From October 2015, the security of new homes will be included in the Buildings Regulations in England. This in now referred to as Approved Document Q.

Approved Document Q currently only applies to new build homes, and any home that has been converted from a commercial use to residential use.

Approved Document Q is the new regulation (passed in October 2015) that applies to all new build homes and any homes that have come from a building that has a change of use such as from commercial to residential, and even barn conversions. This also applies to any dwellings that fall within a conservation area. It only applies to plans that have been passed after this time, any plans passed before October 2015 are not subject to the regulation. Approved Document Q creates security requirements relating to Doors, Windows, Bi-fold doors, sliding doors, and any other area of the home relating to the windows and doors industry including garage doors. This applies to ALL doors that are an entrance to a dwelling including any communal doors however it only refers to windows that are accessible at ground level and other easy to reach areas such as basements. This does still refer to any roof lights that are also easily accessible.

The requirements for the acceptable standard of security is that they all must pass a PAS 24:2012 (or later) tests and show evidence of this. This can usually be obtained from where the products were bought.

Secured by design is a step further than PAS 24 and adds further safety and security measurements. These are not essential to pass the Approved Document Q but are a good extra security measure for anybody that wants to improve the security of their home.

Standards referenced within the Approved Document Q are;

British Standards:
BS EN 356 – Glass in building. Security glazing. Testing and classification of resistance against manual attack (2000)

BS 3621 – Thief resistance lock assembly. Key egress (2007 + A2:2012)

BS 8621 – thief resistant lock assembly. Keyless egress (2007 + A2:2012)

BS 10621 – Thief resistant duel-mode lock assembly (2007 + A2:2012)

Publicly Available Specifications:
PAS 24 – Enhanced security performance requirements for door sets and winds in the UK. External doorsets and windows intended to offer a level of security suitable for dwellings and other buildings exposed to comparable risk (2012)

PAS 3621 – Multipoint locking assemblies. Keyed egress. Performance requirements and test methods (2011)

PAS 8621 – Multipoint locking assemblies. Keyless egress. Performance requirements and test methods (2011)

PAS 10621 –  Multipoint locking assemblies. Duel mode egress. Performance requirements and test methods (2011)

Loss Prevention Certification Board
LPS 2081: Issue 1 – Requirements and testing procedures for the LPCB approval and listing of building components, strongpoints, security enclosures and free-standing barriers offering resistance to intruders attempting to use stealth to gain entry (2015)

LPS 1175: Issue 7 –  Requirements and testing procedures for the LPCB approval and listing of intruder resistant building components, strongpoints, security enclosures and free-standing barriers (2010)

Certisecure: Warrington Certification Limited
STS 201: issue 5 – Enhanced security requirements for doorsets to satisfy the requirements of PAS 24 (2013)

STS 202: Issue 3 – Requirements for burglary resistance of construction products, including hinged, pivoted, fold and sliding doorsets, windows curtain walling, security grilles, garage doors and shutters (2011)

STS 204: Issue 3 – Enhanced security performance for windows to satisfy the requirements of PAS 24 (2012)

Door and Hardware Federation
TS 008 – Enhanced security and general requirements for letter plate assemblies and slide through boxes (2012)