Filling in the Doc Q gaps
Document Q helps to ensure the safety and security of homes and homeowners. Tony Chadwick, group managing director at the Trojan Group, discusses where the industry still needs to catch up and why increased security doesn’t automatically need to mean increased cost.
Document Q has helped to make a big advance in the security of many of our homes. As such it can only be a good thing. But while homeowners can sleep more soundly at night, the introduction of the legislation has caused two major issues for our industry.
The first of these is compliant products. The most obvious gap was letterplates – very few letterplates on the market to date met the requirements of the legislation, something that has undoubtedly caused some uncomfortable compromises to be made in terms of the price or the aesthetics in some projects.
Our new TS008 Unicorn Letterplate has filled this gap. It formed the centrepiece of our stand at this year’s FIT Show and the number of leads we received for it reflects how much the industry needs it.
The TS008 Unicorn Letterplate meets the requirements of Document Q thanks to the inner protective housing which has a unique concealed hinge mechanism to prevent attack. The inner flap has a positive stop feature for maximum protection from ‘fishing’ while the inner flap projection sits below door handle height for added protection.
Aesthetically it has been designed for maximum flexibility. It has simple styling that sits well with any door design, and is suitable for both composite and PVCU doors. It is available in a full choice of external finishes including polished, brushed and satin stainless steel, PVD gold, black and white. The internal letterplate can be colour coded to match the door colour.
It has been designed to be durable and long lasting. The external flap is manufactured from 304 stainless steel, and galvanised mild steel is used for painted finishes. There is a 25-year anti-corrosion guarantee on all stainless steel product finishes and a 10-year mechanical guarantee on all versions.
The other problem that Document Q raised was price. Few people would object to the idea of increased security in theory but when it has an impact on price then it becomes a different matter, especially on those projects where pricing is critical.
Again, this is an issue we’ve able to address in our TS007 2-Star high security door handle. Combined with a 1-Star cylinder it enables fabricators and installers to meet the Document Q requirement of 3-Star security as part of a PAS24:2012 accredited doorset without the price premium that a 3-Star cylinder attracts.
It’s an option that has proved popular with our customers and had a very strong take up because the product’s 2-Star cylinder guard gives a clear visual deterrent compared to the more expensive 3-Star cylinder variants as would-be criminals cannot always see what is fitted to the door.
Consort recently switched to offering stainless steel hardware on its residential doors and it is using our TS007 2-Star Handle and a 1-Star cylinder on some products as part of this switch.
Like the TS008 Unicorn Letterplate, the TS007 2-Star handle is manufactured in 304 stainless steel and comes with a 25-year anti-corrosion guarantee and a 10-year mechanical guarantee. It is available in a full choice of finishes including polished and brushed gold (PVD), polished and brushed stainless, and white and black powder coated over stainless.