Crime prevention

Just before you pop out for half an hour to the shops, did you know that 20% of all burglaries are opportunist?  Have you left your windows open?  Are your doors solid and secure, or will that be something you get round to after its too late.  

Crime Prevention officer Steve Macdonald from the Isle of Dogs offers a few ideas about how to avoid the tragic consequences by taking these simple steps to prevent the avoidable.  This month, Steve talks about the basics of home security.

• Locks
• The Front Door
• Eye Spy
• Door Viewers and Chains
• When to Use
• Flats and Apartments
• Back Doors
• Extras
• Lock Types
• Back Door windows

Locks

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The traditional rim latch (Yale type) on its own is not sufficient. 

The ideal front door security will be obtained by fitting an automatic deadlocking rim lock , one third from the top of the door, together with a mortice deadlock to British Standard 3621 or the equivalent European Standard EN12209 one third from the bottom, avoiding any construction joints.

Door Viewers and Chains

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Advice on front door security while the house is occupied will vary, depending on whom you speak to. 

Fire Safety Officers will advise that, for safety reasons, the mortice deadbolt should not be engaged when the house is occupied, as locating and engaging the key can cause unnecessary delay in escaping from the scene of a fire.

Crime Prevention Officers may suggest that a rim latch on its own is insufficient in providing adequate security and that engaging the lock would increase this, as well as the safety of young children in preventing them from wandering. 

Clearly these are issues which need to be considered. If you feel fire safety is the priority, additional security can be obtained by fitting draw bolts to the top and bottom of the door. If you have household insurance, check to see if the policy specifies a minimum level of security for the house when it is occupied.

When to use..

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If you do prefer to engage the mortice, do not leave the key in the lock, especially if the door or its surrounds are glazed. Likewise, do not leave the key in so close a proximity to the door as to enable external access to the key via a letter box.

Don’t forget - it’s a waste of time fitting front door security if you don’t use it when you leave the house. “I was only gone for a few minutes”, or “I just popped out to fetch the children from school”. These are common excuses given for not engaging the mortice lock.  

Apart from the obvious reason of increased security, there are other equally important considerations.

• Engaging the mortice means that the door cannot be opened from the inside. The favoured exit route for burglars is through the front door, especially if carrying some of the larger electrical appliances. Restricting the means of escape can often limit the extent of the burglary.

• Failure to secure the house properly may result in difficulties when making insurance claims.

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Flats and Appartments

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Providing the front door is less than 4.5 metres above ground level the advice given thus far is applicable. However, in those situations where this is not the case, i.e., most typically flats two floors or more above ground level, the level of security is directed, to a degree, by fire and building regulations. 

Their basis is that the Fire Brigade should not be hindered unreasonably in its role of rescuing trapped occupants.  The locking device on the front/final exit door, if engaged, should not require a key release to open it from the inside. 

This would exclude the use of standard mortice deadlocks if they can be operated from the inside. 

The recommendation is that the locks should be fitted in accordance with British Standard 5588, i.e. that exit from the flat is achieved by the operation of a single action release, opening being accomplished by means of a handle, lever or thumb turn.

Back Doors

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The door should be fitted with a 5 lever 2 bolt mortice sash lock, (a deadlock with a handle for convenience), avoiding the construction joints.  

Unlike front doors, many insurance companies do not specify that they should be to British Standard 3621 or equivalent European Standard EN 12209, though the use of this standard of lock is recommended.

Extras

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The sash lock should be supplemented by mortice rack bolts (bolts fitted into the door and operated internally) or surface-mounted locking bolts top and bottom. They should always be fitted at 90º to the grain of the wood, reducing the likelihood of the wood splitting if subjected to pressure.

Lock Types

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If the door opens outwards hinge bolts must be fitted top and bottom because the hinges are exposed to the outside and could be attacked. They should be located 100-150mm (4-6”) below the top hinge and similarly above the bottom.

Quality locks are only as strong as the doors and frames to which they are attached. Ensure that the frame is sound and the door suitable for external use. If the door has a wooden panel at the bottom, check for thickness. 

If it is thin ply consider replacing with hardwood or marine ply, or covering on the outside. If covering, screws should be countersunk and hidden. The board should be fitted to the outside to counter the greater danger of it being kicked through than being pulled off.

Back Door windows

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If the door is glazed consider replacing ordinary or toughened glass panels with laminated glass - two pieces of glass bonded together with a sheet of laminate - as they offer much greater resistance to attack, ideally to a minimum thickness of 6.4mm.