AS 3555.1—2003 Building elements - Testing and rating for intruder resistance

PREFACE

This Standard was prepared by the Standards Australia Committee MS-047, Intruder Resistance Building Panels, following a request from the Department of Housing and Construction on behalf of the interdepartmental Security Hardware and Construction Working Committee, to supersede AS 3555 – 1988, Building elements – Testing and rating for intruder resistance.

 

The objective of this Standard is to provide a method for testing and rating the resistance of an element of a building to forcible attack.

 

The method described is a destructive test using personnel and equipment to simulate an actual attack. It relies heavily on the competence and experience of the personnel in performing such an attack. The ratings determined may not necessarily be reproducible and should, therefore, be considered as comparative rather than as an absolute indication of the minimum time to breach the building element.

 

The selection of tools to be used for the simulated attack are based on an attack that can be carried out without regard to noise, smoke, vibration, etc., generated during the attack.

 

LEVELS OF ATTACK

A building element shall be tested in accordance with Appendix A of the full standard at one of the following levels of attack:

1. Level 1 – one man using common hand tools.
2. Level 2 – two men using common hand tools.
3. Level 3 – one man using power tools and common hand tools.
4. Level 4 – two men using power tools and common hand tools.
5. Level 5 – two men using hydraulic tools and common hand tools.
6. Level 6 – two men using a cutting torch and common hand tools.

NOTE: See Clause 1.4.2 to 1.4.5 of the full standard for descriptions of tools.

RATING OF BUILDING ELEMENTS

Testing

When tested in accordance with Appendix A, a building element shall be rated according to the time required to create an opening in it of at least 620 cm². The dimensions of the opening shall be –

1. a rectangular shaped opening with the smallest dimension not less than 150 mm;
2. a circular opening not less than 280 mm in diameter; or
3. an isosceles right triangular shaped opening with a hypotenuse of not less than 500 mm.

Rating

A building element shall be assigned a rating as follows:

1. Ten minutes – if after 10 min of attack the opening described in the Testing section above has not been formed.
2. Five minutes – if after 5 min of attack the opening described in the Testing section above has not been formed.

The rating shall be expressed in relation to the level of attack, e.g., Level2 (5minutes).

 

NOTE: For applications where the rating system described in the Rating section above is not appropriate, the time taken to form the opening, expressed in minutes, may be reported.