Securing your business assets is one of the most important tasks of a business owner. If you’ve got your insurance in place and locks on the doors, what else do you need? Many business owners may overlook the need for a commercial safe, but this single item can help protect your business more than you realize. Even if you don’t have a significant amount of monetary assets on-site, it’s likely that you will have important legal documents or possibly digital hardware or storage that are at risk of heat damage or theft. Safes, specifically for commercial use, take careful considerations for a host of different aspects. Picking the proper safe for your business is important because you are securing more than just your commercial assets, you are securing the function of your business.
UL RATING
The UL (Underwriter’s Laboratory) rating is the governing body for safe security ratings. The rating system can be confusing and understanding the differences is important. The UL is broken into two categories: burglary safety and fire safety.
Burglar Rating
This rating represents how protected your assets are from theft and break-ins including safe-cracking or attempts to physically overpower the locking mechanism or safe frame.
“B” Rate Safe: Has a fourth-inch body and a half-inch door and is the most vulnerable safe. It is usually only for residential use when keeping less important valuables secure.
“C” Rate Safe: Has a half-inch body and a full 1-inch door and must have a hard plate and a relocking device. Stronger however still not recommended for commercial use.
TL-15 Rate: The 15 represents the amount of time in minutes it takes for a professional safecracker to enter the safe using a variety of safe opening equipment.
TL-30 Rate: This particular safe withstands 30 minutes of safe attacks and safecrackers are allowed to use extra heavy equipment to break into the safe.
TL-30X6 Rate: To test this safe the engineers attempting to break in are allowed to enter through all 6 sides of the safe and are allowed to have blueprints of the safe and understand the fundamental build and weakest points within the frame. It still requires 30+ minutes to break into this safe.
Fire Rating
This rating represents the safe’s ability to protect from fire or other heat damage. The difference from this and the burglar rating is that a safe could be completely impenetrable and uncrackable but if it is not heat-safe a fire or other heat source could damage the contents inside the safe.
1/2 Hour Rate Safe: To gain this status a safe must keep contents (including paper documents) secured and undamaged throughout a 30-minute heat and impact test. These tests include heating the safe to 1550 degrees and dropping the safe from a 3 story building.
1-Hour Rate Safe: This rating means the safe reached an entire hour of heat and impact testing without opening or damaging contents inside.
2-hour Rate Safe: Similarly, this safe must withstand this heat and impact testing for 2 hours including rapid changes of temperature to induce the door to an explosion.
INSTALLATION
Buying the correct safe is only the first step, the installation is incredibly important as well. Once you’ve selected the correct type of safe, you may also need to consider the type of lock. Many locks are sold separately from the safe and the exact pairing can make or break (no pun intended) the security of your safe. Working with a trusted professional to assist in picking the safe, locking mechanism, safe placements within a facility, and the actual installation of the safe allows you the peace of mind knowing that your installation is fully vetted and your business assets will be protected at all times. A professional commercial security expert will be able to work with your business to determine the best location to place your new safe, as well as whether or not your investment will make sense in your current situation and any potential changes down the road.
THE FLYING LOCKSMITHS SAFE SERVICES
We have over 70 years of locksmith experience and can help your business purchase and install the safe that will keep your commercial assets secure. Feel free to reach us by phone at 1-800-649-5397 or visit our site to find a location near you. If you have any questions get in contact with us and we love to help businesses secure their facility.