Security and glazed doors: PAS 24, glass and locking
The weakest point of a glazed door is rarely the glass. What PAS 24 covers, which glazing resists attack, and where installations go wrong.
- PAS 24 tests the complete door or window, not the individual components.
- Laminated glass holds together when broken, where toughened glass does not.
- The cylinder and the fixing of the frame are attacked more often than the lock itself.
The weakest point of a glazed door is rarely the glass. It is more often the locking gear, the cylinder, or a frame moving inside an opening that was never quite solid enough.
PAS 24 and why it is referenced
PAS 24 is the test standard for doors and windows, covering a series of physical attacks on the complete unit rather than on its components. It is the standard that Approved Document Q refers to for new dwellings, and it is often asked for by insurers.
Check that the certificate covers the size and type of door you are buying. A range certificate does not necessarily cover every configuration in it.
Glass choice
Laminated glass holds together when it breaks, so the opening stays closed. Toughened glass, which most doors are supplied with for safety reasons, breaks into small fragments and offers little resistance. A laminated pane in the unit is a sensible upgrade on a door close to the street or accessible from a side passage.
Locking and cylinders
Multi-point locking gives you several bolts along the opening edge, but the cylinder is the part attacked most often. Specify a cylinder that resists picking and snapping, and check that the frame is reinforced where the keeps are fixed.
The installation
A perfect door fitted badly is not a secure door. The frame needs to be packed and fixed so it cannot be levered, and the gap around it correctly sealed. Ask your installer about the fixing positions, particularly on an aluminium system where the fixings pass through a thermal break.
Written by the Minimal Frame Projects UK team. If you would like advice on a specific opening, send us the dimensions and a few photographs and we will come back with a specification.
