The latest New Homes Guide to be published by Secured by Design now makes it a prerequisite for mailboxes to comply with TS009, the Technical Specification for free standing and wall mounted mailboxes, if a property is to be given the coveted SbD status.
Previous Guides had already highlighted the vulnerability of letter plates to attack, but the new Guide goes one step further and makes the use of a TS009-compliant mailbox essential.
Leading manufacturer DAD is the only letterbox company in the UK to produce a mailbox that complies with TS009:2012 GRADE 2, a standard initiated by Secured By Design and the Association of Chief Police Officers in response to the increasing problem of theft from mailboxes. The SbD New Homes Guides recognises that using a surface-mounted or ‘through-the-wall’ letter box greatly reduces the crime risk problems associated with letter plates and also reduces heat loss through the door.
When writing the new Guide, SbD highlighted three distinct crime risks associated with conventional letter plates: ‘fishing’ through the aperture to steal mail or items from the house, lock manipulation, where the inside lock is opened through the letter plate manually or with a tool, and finally arson. In fact, the vast majority of domestic arson involves the use of the letter plate aperture.
The SbD New Homes Guide states that “letter boxes certificated to the Door and Hardware Federation Technical Specification 009 (TS 009) offer reassurance [and] provides the safest means by which mail can be delivered whilst eliminating the risks associated with letter plate apertures ie arson, hate crime, lock manipulation and ‘fishing’ for personal items”.
Specifying a DAD009 mailbox avoids these pitfalls. It is an exceptionally robust mailbox and is proven in tough independent tests to be able to withstand attack and resist fishing through the slot.
Manufactured from 1.5mm steel, the DAD009 is able to withstand physical attack with tools as described in the new TS009 standard. It features a patented locking and security device, including an EN1303 lock with 30,000 key variations, ensures that the lock remains invulnerable and secure.
An anti-theft device behind the letter flap makes it impossible to fish the mail out through the slot – an increasing cause of identity theft. In compliance with the new TS009:2012 specification, the DAD009 easily takes an A4 envelope.
DAD009 is available as a single box or a bank of boxes and is wall mounted either on or in the wall, and can be sited inside or out. Like every DAD mailbox, the new DAD009 has a ten year guarantee against complete rust.
DAD has been designing and manufacturing steel security products since 1872 and was the first letterboxes and post boxes manufacturer in Europe, now with over 1.5 million units produced every year at its factories in France and Germany.
With 700 employees worldwide and a turnover of over £60 million, they manufacture an extensive range which includes fire-rated and anti-arson postboxes, free standing post boxes, wall-mounted and through-the-wall boxes for residential and commercial applications. DAD has opened its offices in the UK in 1996.
