KLSecurity

K.L. Security Enterprises U.L.® Fire Rating Guide and Resource Library

The Labeling of Insulated Record Protection Equipment

The rated labeling of an insulated safe or file cabinet indicates the degree of protection the safe or file cabinet will provide its contents if exposed to a fire. The degree of protection will affect the selling price of the cabinet or safe.

The most widely accepted label is issued by Underwriters Laboratories. However, the labeling of insulated record protection equipment is totally voluntary; no laws state that a fire drawer, cabinet, or safe must bear a label.

Underwriters Laboratories

Underwriters Laboratories was founded in 1894 and is chartered as a not-for-profit independent testing organization. Its sole purpose and function is to test for public safety. At UL, a whole array of products, systems, devices and materials are stringently examined and tested to insure they pose no risk to life or health, or are not susceptible to fire or other hazards. Crime prevention is also a major UL concern. And, of course, those products designed to protect are put to trial to make sure they DO protect.

The National Fire Protection Association

The National Fire Protection Association has set the same time and temperature limitations as Underwriters Laboratories. This organization, founded in 1896, promotes the improvement of fire protection and prevention methods and devices. The Association obtains and circulates information on fire prevention and safety and also works to gain cooperation from its members, as well as the public, in establishing proper safeguards against loss of life and property to fire. Members of the Association include over one hundred and fifty national and regional societies and associations and over 32,000 individuals, corporations and organizations. The Association is an international, charitable, technical and educational institution.

UL Testing

If a manufacturer wants an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) label on their insulated records protection equipment, the product must meet or exceed the UL 72 testing standards.

Products may undergo four different fire resistance tests: 1) fire endurance test, 2) fire and impact test, 3) explosion hazard test, 4) combined explosion and impact test. The product is then rated for each of the tests it has passed, e.g. impact rated.

Primary records consist of many types of documents - paper records, microfilm, computer media, etc. Each has a different degree of tolerance to temperature, humidity and length of time exposed to harmful elements. To allow for these differences, UL tests cover three different temperatures and five different time durations.

The temperature noted on the UL label is the maximum temperature allowed inside the fire protective product during the test. For example, if the temperature inside a safe or file exceeds 350