Overview of Cash Fire and Data Ratings

Burglary Safes / Cash Safes
 

Cash rating – Overnight cash rating given by the safe manufacturer (i.e. it is their view on what cover an insurer is likely to give).

 
Valuables cover - Most insurers give up to 10 times the cash rating for valuable contents, e.g, a 3K cash rating would be 30K for valuables (Please Check with your insurer first).

Burglary / Cash Safes – adhere to recognised testing standards, such as the Association of Burglary Insurance Surveyors Ltd (A.B.I.S) or the more recent European grading system. Safes that comply with these standards are preferred/stipulated by all recognised Insurers.

Euro-Grade - This system was devised by the insurance industry to give rating consistency Europe-wide. Where a safe has a Euro–grade,insurers would give cover equal to the rating.

Safe Testing Standards

S1 EN14450 - 2K cash rating

S2 EN14450 - 4K Cash rating

European Ratings

Grade 0 = €10k
Grade 1 = €17k
Grade 2 = €29k
Grade 3 = €58K
Grade 4 = €100k
Grade 5 = €167k
Grade 6 = €250k

What can affect a Cash Rating:

All cash ratings are a guide only and are subject to the opinion of each individual insurer. However certain things will affect how the insurance company will view the rating.

Remember the safe is only your last line of defence. If the rest of your security in ineffective then your safe is vulnerable, no matter what grade it is.

• The type and level of security of the building. We can call and conduct a comprehensive security survey for you. Contact Steven Crothers.
• If the premises is alarmed. Contact Colin Crothers for a free survey to assess your current Alarm or a quotation to get one fitted.
• If there is a deposit facility on the safe this may reduce the rating.
• If it is a free standing safe then, generally it would need to be fixed down to attain it’s rating.

Fire Protection Safes

Crothers stock safes/cabinets which are tested for 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes within a controlled environment and are subject to a variety of tests, such as Fire & Impact, Explosion etc. There are two testing levels, one for Document and one for Media protection. This is because the temperatures at which data media (e.g 52 C) and documents (e.g 177 C) deteriorate differs.

We stock safes/cabinets that comply with European or American testing standards. These standards would include the VDMA (German), UL (USA), and NT (Swedish) Fire Test. Call into one of our security superstores to see the full range of products available.

Data Protection Products

The minimum industry standard for data protection is a product with a 1 hour VDMA certificate.

Most insurance companies now require the higher 2 hour VDMA 24991 certificate S 120 DIS.

The modern, VDMA passed products have been designed to protect data during the “soak out” period that any cabinet will expose data to in a fire.  A data cabinet by its very construction will store a large amount of heat from a fire. This stored energy will continue to heat the cabinet's interior and contents long after the fire has been extinguished.  Typically the interior temperature of a data cabinet will peak 6 to 8 hours after a fire has been extinguished.  The VDMA test monitors the internal temperatures of the data cabinet until full cooling has occurred.

Magnetic media must be kept below 55º C or complete and total data corruption will occur.

The older, now obsolete, test standards stop recording the temperature inside the cabinet at the end of the fire test heating period.  For example, a 1 hour rated cabinet with an older test certificate is removed from the kiln at the end of the 1 hour heating period, then all temperature measurement ceases and the cabinet is rapidly cooled with water. The test data media and measuring instruments are then removed. This is not comparable with the events of a real fire.

The VDMA test monitors the internal temperatures of the data cabinet until complete and full cooling has occurred.  This ensures that a cabinet with a modern VDMA certificate actually protects your data for stated time of heating in a fire and does not then let you down during the subsequent soak out period.

A cabinet will be left untouched in a fired building until the fire brigade have completed the extinguishing, making safe and investigation of the fire.  This time delay before you have access to your cabinet and its contents must be taken into account.   It is therefore paramount that any data cabinet purchased have the minimum 1 hour VDMA rating. Anything less is false economy.

Paper Protection Products

When considering a paper protection product the same rules always apply if anywhere near complete protection is required, i.e. VDMA - S60 P and S120P certificates.

Paper is quite robust when compared to data as it will withstand 170º C before gradual discolouration. If discolouration of the documents is acceptable then products with the Swedish National Testing Institute's (Nordtest)  NT 017 FIRE - 60 P and 120 P  certificates offer good paper protection.

For further details on any of the above or for answers to any questions you may have please contact Martin Crothers, phone 01 4567947 or visit one of our security superstores.