Secured by Design is a partnership between the police, local authorities, businesses and local residents ‘pulled’ together by central government. In fact, it is implicit upon the police in line with the Crime and disorder act 1998 to work together with the above associations to produce a safer environment. There are three strategies within this partnership.

1. To reduce criminal opportunities by achieving better protection.

2. Increase the risk of detection using such tools as DNA and CCTV systems.

3. Increase the risk of apprehension.

The police are working with the local authorities and architects to ensure developments are to ‘ secured by design’ standards. The police are promoting the adoption or ’secured by design’ standards with the unitary development authorities and research shows that Secured by design development authorities, and research shows that ‘Secured by design’ developments suffer lower levels of crime compared with non-’Secured by Design’ sites in similar and comparable areas, together with a reduction in the fear of crime. There has been little indication of displacement.

In future, the ‘Secured by Design’ principles should be expanded to achieve more partnerships and create a greater focus on designing environments in conjunction with architects.

ACPO CPI is funded by licensed companies who meet the laid down standards and whose products are accredited by SBD.

Decor-Grill Security and the Built in Shutter Company have been working closely with the Police over the last 10 years to “Secure” properties properly, applying the risk assessment approach. We operate a full design service together with professional Installation Teams who ensure that the products are installed to provide the best possible security levels.

With one of the largest ranges of Grilles, Shutters and other physical Security products means that we can offer a real choice, to enable our clients to choose the right product for them to fit in with the risks and budgets of a particular situation.

This is achievable because we grade all of our products from Low up to High Security, with High Security being LPC or Loss Prevention Council Approved.

It is the LPC approved products that we have to install to qualify for ‘Secured by Design’ status.

We have a range of plants varying in heights, pricklyness and ideal conditions. For futher information see our Prickly Plant range.

On the continent they fit Security Grilles and Shutters externally; this is usually for Shading and Ventilation reasons.

In this country the Police and Insurance companies recommend that grilles are fitted internally. The reasons for this are;

Roller Shutters are usually fitted externally; this is usually because they are used for Vandalism as well as security. To achieve a Maximum Level of Security we would always advise fitting them internally.

INTRODUCTION

There are occasions where added security is required to prevent unauthorised entry to premises and this is often achieved by the provision of security doors and window shutters. Whilst this Authority is sympathetic towards individuals and companies wishing to improve security measures, the need to maintain means of escape in case of fire should not be overlooked. It is also sometimes necessary for fire-fighters to gain access into premises in an emergency and some security measures can add significantly to the time that this takes, resulting in increased danger to both life and property from fire. The following guidance is therefore considered appropriate.

The Fire & Rescue Authority has no statutory powers to enforce the under-mentioned standards in domestic premises occupied as a private dwelling which is not used in common by the occupants of more than one such dwelling. The final decision on the installation and type of doors, gates or grilles must, therefore, rest with the local authority, private landlord or owner/occupier. The provision of suitable means of escape can be enforced by the Fire & Rescue Authority in premises where the escape route is shared by more than one family.

Standards are necessary so that the Fire and Rescue Service will not be unreasonably hindered in its job of rescuing trapped occupants or fighting fires. Householders must consider the possible dangers of entrapment that extra security devices can create.

In this Note the terms ’security doors’ and ’security gates’ refer to purpose-made products, sold and supplied as such, usually comprising an integral door and frame assembly, but the same applies to domestic doors/gates which have been upgraded to create similar standards.

SECURITY DOORS/SHUTTERS

Where doors/shutters are installed the complete fastening mechanism should comprise of a single device operated manually from the premises side of the door/shutter which is an integral part of the fastening mechanism.

Removable keys, electronic pass cards or digital key pads should not be used.

No part of the fastening mechanism or operating control device which is permanently attached to the fastening mechanism should be constructed from plastic, wood or other materials which are combustible or have a melting point below 800oC.

EMERGENCY ACCESS

When anyone is inside the premises, it should be possible for the Fire and Rescue Service to affect an entry without undue delay using hand-held rescue equipment. The breaching should be sufficient to allow the manipulation of the internal operating device of the fastening mechanism manually from a position on the outside or public side of the door/shutter. To this end the structure should be free from reinforcement, bracing, locking bars or other construction that would impede the breaching of the door at a point adjacent to the locking mechanism.

Where in cavity doors the space between two skins is filled with insulation material, the material should be of a type which will not present a hazard once exposed and which will not clog or impede the blade or tool of the rescue device in use. Where it would be necessary to remove part of the insulation material to expose the inner skin of a cavity door (in order that the hole be cut), the insulation material at the most likely point for the hole to be cut should be easily removable by hand.

The principles for security gate fittings should be similar to those used with security doors. Generally they should be easily opened from the inside without the need to search for a key. It should also be possible to breach the gate without delay by using hand held equipment.

Security doors and security gates should not be installed together at the same access point to the premises. Therefore, no more than one security door or gate should need to be breached to gain access to any dwelling.

