Protogetic defines high security doors as doors specifically designed and manufactured for the primary purpose of protecting people from harm, whether that is an intentional hostile attack, an industrial accident or a natural disaster. In simpler terms, you will not find high security doors in the aisle of your local DIY hardware or building supply store. Additionally, high security doors can be manufactured for new construction or retrofitting existing buildings.
It would be comforting to report that the world is becoming safer. Sadly, threats to governments, economies, infrastructure and the environment are increasing. This requires developing new strategies and protective design products to insure people’s safety. Recently, we have seen an explosion in the home security/protection market. And this trend has been mirrored by an increased awareness of security needs at public venues like schools, universities, places of worship and even retail shopping stores.
Fenestration protection – securing, or hardening, doors and windows – is perhaps the first priority for installing protective design countermeasures for threats like:
Ballistic resistant doors, also called bullet resistant doors or ballistic doors, serve two purposes: preventing gunfire from disabling the door to allow entry and protecting building occupants from the gunfire.
Doors are subjected to various types of gunfire defined by UL 752, considered by many to be the gold standard in ballistic resistant testing. UL 752 ratings correspond to Levels 1 to 10 (10 being maximum protection) based on the type of firearm, caliber of the ammunition and number of shots fired.
UL 752 Level 10 designates a 50 Caliber Rifle fired 1 time with no penetration.
UL 752 Level 1 designates a 9mm handgun fired 3 times with no penetration.
Typical materials are steel, aluminum, wood and fiberglass/resin composites. As we’ve frequently seen in movies, special “bulletproof” glass, polycarbonate or acrylic materials are also used for ballistic resistant doors and windows.
Blast resistant doors, sometimes referred to as blast doors, are highly specialized security doors designed and manufactured to withstand accidental industrial blasts or explosions detonated by terrorist attacks.
FEBR (or FE/BR) means “Forced Entry and Ballistic Resistant”. They are sometimes called Forced Entry and Bullet Resistant doors. Their purpose is to defend against two threat types:
Department of State SD=STD-01.01 Rev G
ASTM F3038 - Standard Test Methor for Timed Evaluation of Forced-Entry-Resistant Systems
UL 752 – Standard for Bullet-Resisting Equipment
Yes. Like a forced entry window, a forced entry door is not designed or tested to protect against ballistic attack. Its primary function is to delay or thwart a breach of the building envelope. Forced entry can be described by two malevolent actions: Theft or Attack. When defending against theft or burglary, the goals are to delay and detect the hostile incursion and buy time for law enforcement to respond.
When under hostile or terrorist attack, the goal is to provide enough time for occupants to safely escape, again by delaying the assailant’s entry into the building. This is extremely important given the alarming increase in active shooter massacres. According to Crisis Architecture research, these tragedies develop quickly once the shooter gains access so increasing the time for law enforcement to respond is critical. The more time it takes the shooter, the better chance people can be saved.
Forced entry doors also use the Department of State SD-STD-01.01 Rev G and ASTM F3038 standards. However, there is no ballistic component required. Both standards require attackers armed with breaching tools to compromise the door in a designated amount of time.
The SD-STD-01.01 Rev G forced entry standard has three timed levels: 5-minute (2 attackers); 15-minute (6 attackers using limited tools); 60-minute (6 attackers using all the tools). The F3038 standard always requires a 6-person attack team and has an additional time test of 30-minutes.
Yes. With climate change causing more extreme weather, Mother Nature is causing more destruction than terrorists. For this reason, Protogetic also defines high security doors as those designed to defend against potentially deadly natural events like tornados and hurricanes.
Hurricane doors are engineered to protect against pressure and flying debris created by these storms. There are five categories of hurricanes.
The good news is quality hurricane doors can actually withstand a Category 5’s wind speed, pressure and water.
Similarly, tornado doors are also manufactured to defend against flying debris and extreme air pressure changes. Tornado doors are evaluated by the International Code Council and National Storm Shelter Association’s ICC 500 test. A high security tornado door can withstand the 250 mph wind speeds generated by an EF 5 tornado.
Yes. Protective design encompasses many threats. Fires are among the most dangerous. In 2018, nearly 3,000 Americans died from fires that the National Fire Prevention Association estimates caused more than $25 billion dollars in damages.
Fire resistant or fire rated doors are designed and constructed to prevent or impede a fire from spreading inside a building. Like forced entry doors, the key is creating plenty of time for people to safely escape the path of the fire. In a fire, time equals survival. For this reason, fire doors are time-rated in increments of 20, 45, 60, 90 and a maximum of 180 minutes.
Protogetic has nearly every type of high security door available. Visit today and find the exact door your project needs almost instantly! You can direct message vendor sales reps, download technical specs and documents as well as perform side-by-side comparisons of multiple products to make decisions even faster. Join us today at Protogetic.com. Save time and save lives!
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