The Willenhall laboratory operated by global testing leader Exova is among the first in the UK to be accredited to key European burglar resistance standards by UKAS, the United Kingdom Accreditation Service.
The EN1627-1630 standards feature mechanical loading, impacting and manual attack, and while the manner of testing may appear initially to be similar to the current UK standard PAS24:2012, six levels of increasing ‘resistance class’ (RC) cover a higher level.
The standards cover a level of commercial or industrial security product where the potential rewards for the burglar are much greater.
While products classed as RC1 must resist manual burglary attempts for one minute with small tools such as screwdrivers, pliers and knives, products classified at the highest level RC6 must resist a prolonged, 20 minute attack using power tools such as angle grinders, electric drills and jigsaws.
For security windows, test evidence to EN1627-1630 RC2 can be used in place of the old British Standard BS7950 for compliance with Secured by Design police initiative.
The requirement for doorsets is a minimum of EN1627-1630 RC3, although the client will still be required to carry out the PAS24:2012 Annex A security hardware test in addition, as this attack method is not assessed in EN1627-1630.
Mark West, operations manager for security products certification at Exova Warrington Certification, said: “Testing to these new accreditations will allow free trade for UK clients to sell their products into the European market under a recognised EN standard, and at the same time allows
European companies with existing security test evidence to achieve the police-backed Secured by Design accreditation without costly full retesting to UK standards.”
