Safes- International Trading Standards

International testing standards for safes – jargon free in plain English. Check out European VdS, EN, NORDTEST and SINTEF standards as well as American UL standards for security safes and fire resistant safes and cabinets right here. If you cannot find an answer then contact us from our contact page.

 

Fire Safes – Safes which are designed and tested to protect PAPER documents from the effects of FIRE. Fire Safes are designed to maintain the internal temperature below 177° C – the temperature that paper is damaged. Paper ignites at 230° C.

Data Fire Safes – Safes which are designed and tested to protect PLASTIC Data/Media, such as back up tapes, negatives, micro-fiche and DVD/CD media, from the effects of FIRE. Data Safes are designed to maintain the internal temperature below 52° C – the temperature that plastic data/media is damaged by fire.

Eurograde Tested – Security safes that have been tested to the European Standard of EN1143-1. Any safe tested to this level is respected by the European Insurance Industry for protecting cash or valuables overnight up to various cash levels depending on model and grade. This is the ultimate test for security storage.

Cash Rating – A cash rating is a method of classifying security safes by their security level. Manufacturers design their safes to meet various levels of security and these are designated by a cash rating from £1,000 up to £150,000. All cash ratings can be multiplied by 10 if valuables such as jewellery are being stored instead of ce.ash e.g. a security safe with a £4,000 cash rating will cover jewellery up to £40,000. Always seek advice from your Insurance company if you are not sure what level of security you require

Electronic Locks – Electronic locks are powered by standard alkaline batteries that can be purchased in every High Street. Each lock has a low battery level indicator, but even if the battery is flat the internal memory of the lock will retain the user code. Electronic locks are both reliable and flexible as the code can be re-programmed as many times as required.

Time Delay Safes – Secure and only possible to open after a pre-set time from entering the user code. Time delay locks on safes will keep any cash not in the till, or not yet banked, safe from all but the most determined robbers.

Time Lock Safes – Timer controlled safes add extra security by ensuring that the safe cannot be opened outside pre-determined hours. For instance, in a Retail shop you may only wish the safe to be opened within your opening hours and therefore it cannot be opened say after 6pm and before 9am or not on Sundays. These can be altered by an authorised user as required.

Audit Trail Safes – Quality safes with cash ratings from £4000 upwards can sometimes have the lock upgraded to monitor the opening of the safe by recording the tiime, date and user code of openings of the lock and allowing a audit trail to be accessed by a manager when downloading the information by a USB cable to a PC or by viewing the information on a display fitted to the lock. This type of lock can have multiple user access codes and will normally record the previous 300-500 openings of the safe.

SOLD SECURE – Sold Secure is a certification scheme which is evaluated by attack testing, and has been conceived by the Police with the help of the Home Office. It is administered by the Master Locksmiths Association, which works closely with both the Police and Insurance companies. See our Burton Torino range which has the top SOLD SECURE GOLD STANDARD.

EN1047-1 – ECBS test for Fire resistance in Fire Safes for paper documents, Fire filing cabinets and data/media safes with either 60 minutes or 120 minutes certification – S60DIS and S120DIS. This with the UL72 are the most stringent tests for fire resistant storage.

NT Fire 017 – Nordtest institute test for Fire resistance in filing cabinets and data safes

NORDTEST – Scandinavian Laboratories and Testing Authority to ensure the conformity of either Security or Fire resistance Levels.

SINTEF – Swedish Institute which performs tests to form the basis for specifications, classifications and product documentation. SINTEF provides testing for fire resistance in the most test house facilities in the world. Standard testing includes international standards such as EN- , NS- , IMO and ISO.

UL Tested – Security and Fire Resistant safes and chests tested for conformity by UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES INC; the US Independent Testing and Certification Authority.

UL Type 1 Electronic Lock
The UL Type 1 classification covers locks that are highly resistant to expert or professional manipulation or surreptitious attacks.

Locks with this rating must meet the following criteria:

* Have a minimum of 1 million different combinations available
* Have a re-locker security function
(after punching lock with tools, safe will remain closed)
Successfully work after being exposed to:
* Salt Spray (corrosion)
* Aging Stress
* Moisture Absorption
* Vibration

UL Group 2 Lock – Locks with this rating must meet the following criteria:

* Have a minimum of 1 million different combinations available
* Have a re-locker security function
(after punching lock with tools, safe will remain closed)
Successfully work after being exposed to:
* Salt Spray (corrosion)
* Aging Stress
* Moisture Absorption
* Vibration

UL 1/2-Hour Fire Endurance Test
Safes are subjected to temperatures of 1550° F (843° C) for 1/2 hour. The interior remains below 350° F (177° C) to protect documents.

UL 1/2-Hour Class 125 Test
More stringent standards are applied to data storage products for electronic and digital media. Data Storage Safes, Chests and File are subjected to temperatures of 1550° F (843° C) for 1/2 hour. For the product to qualify for a Class 125 rating, the interior must remain below 125° C (52° C) and below 80% humidity.

UL 1-Hour Fire Endurance Test
The safe is subjected to temperatures of 1700° F (927° C) for 1 hour. The interior remains below 350° F (177° C) to protect documents.

UL 2-Hour Fire Endurance Test
The safe is subjected to temperatures of 1850° F (1010° C) for 2 hours. The interior remains below 350° F (177° C) to protect documents.

UL Explosion Hazard Test
All UL Classified security products pass a UL Explosion Hazard Test in which the product is subjected to a flash fire of 2000° F (1093° C) for 20 minutes, and the unit does not explode or rupture.

UL Fire-Impact Test
After being heated to 1550° F (843° C), the safe is dropped 30 feet onto rubble. It is then cooled, inverted and reheated to 1550° F (843° C) for 1/2 hour. To pass, the safe must remain intact and locked, with an interior temperature below 350° F (177° C).

ETL Semko Fire Testing
Sentry® Fire-Safe® products with an ETL rating have been tested by the independent testing firm ETL Semko and verified to be in compliance with the manufacturer’s specifications for fire endurance.

ETL 1/2-Hour Fire Endurance Test
Sentry® Fire-Safe® products are subjected to temperatures of 1400° F (760° C) for 1/2 hour. The interior remains below 350° F (177° C).

ETL Explosion Hazard Test
Sentry® Fire-Safe® Gun Safes are certified to have passed an ETL Explosion Hazard Test in which the product is subjected to a flash fire of 1400° F (760° C) for 10 minutes, and the unit does not explode or rupture.

ETL Waterproof Verification
Sentry® Fire-Safe® Waterproof Chest and File products have been tested by the independent testing firm ETL Semko and verified to be in compliance with the manufacturer’s specifications for waterproof submersion. Products were completely submersed, with up to 2 inches of water above the uppermost surface, for one hour. The amount of water entering the unit was no more than 0.5 grams (8 drops).

Water Resistance Testing
Sentry® Fire-Safe® Advanced Business and Home/Office Safes and the Model S0491 and S0891 Fire-Safe® Personal Safes are water-resistant to protect contents from water damage.

The Sentry Group Quality Department has subjected Sentry water-resistant safes to the following conditions:

tested for 15 minutes with up to 1,000 gallons of water spray
tested for 1 hour standing in 6 inches of water

VdS – German Laboratories which perform tests on Locking mechanisms to ensure the conformity to VdS security standards.

JIS – Japanese Laboratories and Testing Authority to ensure the conformity of either Security or Fire resistance Levels.

DIN – German Standards Authority that is the counterpart to BSI – British Standards Institute.

ISO9001-2000 – European Standard for management systems.