Back to articles
A safe that is resistant to fire is the type that has been designed to shield the contents from both fire and extremely high temperatures. The ratings are indicative of the time the safe can hold up to exceptionally high temperatures and still not surpass a certain temperature on the inside. This type is usually rated from one-half hour to four hours.
The testing that is conducted for certification of safes by the UL is considered to be the most thorough testing worldwide. The only other certifications that come close are those conducted by Germany, Japan and France. However, their testing consists of heating an oven containing the safe until the correct temperature is achieved. Then it is artificially cooled whereas UL heats the safe and sustains the temperature and then allows the safe to cool at its own pace.
Fire resistant safes are considered crucial for keeping records safe. This type may be self-contained and have multiple doors and drawers. The parts are all insulated to help protect the important records you have put away for safe keeping from fire. The safes are rated according to what you will put in them. Paper requires a Class 350. Microfilm and other photographic paraphernalia will require a Class 150. Computer parts such as hard drives will need to be protected by a Class 125.
The right class of safe is extremely important to organizations and businesses to keep their important information safe from fire. In the event that a business would have a fire, the records they have could be lost forever without protecting them with a fire-resistant safe. This could ruin a company financially and force them out of business. Records are essential for everything from billing to keeping track of clients. Without this information, it would not take long for a company to either go out of business or be forced into filing bankruptcy.
If the business is a rather large one the huge amount of records they would have on hand might require a room sized safe rather than several smaller ones. This will allow the maximum protection of the company's records. This is the type normally used by various departments of the government as well as companies that back up information for businesses and individuals. This type of safe or vault has a Class 125-4 hour ranking. They are made of a ceramic fiber, which insulates against high temperatures in the case of a fire.
All parts of the vault must be insulated and must be rated Class 125 before the entire vault is allowed to be classified as a 125. This includes any places the coolant lines or cables that are placed into the vault as well as the roof. The door will have to be a double one as at the present time there is not a 125 rated single door.