What is a High Security Safe?

High security safes are defined as safes that have a UL Burglary Rating of RSC, RSCII, TL15, TL30 and TL30X.

These are some of the most secure safes on the market today.  They are designed to protect the content you put in them such as cash, jewelry, metals and documents.  

Who Needs an RSC, TL-15 or TL-30 Safe?

Anyone storing over $20,000 in content. There's no point in protecting your high dollar valuables with a cheap safe. You might as well hide the items under your mattress.

In many cases, insurance companies will require a high security safe in order to insure the content of that safe.

Some of the most common applications for these safes include:

• Jewelry stores and pawn shops: TL-15 & TL-30 rated safes are commonly used by jewelry stores and pawn shops to protect valuable items such as diamonds, gold, and other precious metals. The content placed in these safes will be insurable when using a TL-15 or LT-30 safe.
• Dispensaries & Pharmacies. Dispensaries and Pharmacies often have government requirements for the storage of the items they sell. The burglary requirement may be anywhere from an RSC rated to a TL30 rated safe.
• Residential use: TL-30 rated safes should be used in residential settings to protect valuable items such as jewelry, cash, and important documents when the value of content is greater than $50,000. 

What do the Burglary Ratings Mean?

Safe burglary ratings are used by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), for an independent certification of a safe's ability to withstand certain attacks, for specified lengths of time.

An important thing to remember is that all tests are performed by a safe expert with blueprints of the safe available, and that the time the safe is being rated for is actual "tool on safe" time.

The myth, for example is that an RSC safe can be broken into in just 5 minutes since the RSC rating is for 5 minutes. This can't be further from the truth. The actual attempted break in time may take several hours! The safe engineer performing the test studies the blueprints for the safe, attacks, evaluates progress, regroups and attacks the high security safe again. This is a known safe engineering expert, with knowledge of exactly how to find a safe's weakness. Professional locksmiths who drill safes for a living, will not breach a high security safe this quickly. It can take hours. 

To achieve these ratings, a safe must undergo rigorous testing procedures designed to evaluate the resistance against various methods of forced entry, such as drilling, prying, impact, and manipulation attacks. All ratings are conducted on the door of the safe. The tools used in testing are:

Hand tools: Such as screwdrivers, hammers, chisels, and pry bars to attempt to force open the safe or bypass its locking mechanism.
Power tools: Power tools like drills, reciprocating saws, angle grinders, and pry bars with hydraulic or pneumatic assistance 
Impact tools: Sledgehammers or heavy-duty hammers to assess its ability to withstand brute force attacks.
Lock manipulation: Experts may attempt to manipulate the safe's lock mechanism using specialized tools such as lock picks, tension wrenches, or other manipulation devices to test its vulnerability to lock manipulation techniques.  

What is an RSC Safe Rating Mean?

The term "RSC" stands for "Residential Security Container."  An RSC rated safe is a safe that can withstand being attacked by an expert for a total of 5 minutes (tool-on-safe time) using a variety of common hand and power tools.  The tools used in the test include hammers, chisels, adjustable wrenches, pry bars, punches, screwdrivers and a 3/8 hand drill with 1/4 inch drill bit. The hammers cannot exceed 3 pounds and no tool is to exceed 18 inches in length.

You can see our RSC Rated Safes for sale here.

What is an RSCII Safe Rating Mean?

The term "RSCII" stands for the 2nd level of the Residential Security Container rating.  An RSCII rated safe can withstand being attacked by two experts for a total of 10 minutes (tool-on-safe time) using the same hand and power tools from the RSC test, plus additional tools.  The tools used in the test includes sledge hammers up to 10 lbs, chisels, wrenches, pry bars up to 6',  1/2 hand drill with 1/2 inch drill bits, a 30" pick, 35" axe, carbide hole saw up to 3", and a wedge and log splitter.

The high security RSCII rating is not yet as popular as the RSC. It's currently mostly found in gun safes. You can see our RSCII Rated Gun Safes for Sale here.

What does the TL-15 Safe Rating Mean?

Safes given a UL TL-15 rating have passed standardized tests defined in UL Standard 687.  The equivalent insurance rating is “ER”.

TL-15 rated safes can withstand an attack from a safe expert for 15 minutes. The tools used in the test include sledge hammers, chisels, wrenches, pry bars up to 6',  1/2 hand drill with 1/2 inch drill bits, a 30" pick, 35" axe, carbide hole saw up to 3", and a wedge and log splitter. The time is measured as actual time spent trying to get into the safes, "tool-on-safe" time. 

Additionally, a TL-15 safe meets the following criteria:

• U.L. listed Group 2M, 1, 1R combination lock or Type 1 electronic lock
• 750 lbs in weight with a bolt down hole
• Body walls of material equivalent to at least 1″ open hearth steel with a minimum tensile strength of 50,000 P.S.I.
• Walls fastened in a manner equivalent to continuous ¼” penetration weld of open-hearth steel with minimum tensile strength of 50,000 P.S.I.
• No more than one hole ¼” or less, to accommodate electrical conductors arranged to have no direct view of the door or locking mechanism.

You can find our TL-15 rated safes for sale here.

What does the TL-30 Safe Rating mean?

The TL-30 Rating is a high-security rating by Underwriters Laboratory (UL) . It certifies  that a professional safe engineer cannot gain entry into the safe for at least 30 minutes of actual time spent trying ("tool-on-safe" time). The tools used in the test include sledge hammers, chisels, wrenches, pry bars up to 6',  1/2 hand drill with 1/2 inch drill bits, a 30" pick, 35" axe, carbide hole saws, cutting wheels, power saws, etc...

Addionally, a TL-30 safe must meet the following criteria (same as the TL-15):

• U.L. listed Group 2M, 1, 1R combination lock or Type 1 electronic lock
• 750 lbs in weight with a bolt down hole
• Body walls of material equivalent to at least 1″ open=-hearth steel with a minimum tensile strength of 50,000 P.S.I.
• Walls fastened in a manner equivalent to continuous ¼” penetration weld of open hearth steel with minimum tensile strength of 50,000 P.S.I.
• No more than one hole ¼” or less, to accommodate electrical conductors arranged to have no direct view of the door or locking mechanism.

You can find our TL-30 rated safes for sale here.