What makes a great security door?

The thing about doors is – they open and they close.  A pretty obvious statement to begin with, we agree, but we mention it because a direct consequence of this, from the security standpoint, is that they can potentially be opened when we don’t want them to be opened … by intruders.  And this is where security doors come in (no pun intended).

We’ve written enough about fire resistant doors and safe and quick means of escape to highlight the fact that, the easier the door is to get out of, the easier it might be to get into … so we need to think very carefully about how we maintain the balance of safety and security – not to mention the added complexity of preventing the spread of fire and smoke in an emergency.

Thankfully it’s not quite as difficult as it sounds!

Let’s begin with some numbers, just to sober us up.

Crime statistics

In the latest figures available (from the Office of National Statistics and the Home Office), in 2015 there were:

• 713,000 domestic burglaries
• in the wholesale and retail sectors alone
• 50,000 burglaries (including attempts) – 133 crimes per 1,000 premises
• 3,854,000 thefts

Interestingly, over 20% of these businesses had no specialised protection for their doors or windows!

• One fifth of businesses in the construction business experienced crime in 2015 …
  • … of which 36,000 were thefts
  • Larger premises experienced higher rates of crime than smaller premises – The rate of crime experienced by premises with 50 or more employees was 2,066 incidents per 1,000 premises compared with 1,064 per 1,000 premises with 10-49 employees, and 866 crimes per 1,000 premises with 1-9 employees

What can we do about it?

Well, the most obvious measure is one of prevention, and an analysis of the statistics suggests that installing the appropriate security doors can have a significant positive effect on crime prevention.

So what specifically constitutes such a door?  We’ll start by describing something called PAS24, which stands for Product Assessment Specification number 24.  Here’s the precise wording, from the Secured by Design website: PAS 24: 2007+ A2: 2011

PAS 24: 2012

Enhanced security performance requirements for doorsets and windows in the UK. External doorsets and windows intended to offer a level of security suitable for dwellings and other buildings exposed to comparable risk.

This PAS superseded the PAS 24:2007+A2:2011 with effect from 31st August 2012 and provides a method for testing and assessing the enhanced security performance requirements of external doorsets and windows providing an easier specification requirement for developments. This PAS covers doorsets and windows of all material types. Products are still required to meet the material specific requirements as detailed by the product standards for doorsets and windows.

So what?

The “so what” is that security doors meeting the PAS24 standard provide excellent – and police approved – security against intruders i.e. they have been certified to be able to withstand a series of tests designed to simulate a forced break-in.

Taken from the Crime Prevention website:

“PAS 24, like most British Standards, is a minimum standard.  In other words it doesn’t include higher or lower grades for security and so doors that are tested to the specifications of the standard either pass or fail.  Although some of the doorsets that pass will be a little stronger than the minimum required, a minimum standard encourages engineers to design the door to pass at the minimum requirements.  This makes economic and environmental sense and the effectiveness of doors certificated to this standard has proven that the minimum levels set by the British Standards were just about spot on”

As always, there’s lots to think about when it comes to security doors – thankfully we’re here to help!

Our team of experts is always on hand to guide you through all the regulations and give you sound and pragmatic advice based on years of experience and successful installations.

If you would like further information on our company please visit the home page ; alternatively go directly to our page on fire doors. 

We look forward to helping you.