Sabrina Bettles of Abloy UK, discusses the purpose of a door, and how the standards that exist help the industry maintain quality, security and safety.
A door can be installed to fulfil many different purposes, to provide privacy, ensure security, facilitate entry, prevent the spread of smoke and fire, provide a means of escape and enable movement within a building.
For specifiers of doors in buildings used by the public, adhering to standards is vital, in order to ensure not only compliance but also safety and security of the occupants and building. The specifier must take into account the purpose of the door, the aesthetics, the safety aspects, and the security and compliance.
So, what standards should specifiers be aware of, and what products are available that meet the criteria?
PAS24
PAS 24 provides a method for testing and assessing the enhanced security performance requirements of internal or external doorsets.
This PAS has been designed to test the whole doorset, which includes the door, frame, cylinder, handles, and all other relevant hardware. It is a minimum standard; doors that are tested to the specifications of the standard either pass or fail against a range of attack methods.
LPCB LPS and SR Ratings
The LPCB LPS 1175 test stipulates the allowable toolset and minimum time at each security rating level to prevent forcible entry through a building element. It is intended to form part of an overall security strategy, with the user deciding on the level of threat and exposure time before intervention arrives - in the context of protecting items, information or systems.
In the case of a modular building, the test measures the time it takes to make a hole big enough for a person to get through, it also looks at all the joints and fixing to the building environment as appropriate. SR2 features tools such as bolt cutters, claw hammers, and drills etc; focused on the more determined opportunist attack with tools of a higher mechanical advantage.
SR3 is aimed at a deliberate forced entry of protected premises using bodily force and a selection of attack options including chisels, crowbars, gas torch etc, and SR4 includes experienced attempts at forced entry with higher tool levels such as axes, sledgehammers, jigsaws etc.
Fire Ratings
EN 1634-1 involves fire resistance and smoke control tests for door, shutter and, openable window assemblies and elements of building hardware.
Escape Standards
BS EN179 Emergency Escape (when the building occupants are aware of the building environment and escape routes) applies when there are under 60 occupants escaping an area at one time. BS EN1125 Panic Escape (for environments used by the general public with no knowledge of escape routes) covers escape in an emergency situation or where 61 or more occupants are evacuating an area.
The Abloy solution
With this in mind, Abloy offers a range of doors, including high security timber, and steel doors manufactured in its factory in Lisburn, Ireland. Every door in the Abloy range is bespoke to individual project requirements, from the aesthetics that suit a building’s design, to the level of security necessary for a specific environment.
Abloy’s steel and timber SR3 and SR4 doors are manufactured to ensure they meet a wide range of door standards - from PAS24 to LPS1175 SR4 for Steel and Ballistic doors, and SR3 and SR4 for timber doors, as well as conforming to British and European Standards for emergency escape, panic escape and fire resistance, where applicable.
Abloy also understands the importance of being able to quickly restrict access in response to any threats, which is why its doors provide a solution for dynamic lockdown, allowing specific zones within a building that may be of danger to be cordoned off, while still allowing escape.
In addition, a wide range of Personnel, Fire, Security Class 1 and PAS24 doors have been manufactured using SMARTform technology, which provides a four-sided interlocking pocket for increased durability and enhanced aesthetics.
Case studies
Abloy UK supplied ScottishPower with a compliant fire door solution to secure their Battery Rooms without compromising on security, safety or aesthetics. ScottishPower required a number of fire doors across four sites to FD60S, with the aim of reducing the spread of fire and enabling safe egress from a building.
The main priority was maintaining the safety of staff and it was important for the installation to be aesthetically pleasing due to the site being a listed building. It was imperative that the hardware and doors were fire tested to prevent the spread of fire.
Abloy UK have also supplied the O2 Arena in London with Hillsborough BR4 ballistic doors. The aim was to enhance the security of the venue as well as offering protection to its occupants from specialised weapons or gun fire such as a .357 magnum.
In the early stages of the project, the security risks and fire requirements of the building were identified and it was agreed that the BR4 Hillsborough Ballistic Door would be the best solution.
Abloy UK’s ballistic doorsets offer protection from 9mm handguns through to armour-piercing rounds and are tested in accordance with British and European Standards BS EN 1522 and BS EN 1523. All blast and ballistic doorsets can be fire certified from 60 minutes to 4 hours. In addition, Abloy UK were able to supply a bespoke colour: O2 blue, to guarantee the doorsets were aesthetically pleasing, matching the arena’s colour scheme.
Abloy UK offers a full service from survey through to install enabling each stage of the project to be centrally managed by the same person, from quotation to installation, ensuring optimum efficiency.
For further information about Abloy UK’s door offering, call 01902 364 500, email abloydoor@abloy.co.uk, or visit www.abloy.co.uk.
