What does Secured by Design mean for composite doors?

Secured by Design is the logo you will see on doors marketed as police-approved, but what it actually guarantees is often unclear. Here is what the accreditation involves, how it relates to PAS 24, and what it means for a composite door buyer.

What Secured by Design is

Secured by Design is the UK's official police security initiative, operated by Police Crime Prevention Initiatives — a police-owned body — on behalf of the police service. Its purpose is crime prevention through better product and building design, and one of its most recognised activities is the accreditation of physical security products, including doors, windows and locks. When a product carries the Secured by Design logo, it has been through the scheme's Police Preferred Specification, meaning it meets a standard the police consider effective against the methods burglars actually use.

For a manufacturer to gain accreditation for a composite door, the door cannot simply be declared secure. It must be independently tested to the recognised standard — for doors, that is PAS 24 — at an accredited test house, and the manufacturer must hold valid certification. The scheme also expects appropriate quality and consistency, so that the doors leaving the factory match the one that was tested. The result is that the SBD logo is backed by real testing and ongoing certification, not just a one-off claim. For a homeowner, that independent, police-overseen layer is exactly what makes the accreditation valuable.

How Secured by Design relates to PAS 24

The two terms are often used together, and understanding the relationship makes both clearer. PAS 24 is the technical test standard: it defines how a door set is attack-tested against forced entry, and a door either passes or fails. Secured by Design is the accreditation scheme that sits on top: it uses PAS 24 (and other standards) as part of its Police Preferred Specification, and adds the requirement that the manufacturer holds proper certification and meets the scheme's wider criteria.

So a Secured by Design composite door is, in almost all cases, a PAS 24 tested door — the SBD accreditation normally cannot be earned without it. The difference is that PAS 24 tells you the door passed a test, while SBD tells you the door passed the test and is part of a police-recognised scheme that also looks at how the product is specified and made. For a buyer who does not want to interrogate test certificates in detail, asking for a Secured by Design door is a reliable way to get a PAS 24 door with the additional police-preferred specification layered on. For a buyer who wants the technical detail, asking to see the PAS 24 certificate gives the underlying proof.

What it means when you buy a composite door

In practice, Secured by Design accreditation is a strong, simple signal that a composite door has been properly specified for security. A door that holds it will typically combine the features that matter: a multi-point locking system that bolts the door into the frame at several points, a TS007 3-star or Kitemark anti-snap cylinder to defeat lock-snapping, reinforced hinge and lock areas, and laminated glass in any glazed panel within reach of the lock. Because the scheme requires PAS 24 testing of the whole door set, you also know those features have been proven to work together rather than just listed on a brochure.

There are two practical points to keep in mind. First, the accreditation applies to specific tested configurations, so confirm that the door you are quoted — the exact leaf, frame, hardware and cylinder — is the accredited one, since substitutions can break both the SBD status and the underlying PAS 24 certification. Second, the accreditation rates the product, not the fitting: a Secured by Design door still depends on competent installation into a sound opening to perform as intended. Provided you confirm the configuration and have it fitted properly, a Secured by Design composite door gives you independently tested, police-recognised security — about the strongest assurance a homeowner can ask for on a front door.

Secured by Design, building regulations and insurance

Secured by Design accreditation also connects to the wider framework around door security. Because the scheme normally requires PAS 24 testing, an SBD door is, in effect, a door that meets the security standard referenced by Building Regulations Approved Document Q for new dwellings. So for a self-builder or developer who needs to satisfy Document Q, specifying Secured by Design doors is a convenient way to get a PAS 24 door with the police-preferred specification on top, with documentation that supports compliance. For a homeowner replacing a door in an existing home, where Document Q's forced-entry requirement does not generally apply, SBD remains a useful voluntary benchmark for choosing a genuinely secure door.

There can be an insurance dimension too. Some home insurers take an interest in the security of external doors and the locks fitted, and being able to show that doors meet a recognised standard or carry police accreditation may be relevant to a policy's requirements. The detail varies between insurers, so it is worth checking your own policy wording rather than assuming a benefit. What is consistent is that Secured by Design is a clear, independent signal — backed by police oversight and underpinned by PAS 24 testing — that a composite door has been specified to resist real-world burglary methods. For most buyers, that combination of independent testing, police recognition and a tie-in to the building regulations is exactly why the accreditation is worth looking for, provided it applies to the specific door and the door is then fitted competently.

Frequently asked questions

Sources & further reading

• Secured by Design — official police security initiative
• gov.uk — Building Regulations Approved Document Q (security)

Figures on this page are typical UK ranges drawn from published sources and depend on your specific door and opening. They are guidance, not a quotation.