Certifications for home safes and professional safes

There are two European standards in reference for safes.

We refer to the UNI EN 14450 for safes for private, or domestic use, a standard that covers two degrees of resistance: S1 and S2. 

- To be classified at level S1, the safe must withstand an appropriate attack for at least one minute.

- To reach level S2, on the other hand, it must remain immune to a laboratory break-in attempt for at least 2.5 minutes.

UNI EN 1143-1, on the other hand, refers to professional safes, which are of a different resistance to domestic safes, and which can be widely used in the private sector for the proper protection of valuables, and obviously in the professional sector such as tobacco shops, pharmacies, jewellers, supermarkets, banks and all high-risk locations.

The latter standard allows the classification of safes into 14 increasing degrees of resistance, from grade 0 to grade XIII. The classification of safes (wall safes or mobile safes) goes up to grade X, while armoured doors and vaults go up to higher grades.

General characteristics of certified safes

What is important to emphasise is that certified safes are manufactured using high-quality techniques and materials to achieve the correct strength.

At specific laboratories accredited by the certifying body, tests are carried out to test the resistance of safes or other strong media, requested by manufacturers interested in certifying their products.

The test consists in opening the safes through different types of break-ins. 

The test results determine the burglary resistance classification, taking into account specific factors such as the time taken and the tools used. 

The higher the grade, the greater the resistance of the safe. 

Certification therefore ensures that the safe has been manufactured by a company that meets international standards. It also obliges the company itself to carry out the periodic inspections required by the certifying body.

How to recognise a certified safe

Identifying a certified safe? It is quite simple. The inside of the safe must bear the certification label containing the following information: 

• the accredited certification body 
• the name of the manufacturer
• the name or reference of the safe model
• the standard, 
• the year of production 
• the serial number 
• the degree of resistance  
• the weight of the safe. 

Certified safes and insurance

Certified safes are also of specific importance with regard to the possibility of insuring the goods they contain.

The correct choice of certified safe and its degree of resistance allows for much more favourable insurance conditions compared to non-certified products.

Below is a guideline table for the 'insurance limits' recommended at European level by EUROSAFE.