VdS-certified products
Safes, vaults and vault doors must be designed to provide a high level of resistance against a wide range of intrusions. Therefore, in addition to high-quality construction, careful selection of materials (e.g. filling materials) and parts (e.g. locks, latching mechanism) is necessary.
The burglar-resistant properties of safes are objectively determined by the VdS testing and certification process. In order to guarantee the continuous quality of the products, the production site of the certificate holder must have a certified quality management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001. This ensures that the production site is monitored at regular intervals.
VdS certification plate
If the product has been tested and certified according to the VdS procedure, it will be provided with a certification plate that is permanently affixed to the safes. The VdS plate contains, among other things, information on the resistance grade.
In the event of a burglary, attempted burglary, repair or alteration, the burglar-resistant properties of the safes may be reduced to such an extent that the properties specified by the owner of the certificate and confirmed by the certificate are no longer guaranteed. Therefore, such a safe is no longer considered to be a VdS-recognised product and the certification plate must be removed in such a case.
Servicing of VdS-certified products
The owner of the VdS certificate (the manufacturer) is responsible for any changes made to the product, so only the owner of the certificate can assess what needs to be replaced or serviced on the safe. As a consequence, certified products can only be serviced by technicians who are authorised by the manufacturer of the certified products.
Modifications and repairs to VdS-certified safe (e.g. installation of other locks or a different latching mechanism) by unauthorised companies or by the customers themselves may result in the loss of the VdS certificate.
By taking responsibility for the service work carried out, the owner of the VdS certificate (or a duly authorised company of the security equipment manufacturer) ensures that the measures taken will not reduce the product's intrusion protection properties. Otherwise, the certification plate must be removed.
Note: The certificate holder has the right to make modifications to VdS-certified safes via authorised foreign companies.
How to get servicing if the manufacturer of the product is no longer in business?
For safes whose certificate holders are no longer active on the market, safety equipment manufacturers have developed individual procedures that guarantee unlimited servicing for these safes. To this end, the Manufacturers' Association has drawn up a list of companies and cooperation partners that are no longer active on the market. The list is available from VdS or can be consulted on the website:
www.vds.de ( → Fachservice → Security → Wertbehältnisse → Aktuelles)
In individual cases, where older safes do not have a cooperating partner available for servicing, VdS Schadenverhütung may take a position on the necessary repairs or modifications. In this case, we recommend contacting the VdS Schadenverhütung's Safes Laboratory directly.