Do you know what type of safe certification you need? Not everyone is going to purchase a safe to store the same “valuables”. To one person, “valuables” might mean mortgage documents, wills, passports and other items of a similar nature, while another might be storing gold bars and uncut diamonds. Obviously, these two safe purchases will be quite different. We hope the following information on safe certifications will help you make the right choice!

Contents

Safe Certifications

Burglary Certifications

B-Rate

Although we don’t “officially” use B-Rate as a certification in Canada, the term is generally accepted among safe manufacturers and technicians to mean a safe that is constructed of plate steel, with a door LESS than 1″ thick and a body (walls) LESS than 1/2″ thick. Although B-Rate can be considered the catch-all rating for pretty much any box with a lock on it, the most common manufacturing specifications used for this class is a 1/2″ thick door with a 1/4″ body.

The B-Rate safe commonly found in retail establishments as deposit / skim safes, cash handlers & dispensers and float / daily use safes. These safes are not meant for 0ver-night storage of large amounts of cash or other valuable items. They are meant as a security device so that cash is not exposed during daily operations. Daily revenues should be reconciled and taken to the bank or picked up by an Armored Car Service. The safe should be used for opening floats, coin, gift cards and other such operational items.

C-Rate

The same applies to C-Rate, with construction being a door at least 1″ thick and body (walls) at least 1/2″ thick. This is the most common manufacturing specification for this class. This is slightly better than the B-Rate, but still not meant for over-night storage of large amounts of cash.

Class 2

A Class 2 rating refers to a safe that a manufacturer has built to meet the construction requirements of a Burglary TL-15 safe (see below), but has NOT been passed by Underwriters Laboratories. This DOES NOT mean the product has failed this test. Due to the costs involved in UL testing and “labeling” a safe, some manufacturers will build a product for a customer that does not require a TL-15 certification, but would like the same protection. This allows the manufacturer to provide these safes at lower costs.

Each safe needs to be tested by UL to get it’s label. This is another reason a manufacturer might build a “classed” safe, such as the Class 2 — they may not have the labeled safe in the customers required dimensions, so they custom build for that client, without UL testing that particular safe.

In MOST instances, a “classed” safe is build to the exact specifications of a “certified” safe — the only difference is the label.

Underwriters Laboratories of Canada

Underwriters Laboratories of Canada is an independent product safety testing, certification and inspection organization. They have tested products for public safety for 90 years and are accredited by the Standards Council of Canada.

ULC Standards is an independent, not-for-profit Standards Development Organization under the National Standards System of Canada. Accredited by the Standards Council of Canada, ULC Standards develops and publishes standards and specifications for products having a bearing on fire, life safety and security, crime prevention, energy efficiency, environmental safety, security of assets and facilities, live working and workplace safety and other areas.

Below are some of the more common UL safe certifications;

Burglary TL-15

Signifies a combination-locked safe designed to offer a limited degree of protection against attack by common mechanical and electrical hand tools and any combination of these means. “TL” stands for TOOL. TL-15 means TOOL resistant for 15 minutes.

Construction Requirements

U.L. listed Group II, 1 or 1R combination lock
750 lbs. minimum or comes with instructions for anchoring in a larger safe, concrete blocks or on the premises where used
Body walls of material equivalent to at least 1″ open hearth steel with a minimum tensile strength of 50,000 P.S.I
Walls fastened in a manner equivalent to continuous 1/4″ penetration weld of open hearth steel with minimum tensile strength of 50,000 P.S.I
One hole 1/4″ or less, to accommodate electrical conductors arranged to have no direct view of the door or locking mechanism

Performance Requirements

Successfully resist entry* for a net working time of 15 minutes when attacked with common hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or portable electric tools, grinding points, carbide drills and pressure applying devices or mechanisms.

Burglary TL-30

Signifies a combination-locked safe designed to offer a moderate degree of protection against attack by common mechanical and electrical hand tools and any combination of these means. “TL” means TOOL. TL-30 means TOOL resistant for 30 minutes.

Construction Requirements

same as TL-15 above

Performance Requirements

Successfully resist entry* for a net working time of 30 minutes when attacked with common hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or portable electric tools, grinding points, carbide drills and pressure applying devices or mechanisms, abrasive cutting wheels and power saws.

Burglary TRTL-30

Construction Requirements

Construction of TRTL type safes generally consist of composite materials (burglary resistant materials, such as high PSI concrete mixtures, sandwiched between steel). Accordingly, TRTL type safes also offer fire resistance besides burglary resistance.

The torch resistance, generally, comes from layer(s) of materials, such as copper or aluminum, designed to disperse the heat from cutting torches so they cannot build up enough heat to cut (melt) through these materials to get to the inside of the safe.

Performance Requirements

Successfully resist entry** for a net working time of 30 minutes when attacked with common hand tools, picking tools, mechanical or portable electric tools, grinding points, carbide drills and pressure applying devices or mechanisms, abrasive cutting wheels, power saws and oxy-fueled torches.

Burglary TRTL-30×6

Signifies a combination-locked safe designed to offer a high degree of protection against attack by common mechanical and electrical hand tools, as well as oxy-fueled torches and any combination of these means. “TR” means TORCH. “TL” means TOOL. TRTL-30 means TORCH AND TOOL resistant for 30 minutes. The “X6” signifies that ALL SIX SIDES are protected and certified (for all other certifications, it is just the door that is certified).

Construction Requirements

same as TRTL-30 above, but on all six sides

Performance Requirements

*Entry is defined by UL as opening the door, or making a 6″ square opening through the door face
**Entry for X6 is defined by UL as opening the door, or making a 6″ square opening in any of the six sides