Safes and Security Storage

Our showroom has over 150 safes on display. New and used. These range from general home safes to banker and jewelers quality safes. When selecting a Safe, several factors need to be taken in to account to ensure the Safe you select is suitable for the purpose. These factors will include: The value of cash and valuables to be protected Type of locking (Key lock, Combination Lock, Digital Keypad) Is a Fire rating necessary If a Fire Rating is necessary, will it be for paper or computer data records Can the Safe be secured (bolted down) to a concrete base

Cash Rating;

A Safe with a Cash Rating of $4000 will be totally different to a Safe with a Cash Rating of $100,000. They are designed to provide differing levels of burglary protection, and built to suit a particular price bracket. An old adage was to allow 10% of the value of the items to be protected for the price of the Safe, although these days the price tends to be less than this due to improvements in technology and increase in competitiveness between Manufacturers.

	Home Safes;	Generally steel plate manufacture, or light steel inner and outer sheets with the cavity filled with a fire resisting material. These Safes are designed to deter opportunist break and enter, but will not prevent a determined or prolonged attack. Generally suggested for cash and valuables to $4000 value.
	Light Office, Domestic;	Expect to be of Plate Steel Door construction with a body of Refractory Material (High Compressive Strength Security Concrete). Designed to deter attack from hand tools, basic drills, explosives and force, plus provide paper records with 30 to 45 minutes fire resistance. We suggest that these Safes are suitable for cash and valuables to around $12,000 value.
	Office Grade;	Manufactured with a more substantial Plate Steel Door and more substantial Body thickness, offering improved resistance to hand tools, drills, explosives and force, plus fire protection for paper records of 45 minutes to 90 minutes. Suggest for cash and valuables to $20,000.
	Commercial Grade;	Manufactured with a more substantial Plate Steel Door and more substantial Body thickness, offering improved resistance to hand tools, drills, explosives and force, plus fire protection for paper records of 45 minutes to 90 minutes. Suggest for cash and valuables to $20,000.
	Jewelers Grade;	Substantial Door and Body thicknesses of specialised Alloys and/or Refractory Materials with added plasticisers, fibres and other additions to give the Refractory Materials greater flexibility against tool and explosive attack. These Safes offer resistance to oxy acetylene, sophisticated drilling and other types of attack indicated above, and will generally be fire rated for 90 minutes. Expect an Insurance cash Rating up to $120,000 to $150,000.
	Bankers Grade;	Refer Jewellers Grade, but with a greater emphasis on thicknesses and additions to the Refractory Materials. Fire Rating around 90 minutes, Cash Rating $250,000.

Important; Cash Risk figures are intended as a guide only. These must be confirmed with your Insurer prior to purchase.

Locking

Keylocks, Keyless Combination Locks and Digital Keypads; Generally are of similar Security Rating, the exception being Digital Locks on Home Safes which may be less secure to a professional. Bear in mind, however, that these Safes are not designed to keep a professional out!

	Keylock;	Convenient and simple. However, the Key is generally quite large and not convenient on a Key Ring. Under no circumstances should you hide a Key on the premises. Also bear in mind that a copy can be made without written authority from the Owner.
	Combination;	Reliable and flexible, as most Combination Locks allow the Owner to select and change a code (Home Safes will often have a Combination Lock with Pre-Set Code that cannot be changed). The dialling procedure can be a nuisance for those with poor eye sight or a shaky hand, or where light is dim.
	Digital;	Convenient and Simple, and now very reliable. On all but Home Safes, will increase the price of a Safe by at least $300.00. Allows Owner to select and change codes, and more sophisticated Digitals will also allow for Time Delay, Duress Alarm, Dual Codes (or more).

Fire Rating

Most Safes today will offer a Fire Rating, but this is only a relatively recent innovation; be wary of second hand Safes with Fire Ratings, as often this Fire Rating has been achieved to the detriment of burglary protection, and in even older Safes (pre 1960) the fire resisting material may have deteriorated to such a degree that the fire protection has been lost.

Note that a Home Safe with a Fire Rating will have reduced burglary protection, as in these instances metal content has been sacrificed to limit heat conduction.

Please also be aware that some Safes and Cabinets are designed solely for Fire Resistance, and will offer very limited protection to even a simple force attack. Such Units should not be used for protecting cash and valuables.

Fire Rated Safes and Cabinets are designed to protect paper records only. Data Records need a much higher level of protection, and Safes designed specifically for this purpose need to be used. Inserts to be placed inside Office Grade, or better, Safes are available too. Note that Data Cabinets, due to their highly specialised nature, are absolutely not to be used for burglary protection.

Bolting Safes Securely to Walls or Floors

We encourage wherever practical that Safes under 250 kilograms be bolted down. Bolting Down should always be to a concrete base if possible. Please be aware that the bolting down to concrete floors is only as strong as your concrete; we often find that a Safe that was bolted down failed in an attack situation because the concrete was too soft/sandy, and failed to hold the bolt.

Note that Data Cabinets cannot be bolted down. They may be glued, but this will mean that they would possibly need to be destroyed in the event of them having to be moved or re-located.

The information supplied above is a guide only. As specific requirements may be required, you need to discuss these with our representatives to determine the correct type of safe required.

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