The Meaning of Safe Ratings

To the common eye, all safes look the same and appear to do the same job:

They’re large
They’re heavy
They have some sort of digital or analog combination
They’re tough to crack
Most importantly, they keep your belongings safe

If you’ve ever looked closely at a safe, you’ll notice letter markings on it. These safe ratings are designed to help communicate the safe’s specific features – as well as to help you make an informed decision on selecting the right safe for your needs.

Keeping that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the letter markings you’ll find on any safe and what do they mean to you.

UL Ratings

UL stands for Underwriters Laboratories. Based out of the United States of America, UL participates in the safety analysis of many new technologies.

UL has been testing and rating products for over 100 years, and are considered the leading authority when it comes to evaluating and certifying products for safety and performance.

Any home safe (or any product, for that matter) which bears the UL logo has been tested and has passed the strict standards of Underwriter Laboratories.

TL Ratings

TL rated safes are combination lock units which are protected against:

Mechanical tools
Electrical tools
Cutting tools

A safe with a TL rating is strong enough to withstand tough abuse for a period of time from:

Picking tools and hand tools
Grinding tools
Carbide drills
Cutting wheels
Power saws
High-impact hammers and mallets
Welding and cutting torches

B-Rating & C-Rating

The thickness of a safe's walls can be rated

Both safes feature tough door locks and re-locking components. However, the thickness of the walls and doors differ between B- and C-rated safes.

B-Rating:

Walls are less than ½” thick
Doors less than 1” thick

C-Rating:

Steel walls at least ½” thick
Doors at least 1” thick

Fire ratings

Most safes are manufactured to withstand extreme heat and fire conditions. In order to validate this belief, testing fireproof safes requires seeing if the safe can survive varying furnace heat for specific amounts of time.

For example, a safe with a fire-rating of Class 350 1-hour means that the internal temperature of the safe will not exceed 350F for at least one hour when exposed to temperatures exceeding 1700F.

Safes usually have 1-, 2-, or 3 hour classification levels.

In addition to testing the safe’s capacity to withstand heat, the safe is also tested against explosions. Once a safe is heat-tested, it will be dropped from a height (usually 30 feet) to see if it will explode.

Find the right safe for you at Aim Lock & Safe

Keep your personal or business belongings secure in a safe which is tough enough to handle your protective needs.

We have several types of safe protection available for you to choose from. Each one has been tested to handle the most stressful conditions it could be put under – and keep on working.