Clearview National October 2016 - Issue 179 | Page 78
HOMESECURITYMONTH
The nation’s
home security
howlers revealed
To mark October’s National Home
Security Month and the commencement
of the government’s new building security
regulation on the 1st October (Document
Q), the UK’s leading window and door
hardware manufacturer, Winlock Security,
conducted a nationwide survey to reveal
the UK’s biggest home security howlers.
NEW STANDARDS
From 1st October 2016, the
government’s new legislation
requires that all ground floor or
accessible doors and windows on
new build residential dwellings
must be made to a design that
has been independently tested
to the latest security standard
(PAS024).
But where does that leave the
millions of doors and windows
already on the market or in situ?
“The vast majority of existing
windows and doors wouldn’t
meet the latest new build
standard,” said Alan Parker,
Managing Director of Winlock
Security. “Our estimate would be
that over 90% of existing doors
and windows wouldn’t meet the
spec.”
Worrying? Perhaps more
concerning is news that almost
30% of burglaries are ‘walkin’ offences committed by
opportunists taking advantage
of properties left unsecured.
“It shouldn’t take Sherlock to
explain that even where a door
meets the highest level of security
standard, if you forget to close it,
it’s utterly redundant,” continued
Parker.
COMMON MISTAKES
Winlock Security, which
rigorously and regularly tests all
of its products in-house to ensure
they are ‘intruder-proof ’, carried
out a survey of 754 people living
in the UK to discover which were
the nation’s most common home
security howlers.
33% of the nation have been
burgled and of those 1 in 3 were
unlucky enough to have been
targeted more than once. Yet 49%
of the UK admitted to common
mistakes such as leaving the house
keys in the front door (24% on
more than one occasion) and
more than 1 in 10 of respondents
regularly hide their spare door key
under a plant pot or door mat,
rather than in a secure place or
with a neighbour.
Over a third of Brits could be
forgiven for accidentally forgetting
to lock their front door, but it
seems 7% are very trusting of their
fellow man, deliberately leaving
an exterior door open or unlocked
when they leave the house.
Surprisingly half of all people
surveyed also leave windows open
when they go out, against official
crime prevention advice stating
“that you should lock your doors
78 » OCT 2016 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
‘even the most secure installation
is rendered pointless if your keys
are left in the front door!’
and windows every time you leave
the house, even when you’re just
out in the garden.”
INSTALLATION ISSUES
Winlock Security site
technicians also reported
instances of home security sins
being committed such as door
locks being fitted the wrong way
around, so the outside behaves
as the inside, or the wrong hand
latch being used, so that the latch
doesn’t actually do anything or
offer any security.
Some of the worst examples
they had witnessed include door
hinges accessible from the outside
where hinge pins can be taken out
in seconds, and the entire door
taken off in less than a minute,
or where windows can’t be closed
and so held shut with just a piece
of string.
“Thankfully these home
security sins are few and far
between and the general standard
of door and window installation
is extremely high,” reassured Alan
Parker.
But even the most secure
installation is rendered pointless
if your keys are left in the front
door!
Established in 1987 in
Telford, Shropshire, Winlock
Security Ltd is the only
remaining volume manufacturer
of window handles in the
UK. It is a leading supplier of
innovative door and window
hardware including timber,
aluminium, PVCu and social
housing product ranges to UK
and European fabricators.
www.winlock.co.uk,
email: [email protected]