Article Summary
- High-security doors are an investment in protecting employees, goods, and day-to-day operations.
- From steel to bullet-resistant doors, there are options that fit the wide variety of commercial properties and their risk profiles.
- The right security door not only meets regulations rules, but also provides long-term confidence in your business’ safety.
Choosing The Right High Security Door for Your Commercial Property
In the modern world, break-ins and smash-and-grab thefts are among the most significant security risks facing commercial properties today. A security door is the first line of defense for your business when moments matter.
The standard level of security offered by traditional doors does not match the needs of modern commercial properties. In today’s fast-paced world, businesses differ significantly from residential properties, with higher traffic, more assets, and greater value in general, as well as specific rules and regulations to comply with. It’s important to ensure that your security door fits the specific security needs of your business; a storage warehouse will need different security to keep out thieves than a facility that needs to prevent an active shooter situation. And if a door fails, your employees as well as your assets and reputation are put at risk.
A strong and reliable security door helps reduce long-term risks and costs. From helping prevent tragedies before they happen to reducing liability and lowering insurance costs, security doors can benefit your business in numerous ways. In this article, we’ll outline what you need to know to select the right high-security door for your commercial property.
Why High-Security Doors Matter
As briefly mentioned above, commercial properties are more vulnerable than residential ones for many reasons. Businesses often face daily threats of varying seriousness. Some of these risks include:
- Theft
- Vandalism
- Break-ins
- Unauthorized access
Each and every entrance into your commercial property matters as a first line of physical defense – the only barrier between your employees, assets, and hard work and the increasingly risky outside world. If a door fails, numerous aspects of a business are at risk, including employee safety, inventory loss, equipment damage, data breaches, theft of intellectual property, and other potential consequences. One incident can significantly impact customer and employee trust, damaging your brand’s reputation and ability to recover from a preventable tragedy.
Specific industries may even require the use of security doors through rules and regulations. Many commercial properties, such as banks, data centers, and healthcare facilities, fall into this category. Federal and state regulators will often impose fines on businesses that fail to meet their safety standards. Many facilities opt to go above and beyond the regulations, investing in high-security doors as an additional layer of security paired with cameras, advanced locking systems, and security guards.
Key Features to Look For
Designed to provide layered protection, high-security doors utilize materials that offer the highest levels of security, effective locking systems, and state-of-the-art designs that strike a balance between aesthetics and safety.
Overall, the most critical factors to look for are high-quality and durable materials, excellent construction, and an advanced locking system. For example, our Shield Security Doors are made from high-quality steel construction and feature multi-point locking mechanisms. There are even biometric locking systems available to provide more robust protection than traditional locks.
Another key factor in all the doors we install is the durable, high-security frame, as door hinges and frames are often a weak point in traditional designs. With reinforced hinges and concealed hardware, you can vastly reduce your risk of tampering or forced entry from this approach. Your security is only as strong as your weakest link; it doesn’t matter how strong or bullet-resistant a door is if it can be pried from its hinges or the frame can be easily destroyed. Despite this, a well-designed security door will blend in seamlessly not only with the existing security but also with the building’s aesthetics.
Ballistic Protection Levels
If ballistic threats are a specific concern for your commercial property, you will want to seek out security doors with a ballistic rating. In short, ballistic ratings (you’ll see UL 752 most often) represent the type of gun and ammunition the tested product can withstand. The two most relevant ratings for security doors are:
- UL752 Level 3 Ballistic Rating – rated to protect against handguns and their ammunition.
- UL752 Level 8 Ballistic Rating – protection against rifles and larger calibre ammunition.
An important factor to consider with ballistic ratings is that you should match your level of protection to the level of threats your property will realistically face. Overall, determining the right security doors for your needs is a process that combines both examining your property’s risk level and researching your available options. In the next section, we’ll cover what you need to know to make the right decision.
Matching Security Doors to Your Property Needs
Each type of security door has its own trade-offs in cost, installation, and required long-term maintenance. The right choice for one property will not be the right choice for the next. When making a choice, consider the property’s risk profile, industry-specific regulations, day-to-day operational needs, and your budget.
Steel security doors are ideal for properties where risks are lower, but increased security provides both a deterrent and a practical shield against crime. In these cases, durability and resistance to forced entry are the top priorities. This includes retail stores, warehouses, offices, and factories. The long-term reliability makes them a practical choice for these types of properties, as entrances often see heavy daily use. Their affordability for the level of security offered is another bonus.
Bullet-resistant security doors are ideal for banks, government offices, high-risk healthcare facilities, and institutions that handle sensitive data. The increased risk of firearm crime, in addition to the risk of break-ins, means that multiple layers of protection are worth the investment. Properties where high-profile personnel work also justify advanced levels of ballistic protection.
High-Quality Security Doors Make All the Difference
When you think of high-security doors as a strategic first line of defense rather than simply hardware, it becomes easier to make an investment in your property’s security. The right door for your property will reduce the risk of theft and vandalism, as well as buy your employees valuable time to reach safety and contact emergency services should an incident happen. By going beyond compliance and investing in a security door for its benefits, you protect all that makes a business thrive: employees, customers, and assets.
If you’re ready to take the next step to strengthen the security of your property, reach out to our trusted security professionals at Shield Security Door. We work with commercial properties across the country in a wide range of industries to protect their investments with durable, reliable security doors and windows. Whether you’re protecting a retail store or an industrial warehouse, our experts are ready to help you make the right choice of security door as you invest in safety and peace of mind.