Security
Following the publication of Approved Document Q in England, security is incorporated into the building regulations in England for the first time.
Effective since 1st October 2015, Approved Document Q (England) sets security requirements for new dwellings in England. The approved document sets out reasonable standards for doors and windows to resist physical attack by a casual or opportunist burglar by being both sufficiently robust and fitted with appropriate hardware.
To meet the requirement, reasonable provision must be made to resist unauthorised access to any dwelling and any part of a building from which access can be gained to a flat within a building.
Ground floor, basement and other easily accessible windows (including easily accessible rooflights) need to be secure windows. A window that has been shown by test to meet the security requirements of PAS 24 would be considered a secure window.
According to PAS 24, where doorsets, coupled side panels and windows adjacent to doorsets contain glass, each glazed area shall include at least one pane of laminated glass meeting the requirements of BS EN 356:2000, Class P1A or higher.
Where windows contain glass and non-key unlocking hardware, each glazed area shall include at least one pane of laminated glass meeting the requirements of BS EN 356:2000, Class P1A or higher, and shall be glazed in accordance with BS 6262.
6.8mm Pilkington Optilam™ achieves BS EN 356 Class P2A (which is higher than P1A), so would satisfy this requirement. Please note that 6.4mm Pilkington Optilam™ does not achieve Class P1A.
The requirement does not apply to replacement windows and doors.
For more information on glass for security applications, please click HERE.
To read approved document Q in full, please click HERE.