ESG discusses security glass standard in ABC&D

Scott Sinden, managing director of glass processor ESG, explains how LPS 1270 security glass standard means greater freedom for glazed security door manufacturers.

Normally, we recognise why new standards are needed, but perceive them as another set of hurdles to get over.

Even if we can see why it is needed, a new standard often means a new restriction.

It makes a pleasant change, therefore, to see one that actually makes life easier for manufacturers, especially when it applies to a range of products aimed at combating a growing problem.

Crime against property has become a serious consideration for any specifier.

But help is at hand with the introduction of a new standard on security: the Loss Prevention Board's LPS 1270 standard for security glass.

LPS 1270 is a draft standard introduced at the end of 2009 for high security glass panels, designed to classify them as being suitable for use in applications which require considerable protection against deliberate attack.

The industry is already used to BS EN356.

Indeed, this standard is approved by the Secured by Design initiative which operates under the auspices of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO).

Last year ACPO approved the first Secured by Design glass panels certified by BS EN356 testing to provide protection against vandalism and opportunistic crime; a valuable asset for specifiers.

LPS 1270, however, takes security to another level entirely.

Whereas BS EN356 addresses more casual criminal activity, LPS 1270 is aimed at the determined criminal and even the terrorist.

The Loss Prevention Board already has some standards which target serious crime; a key standard being LPS 1175, which is applied to security doors as a whole.

Until now, however, only complete products have been tested, with glass panels already in situ.

This has meant that once a security door or an inspection hatch has been approved, it was impossible to replace the glass component without invalidating the LPS 1175 rating of the entire product.

This effectively tied the manufacturer to the specialist glass supplier, and if for any reason the supply of the glass was interrupted, production of the door would also be disrupted.

In contrast, LPS 1270 applies to the glass itself.

A highly stringent procedure, testing in three scenarios, is designed to ensure that the glass itself is resistant to determined attack from a career criminal or terrorist.

The first test is against the creation of a small hole, large enough to insert a wire, screwdriver or similar implement in order to open a catch or press a lever to open the door or hatch.

In the second test, the aim is to make a hole large enough to put a hand through the panel to turn a handle or lift a catch to open the door.

The third and final scenario is a more serious breach of the glass, creating a hole large enough for an intruder to pass through bodily in order to enter the property.

Each test is rated, and at each stage a variety of tools and implements used.

The tests are timed and allow periods of rest, regrouping and renewed attack on the part of the would-be intruder.

At the various stages, weapons from simple hand held screwdrivers and sledge hammers, escalating up to diamond drills and heavy cutting equipment are used.

Anything short of a vehicle or a firearm is tested against the glass.

Once tested, the glass panel is given a three-fold rating between 1 and 8, corresponding to each of the three stages of the testing.

A rating of 1-3-3, for example, indicates that the glass scored 1 in the first test scenario, 3 in the second and 3 in the third.

For most purposes, a rating of 3 or 4 would be sufficient to protect a commercial building, but now, up to level 5 is available for applications which need high security due to either commercial or security sensitivity.

Now, if a door or hatch is approved to LPS 1175, the application of LPS 1270 glass won't compromise its certification.

And if an even higher level of security were needed, the same door could now be fitted with a level 5 rated glass panel, allowing the specifier to step up the level of security of the property, and the manufacturer to widen his approved product range.

In fact, LPS 1270 is only bad news for one interested party - the criminal.

For everyone else it's great news.

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