DOOR SECURITY - SELECTING THE STANDARD
The primary purpose of any doorset is to provide a means for traffic
to pass from one side of a wall to another. However, security is a
quite different issue and focuses primarily on restricting or
preventing access. Tim Almond, business development manager for
Adams Rite, UK distributors of PEMKO door and threshold sealing
products, explains some of the issues involved in designing and
specifying with security in mind.
Security is an immensely wide-ranging issue. In extreme
high-security applications, such as military or government
installations, the doorset design can be a security issue in itself.
However, in the general market, security doorsets are intended to
provide security by way of prevention of access – a purpose opposed
to the primary function of allowing traffic to pass. The role of the
designer or specifier is to assess the level security required
whilst enabling the doorset to perform its principal function.
Security requirements vary according to the location of a doorset.
Generally higher levels of security are required for external doors.
Internal doorsets in general require a lower level of security
unless they provide access to protected areas or are for compartment
doors within a building such as entrance doors to flats.
Generally, security doorsets fall into two basic categories: those
intended to be resistant to opportunist attack and those intended to
be capable of resisting professional attack. These basic categories
are then sub-divided to reflect level of risk. In the UK, security
ratings currently used are published by reference to Secured by
Design (SBD), an industry organisation supported by the Association
of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the government, which draws up
specifications for building design from the security aspect.
SBD’s Guide to Security Standards for Doors and Windows (available
on www.securedbydesign.com) identifies four levels or risk: minimum,
low, medium and high risk. The guide is designed to determine
whether a product has the appropriate level of security for its
application and risk factor. For each level of risk, it specifies
the minimum performance standard that should apply. The grading is
related to test methods that include static, dynamic and manual test
methods. Static and dynamic tests are repeatable and carried out
using calibrated laboratory equipment. The manual tests, as the
description suggests, are carried out by persons using a range of
tools for specified periods of time according to the particular
target grade.
The Secured by Design programme refers to PAS 24 which is identified
as the minimum standard for ‘low risk’ applications where the
requirement is to resist opportunist attack. PAS 24 test details are
published by British Standards and are in effect a ‘client
specification’ by reference to local authorities’ planning
requirements to provide for a level of security appropriate for
single-leaf entrance doors for residential buildings. This test is
supported by ACPO as part of the Secured by Design initiative.
There are in fact an extensive number of product standards and tests
to measure the robustness and security performances of a doorset. In
all cases, however, it is the performance of the doorset as a whole,
including the quality of installation, and not the performance of
individual components that will determine the level of security that
can be provided by a particular doorset design.
There are two basic forms of attack that may be anticipated in
respect of security doorsets: brute force physical attack or
manipulative attack. Individual elements of doorset construction
that can influence security performance are many and various and
considerations relating to security need to include:
· Perception: opportunist attack will generally be focused on
visually perceived weakness. If a door looks solid and secure it is
less likely to attract the attentions of an opportunist attacker.
· Direction of opening: this can have a major influence on security.
With inward-opening doors, the gaps between door and frame are
effectively protected by the frame doorstop on the closing face.
This may, however, create an increased risk at the strike plate
position(s) in the event of a physical attack. Outward-opening doors
can be more vulnerable because the operating gaps that are necessary
between the door and the frame can provide a point of insertion for
jemmies or other lever devices.
· Glazed apertures: these can create a potential area of weakness
and the PAS 24 and other EN1627-1630 tests specifically exclude
attacks on glazing. In practice though laminated glass using polymer
interlayers provides for excellent impact resistance although its
performance is also dependent on the method of securing the glass
into the door. The beading system and method of fixing are therefore
important additional considerations.
· Locks: self-evidently it is important to have a good quality
security lock but the choice of lock has very wide implications. For
example, heavy-duty locks which are suitable for steel doors could
create weaknesses in doors made from wood. Different considerations
apply for steel and wooden doors and frames and it is important to
distinguish between the requirements of each.
· Hinges: hinges can create vulnerability in the event of an attack
on the opening face of the door where there are gaps between the
butt hinge positions where a jemmy can be used. Attacks have also
been carried out by milling of the knuckles of the hinges enabling
the door to be opened from the hinge side. Security hinge pins,
available as separate units or as part of the hinge design,
effectively lock the closed door into the frame at a number of
positions while continuous full-height hinges deny access to the
operating gap at the hinged stiles of the door.
· Letter plates: anything that penetrates through the thickness of
the door leaf provides the potential to undermine the security of
the doorset. While security-grade letter plates are available, an
alternative is to consider separate provision for depositing mail.
· Threshold gaps: while the frame doorstop provides a security
function at the head and stile position, there is often no doorstop
provision at the threshold. Options to eliminate this area of
weakness include automatic door bottoms with solid inserts, stepped
thresholds or low level saddles with separate steel threshold
doorstops that can be securely anchored to the flooring.
Whilst each individual component of a doorset can enhance security
performance it should always be remembered that it is the total
package that has to meet the requirements of the relevant standards.
Anything that is added to or removed from a security doorset of
proven design may undermine the basic elements that provide the
security performance.
Email:
lshuck@wyattinternational.com
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