door performs like an unrated door.
It doesn’t provide information about the rest of the building, either. There’s really no point putting in a quality door next to a window with absolutely no protection.
Checking a rating is real
Products certified by LPCB are listed on its RedBookLive website. Ask your supplier to provide you with the listing to confirm that the product name, configuration and the rating quoted by the supplier match. If they cannot provide you with a match, find out why.
Cost
The cost is dependent on the size, lock specification and finish. Adding supply and fit to the door cost increases the price but is the better option. Paying for supply only looks cheaper but the frame is fixed badly which is where most doors fail, it is worth paying for a doorset installer who fixes doorsets regularly.
Back to the full guide: Steel Doorsets
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