Safe Burglary Ratings

Safes are being used for hundreds and hundreds of years since humans owned precious things that are to be kept safe and secure from thieves and burglars. Now every private residence and business depends upon the security provided by the safes to store their valuable things that may include jewelry, firearms, important papers, and other items. So by owning a safe might seem pretty confusing at first but it is essential to understand the level of security and protection the safe is providing to know which safe will be perfect for you.

The two general safe categories involve fire safes and burglary safes and both have different features for protection and various levels of security and well-fare to select from. The classification or rating of any safe designates the level of protection the safe will impart to its contents in the event of any attempted fire or burglary.

The classification of safes involves two contrasting methods that are Test Performance Ratings and Constructions Ratings. The Construction classification is associated with burglar protection and the determining factor is safes' material specifications. To get a rating for performance the safe must be tested independently by an attempted attack, fire, or break-out to ensure that it reaches the set standards of security. The safe has to be designed and built according to the construction specifications to pass the security tests.

The well-known independent fire and burglary testing agencies are United Laboratory (UL) and Intertek-ETL. Intertek-ETL is acknowledged and considered as a top reputable company that undergoes independent testings for fire-resistant safes.

Burglary Rating

The burglary safe ratings are the Construction Ratings that are introduced by the insurance companies and industries to develop a standard for safes that will designate the degree of security and protection a safe will supply against any attempted attacks for burglary. The more common construction safe rating ranges from B-rate to C-rate.

The Test Performance Ratings are the best ratings for burglary safes that were introduced by the UL (Underwriters Laboratories). This Laboratory came into being in 1984 and it was chartered as an independent non-profitable testing organization.

It is been a century since the Underwriters laboratory has been working on testing the products and providing the writings for specific standards for well-fare and security of safes. The common Test Ratings Performance range from the RSC U.L. burglary rating to U.L. TL-15, TL30x6, and T.L-30 high rating security.

A Rate "B" Safe

A rate "B" safe has a ½ inches door and ¼ inches body. These kinds of safes don't go through any type of testing. They get a "B" rate because of the presence of locking equipment upon the box. If you are going to buy a B-rated safe keep in mind to observe if the locks of the safe works and check relockers and other determining features before making your choice.

Residential Security Container (RSC)

This rating Residential Security Container is manufactured by Underwriters Laboratory also called U.L (the Underwriter laboratory is well-known because of its non-biased 500 independent laboratories for testing.) this safe is strong enough to stand five (5) minutes of rigorous drilling, punching, prying, tampering, and chiseling attacks. This safe is then must checked and tested by utilizing the specific regular burglary tools. This testing and observing ensure that no content is accessible and prevents any prying.

A Rate "C" Safe

A rate "C" safe is defined by its steel box thickness of about ½ inches with a thick door of about one inch that also has a lock upon it. This rate "C" safe must have relocking equipment and a hard plate. Just like before there are no tests are provided for this rating.

A Rate "E" Safe

This Rate "E" safe has an insurance rating. The construction of this safe is pretty similar to a TL-15. But this rating has not been checked or tested by any of the independent companies for testing. This safe is normally a plate safe or a composite safe.

Rate Safe "ER" (E Revised) TL-15

The U.L. (Underwriters Laboratory) gave an insurance rating to "ER". This TL-15 has been tested with all the standardized tests given by UL Standard 687 and it passed by utilizing the same equipment and the same class of testing engineers. T.L-15 label requirement is that the safe must be constructed by one inch of solid steel or something equivalent. The reason behind the label is that the safe's been tested for fifteen minutes of net working time using usually hand tools, punches, pressure applying equipment, drills, and hammers.

The meaning of net working time is when the hand tools turn off from the safe this stops the clock. There are many types of attacks and up to 50 are known that can be utilized to gain entry inside a safe. The usual attacks used by attackers are just one or two. The attack used by thieves entirely depends upon their knowledge about the product which usually covers a lot.

Rate Safe "F" Rate TL-30

"F" Rate safe is also an insurance rating. This rating has the same essential test provided as a TL-15 test. The only difference between the two tests is the net working time. This rate safe gets thirty minutes and a few more hand tools to gain entry. You have to keep in mind that engineers have all the blueprints of manufacturing and the safe could be disassembled. Before the test starts the safe being is checked and tested by the engineers and they have great knowledge about everything.

Rate Safe G&A Rate TL-30X6

The "G&A safe rate is an insurance rating. The rating goes through the same essential test of TL-30. The only difference between the two tests is that all six sides are being tested that including the floors of the safes too. In this rating, the engineers can again disassemble the safes' unit before any testing. The engineers also have access to the manufacturing blueprints to observe the working of the safe along with its built.