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Certification Marks On Safes, Deposit Safes And Secure Safe Cabinets - What To Look For

AIS logo

Accredited Safe And Vault Certification

In order to be a valid accredited certification in the E.U. any certification you see on a safe or vault must be awarded by a certification body that has European accreditation according to EN45011 or the new ISO/IEC 17065:2012 standard. This accreditation is confirmation of competence according to ISO/IEC 17065:2012 to carry out the certification of the specific security products listed on the certificate in accordance with the relevant European standards.

Properly Accredited Badges & Marks:

All certified products tested to the EN1143-1 (non-deposit /ATM / Strongrooms) or EN1143-2 (deposit) standard are tested as they were manufactured and are certified once the test is complete to their proven level of resistance. Once a test certificate has been issued for a particular product only very minor alterations may be permissible such as a lock upgrade or an alarm cable track. Any physical alterations to the unit such as suction tube, capsule deposit, rotary deposit drum or envelope slot will make any accredited certification void. In such a cash the certification badge should be removed from the unit.

Below is a typical accredited certification badge and the information you can expect to see on all such badges.

ECBS badge

Properly accredited certification marks you may encounter on safes in Ireland are:

essa certification logo The European Certification Body (ECB) is a neutral certification body accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 and based in Germany. It issues ECB•S certificates for products of the security industry.
vds certification logo VdS is an independent institution in Germany which has been ensuring safety and trust in the fields of fire protection and security for many decades.
a2p certification logo Established and accredited by the French State in 1961, CNPP includes the general interest activities and support functions of CNPP Group. The certification mark of CNPP for safes and vaults is A2P.
SBSC certification logo SBSC Sweden has been approved as a Notified Body, number 2391, in accordance with the EU’s Construction Products Regulation.

Misleading Badges:

(The Imitation Game)

There are many “certification marks” in the European market that have no accreditation whatsoever. Legally there is nothing wrong with a manufacturer or an individual creating a mark or grade and using it on their products as long as there is no intention to deceive but the purpose of an unaccredited “certification” mark when it references the EN1143-1, EN1143-2 or EN14450 standard is obviously questionable.

Below is a typical layout for an unaccredited manufacturer badge.

In recent years more brazen abuse of European standards has occurred with some low-quality manufacturers claiming their products are certified to EN1143-1 or EN1143-2 standards when no such tests have occurred, and no independent certification has taken place. These marks will usually state that they conform to a European standard or refer to CEN but will not name an accredited certification body or display an accredited certification bodies mark.  

Other Unaccredited Badges & Marks:

In Ireland there are two main badges and marks that are commonly confused with properly accredited certification and often this confusion is made worse due to a misunderstanding of the European testing and certification process by some individuals involved with these marks

AIS logo The mark of the Association of Insurance Surveyors (AIS) is not a certification mark and quite bizarrely can be used on safes that have never been tested or certified by anyone.
LPCB logo Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) (UK) safe badges look similar to accredited European certification badges however the LPCB mark has never been an accredited certification for safes.