Smoke & Fire Protection Feature Letter perfect
Richard Morris of UAP discusses the security and safety implications of letter plate specification.
Safety & Regulation
apartment, the wrong choice of letterplate can be an eyesore, but that’s not the only issue with specification. Letter plates can also present a security risk, fire safety issue or problems with access and Disability Act compliance, which is why it’s important to understand the potential specification pitfalls and what to look for when selecting a product.
M
OVERCOMING VULNERABILITIES Historically, letter plates have been the most vulnerable part of a door, enabling thieves to ‘fish’ through the aperture to retrieve keys from hallways and gain access to properties. Often, homeowners don’t understand the risks of leaving keys conveniently placed on a console table in the hall or a hook near the door until a thief has fished for them to gain access to their property or steal their car. Stricter compliance for letterplate design has been in place since the TS008
standard was introduced in 2016, effectively preventing key fishing and manipulation of the thumbturn cylinder. TS008 letterplate fixings also have to be capable of withstanding 1.2kN (122.366kgs) of force application, held for ten seconds at each end of the letter plate. This helps in preventing an intruder gaining unrestricted access to the aperture.
uch of our correspondence may be paperless these days, but homes still need a letterplate where letters, circulars and newspapers can be posted. Located prominently on the front door of a house or an
Security is not the only risk, however. Fire safety is also an important
consideration and, in multi-occupancy buildings, containing a fire within the property where it started, rather than allowing it to spread throughout the building, is just as important as preventing fire from spreading from common areas into individual homes. That’s why fire doors are required as the front doors to individual apartments within multi-occupancy buildings, or for doors that lead onto shared balcony walkways. For these environments, not only is TS008 compliance required to ensure security, but the letterplate must also provide a fire rating equal to the rating of the door. And, of course, it must still allow items defined in the postal services standard BS EN 13724: 2013 to completely pass through the aperture without being damaged.
DESIGN CHALLENGES The challenge for companies developing TS008 compliant letter plates has been that the additional design features required to make letterplates safer and more secure in order to meet the standard have often resulted in practical and aesthetic issues. Many social housing properties have narrow hallways, for example, and the
standard response of designing letter plates with a bulky cowl on the interior side of the door sometimes makes it impossible to fully open the door. This causes issues with Equality Act compliance, because it restricts the clear opening
www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMMOctober/November 2021 | 43
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
