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Thinking
of installing new windows or doors? Where do you start?
The amount of information available can be
daunting. The sales person's priority is to sell you their products,
which may not always meet your needs or have been designed with security
in mind.
For example if you look at this picture. Intruders are now burning the locks out of less secure pvc doors. So you need to be asking your supplier how their doors prevent this.
What
specification to look for?
Police forces recommended standard for new windows is BS 7950. This
is the current standard for 'Windows of Enhanced Security' accredited
by the British Standards Institute.
This standard is
also a requirement of the Association of Chief Police Officers 'Secured
by Design' award scheme, which is an award given to houses or other
buildings which have been designed to be secure.
What
Does a BS 7950 Window Offer?
These windows offer
a high degree of security, and can withstand the most determined burglars.
How
available are BS7950 windows?
Only about 10% of
PVCu manufacturers produce windows even to the lower British Standard
which is required for the normal manufacture of ordinary, 'not enhanced
security', windows. So be careful, the rest operate without properly
monitoring quality control. They may, or may not, produce good windows.
It is very difficult to determine by just looking, and there is usually
no performance guarantee. The rule of thumb is to ask, don't be fobbed
off and don't accept statements that windows are of an "equivalent"
standard.
Is
there a cost implication?
Yes, as with all high quality products.
But it is easy to see why: - incorporating metal frame reinforcement,
quality locks and hinges, and the increased labour time involved in
assembling a quality product to strict quality control standards, will
obviously incur extra costs.
But remember, a window that is thrown together, will just as easily
be forced apart!
However, the good
news is that the short term cost will make for longer term savings,
such as future maintenance costs are potentially reduced, as burglars
no longer attempt to break in, so no replacements are required.
Check with your
insurers, you might get a discount on your premium.
So a short term
expense will work out into a long term saving
External
Doors
Police forces recommended
standard for exterior doors is PAS 24-1.
As they adopt BS
7950 as force policy, it makes sense to do the same for the related
door standard.
PAS stands for 'Product
Assessment Specification', which is an interim British Standard.
This standard is
also a requirement of 'Secured by Design' award scheme.
A combination of
windows and doors with this level of security performance vastly increases
the physical protection to your house.
So choose wisely
and LOCK 'EM OUT!
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