Garage Door Euro Cylinder Lock Can't comply With BS3621... Not Insurable!

[martinwinlow]

Hi,

I am going around the twist with this...

I run a small business from home. I keep some stock in my garage which has a Hormann up&over door with a normal sized wicket door in it. The main garage door is about 4.5m wide and 2.0m high and consists of a very robust aluminium frame with ply facing - it must all weigh the best part of 100kg.

The standard lock (marked 'ZK40') on the wicket door (also in aluminium and integrated into the bigger main door) does not currently comply with BS3261 and is a euro profile mortice lock with latch arrangement similar to that fitted to 99.9% of UPVC front doors the length and breath of the UK (and the EU, too, I would imagine), 60mm backset and 72mm between spindle and euro cylinder centres.

My current insurers say that unless I fit a lock to the wicket door that meets BS3261 they can't insure the garage contents. I can't find a euro profile lock to fit other than those (millions of them) which comply with the EU equivalent of BS3261, EN12209.

Is this normal or are my insurers just being a bit dim/silly? Or is it me?!

Regards, Martin Winlow.

 

[Nozzle]

You could fit an additional clasp type lock?

Nozzle

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Could you ask if your insurers would accept something like the ABS Avocet snap secure Euro barrel? These are made to a different (higher?) standard, BSI TS007:2012, a newer standard than BS EN 3621 (which in an case ONLY covers 5-lever mortise locks). TS007 incorporates BS EN 1303:2005 and BS 3621:2007 and I've been told that it is supposed to be the standard that members of the Association of British Insurers now require, rather than the earlier standards. If you do go that way I'd recommend going for a 3-star barrel set together with a 2-star armoured handle set (if it is possible to retrofit this to your door - it may not be) for better protection

 

[martinwinlow]

Thanks for the replies:-
Nozzle - I could, but the existing wicket door look rebate is preformed in the aluminium frame and to put something else in would almost certainly require cutting a significant amount of aluminium - and probably weakening the frame, but if all else fails this will probably be what I'll have to do. I could leave the existing lock in place and just add a standard 5 lever mortice. But then there's the extra faff...
JobAndKnock - "...BS EN 3621 (which in an case ONLY covers 5-lever mortise locks)..." This is the crux of my bewilderment. It is like the insurance industry isn't aware that Euro cylinder locks are fitted to almost every single single front door (and back, too probably) made in the last 20 years - especially UPVC ones. They all bang on about 5 *lever* locks whenever you get insurance quotes. It's quite pathetic really. The even more silly thing is that if you look at the stats, there are very, very few burglaries that involve either lock picking or drilling - the scum-suckers just hoof the door in or smash a window to gain entry, safe in the knowledge that nobody will bother (or are to scared of the consequences) to call the police.

Anyway, I have offered the insurers EN12209 and am awaiting a call. Quite why the garage door is fine for my 50 grand Tesla and not for £10-worth of stock is even more of a mystery. Nobody ever asks about the locks on your garage, just whether the car is kept in it overnight and is it locked.

 

[foxhole]

The problem with insurers is that they don't have the slightest idea what the BS means, they simply know that it's a standard they can rely on.

 

[JohnD]

"...BS EN 3621 (which in an case ONLY covers 5-lever mortise locks)..."

No it also covers cylinder locks and even deadlocking nightlatches, provided they meet the requirements, such as http://www.yale.co.uk/en/yale/couk/...bs1bs2---bs3621-maximum-security-nightlatch/#.

Eurocylinders are relatively insecure and do not pass the requirements, so they are not as good as BS locks. If they did pass, they could be kitemarked. Possibly there are some that do.


If you have not already got it, ask for a copy of their "requirements for minimum security on a household policy" (although I think a commercial policy might be better in your case, because a household policy would surely not cover commercial stock).

here is an example https://broker.aviva.co.uk/help/faq/answer/1293/

Mine is with Legal & General, on page 11 it only says
"All garages and outbuildings are fitted
with a key operated lock or locking system."
http://www.legalandgeneral.com/library/general-insurance/key-features/QGI6671.pdf
and IIRC it specifies elsewhere the materials of which outbuildings shall be constructed.

It will also define security of any communicating doors between garage and house.

Mine says

we will not cover your contents or personal possessions for theft or attempted theft from your home unless:

1. All easy to reach windows or openings that someone could get in through are fitted with key operated locks.

2. All garages and outbuildings are fitted with a key operated lock or locking system.

3. All external doors to your home are secured with British Standard BS3621
certified locks (or BS8621 for flats or maisonettes above ground level) or a multi point locking system with three or more locking points.

 

[JohnD]

EN12209 has several grades, you can try to map them to BS3621 if you like.

This might help
http://www.dhfonline.org.uk/docs/BS-3621-guide.pdf

Start with Table 2.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Eurocylinders are relatively insecure and do not pass the requirements, so they are not as good as BS locks. If they did pass, they could be kitemarked. Possibly there are some that do.

The ABS Avocet I linked to actually IS BS Kite Marked

 

[endecotp]

The "missing piece of jigsaw" mapping BS3621 to other standards (BS or EN) is that it includes a "general vulnerability assessment".

This assesment can only be done on an entire lock, i.e. not just a cylinder. So the only way to get a euro cylinder lock that meets bs3621 is to buy the cylinder and the lock mechanism from the same manufacturer, probably at the same time. For example, this one:

http://www.euro-secure.com/sashlocks.asp

 

[JohnD]

Excellent, thank you. Nice to see a Eurocylinder lock with BS3621.

I gather from the illustration that it is intended for wooden doors, not plastic or others with Multipoint, so might not solve Martin's problem unless it can be made to fit.

In some Utility cabins I have seen a handle-operated top-and-bottom shootbolt which can only move when the lock bolt is withdrawn. I think they were Wellington but might have been special make.