British Standards and locksmithing.
The BSI Group produce British Standards by Royal Charter. They are designed to ensure that standards are met and adopted for products and services. These standards are reviewed and amended from time to time. Goods and services that meet these standards are awarded a Kitemark, which indicate that the goods meet the criteria laid out by the British Standard Committee.
From a lock and security point of view,
Locksmith Essex feel the better the quality of the locks and security measures adopted, the safer a premises is. It is often the case that insurance companies will state in the terms of an insurance policy that they require locks and other security measures to meet a certain type of British Standard.
This last point is important, as should inferior locks be fitted, and a break – in occurs, then the locks may invalidate the policy. This can have severe consequences as no claim for the loss of goods or damage occurred during the break – in could be made.
An important note about Kitemarks and British Standards.
The standards that are established for goods and services, do not necessarily relate directly to the quality of the product, as many are safety and quality related. The latter point may indicate that the lock uses a deadlock mechanism for example, but not the quality of the product overall. This point is often misunderstood.
It is for this reason, highly advisable that locksmiths fit new locks to a premises as they are in much more advantageous position to source and find locks and other security measures, which comply with the terms of an insurance policy, and are good products in their own right.
In terms of insurance compliance, it is probably the case that the policy states locks should be fitted by a professional. Should locks be fitted by a non – professional and a claim is made, this may not be honoured by the insurance company.