Where there is concern that a proposed security device will cause an excessive delay to the Fire and Rescue Service when affecting an entry, details of the premises and the proposals should be passed to your local fire station before installation.

WINDOW SECURITY GRILLES

Non-openable external/internal grilles should not be fitted to the windows of premises that have security doors/gates to the main entrance.

All window grilles should have openable area of sufficient dimensions to facilitate escape for the occupiers in the event of any emergency (see below).

All grilles should be easily opened from the inside without the need to search for a key.

ROLLER SHUTTERS/SECONDARY STEEL DOORS

Roller shutters and secondary steel doors are not recommended as a means of security other than when premises are unoccupied. Where these have been installed on unoccupied dwellings they should be removed before any future occupancy is allowed.

DOUBLE GLAZING (FIXED OR SECONDARY)

When fitting double-glazing the following advice from Approved Document B (Section 2) of the Building Regulations 2000 should be followed

“Except for kitchens, all habitable rooms in the upper storey(s) of a house served by only one stair should be provided with an openable window (or external door). A window should have an unobstructed openable area that is at least 0.33m2 and at least 450mm high and 450mm wide (the route through the window may be at an angle rather than straight through). The bottom of the openable area should be not more than 1100mm above the floor. The window(s) concerned should be opened from the inside without the need to search for a key.

SMOKE ALARMS

In all instances where any of the above security measures are taken it is most strongly recommended that smoke alarms be fitted within the premises.

The smoke alarms should be so arranged as to be audible in all rooms of the dwelling and of sufficient audibility to raise occupants from their sleep. It may be wise to fit the type of alarms that can be linked together so that the activation of any one unit activates all the others in the premises.

Smoke alarms for individual dwellings should comply with BS 5446: Part 1. Smoke alarms for larger premises should be installed as part of a fire alarm and detection system complying with BS 5839.

For further Public Advice leaflets from the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service visit:

http://staging.westyorksfire.gov.uk/fireSafety/fsa_publicAdvice.htm

West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service
Fire Safety Group Oakroyd Hall, Birkenshaw,
West Yorkshire
BD11 2DY

Tel: 01274 682311
Fax: 01274 655888

With over 18 year’s experience of fitting Security Grilles and Roller Shutters, we can provide expert advice on the best ways of securing your product.

When surveying for a Grille/Shutter bear in mind that what you are fitting the product into, as the product is only as secure as the fixings!!

We would always advise on fitting into Masonry and Recess Fix the product rather than Surface Fix as this gives a stronger fixing. We appreciate that this is not always possible and an alternative fixing is required. Please ring our technical team for further advice.

Décor Grille Security provides masonry fixings for all our Grilles and Shutters FREE OF CHARGE with every order. The FREE fixing pack includes the Screws, Wall Plugs, Masonry Drill Bit and Screwdriver Bit.

Security Screws are available but we don’t use them when fitting a grille or shutter internally. The problem with security screws are they are generally a lot more expensive and they are not all that secure as the majority of the security heads are readily available at your local DIY store. We tend to spoil the heads of the screws by either drilling them out or filling the heads with Araldite.

LPC Tested Security Grilles and Shutters have specific fixing methods. This includes the number of fixings, type and size of fixings subject to what the product is being fixed into. Also the fixings MUST be spoiled either by drilling out or filling the heads with Araldite. All these requirements must be followed to ensure the product can be certificated to LPC standards.

Most people have a Burglar Alarm fitted and believe that it provides a sufficient deterrent to thieves. Unfortunately this is not the case, I would say that nearly 90% of the burglaries I have attended has had a Burglar Alarm fitted.

The problem is that people ignore burglar alarms, because of the frequency of false alarms. The Police no longer accept direct alarm call outs, they go through a monitoring company, who usually won’t respond unless they get two forms of activation.

A security grille/shutter without an alarm can be attacked all day without anyone knowing about it. At least with an alarm sounding, the thief knows that they have been noticed and help maybe on the way.

The average time spend in a premises is 3 minutes, so by the time any one has responded to an alarm, its usually too late as the burglars have left. We have seen it where they have cleared a property in this time!!

We recommend that Grilles/Shutters and Burglar Alarms work together. The security grille/shutter will provide a Physical and Visual deterrent, while the alarm will hopefully attract some attention. If an alarm is fitted then the thief would have to break the glass, attack the grille through broken glass, whilst the alarm is sounding.

A lot of the times when I have visited break-ins, the alarm sensors are located in the wrong positions, so it hasn’t worked with the security grilles/shutters. It is has been known for a property to be burgled through the security grille and no alarm was activated, because the sensors were pointing the wrong way. I would suggest that you speak to your alarm company and try getting vibration sensors fitted to the windows/doors and getting the PIR sensors pointing toward the windows or door.

Roller Shutters are manufactured in either Steel or Aluminium. The general conception is that Steel is stronger than Aluminium. This is not the case, the shutters which have been Loss Prevention Council Tested and Insurance Approved are Aluminium.