What is CEN Grade?

Standards surround our everyday lives. They are a staple in making our lives safer, simpler and more comfortable. They ensure the products we use are safe and reliable, even the homes we live in and the personal data we use every day are protected by some sort of standardisation.

We can only appreciate the standards of something when we find it missing, this is especially the case for our padlocks and security solutions and this is where CEN comes in.

CEN is a body of European nations that have come together and formed a consensus on what they all agree to be the best practice for grading, developing and publishing the standard of padlocks available to you.

 

Padlock security Explained

CEN grades each padlock from 1 to 6. These range from low security applications such as lockers and toolboxes to high security applications such as locking of freight containers and high value goods. CEN Grade 6 padlocks are very rare and as such most companies would recommend a grade of 3 to 5 for high security applications.

• Grade 6 – Maximum Security
• Grade 5 – Extra High Security
• Grade 4 – High Security
• Grade 3 – Medium to High Security
• Grade 2 – Standard Security
• Grade 1 – Low Security

Since the tests are so stringent a lock only needs to fail one of the criteria in the grade to be reduced down. This means that a padlock may perform like a CEN Grade 6 padlock but if it fails one of the tests shown below it will be reduced down a grade.

Security Grades According To The Draft European CEN Standards
Requirements	1	2	3	4	5	6
Minumum Number Of Key Differs	300	1000	2500	5000	10000
Pulling Of Shackle/Staple	674	1124	3372	6744	15736	22481	IBF
	3	5	15	30	70	100	kN
Twisting Of Shackle/Staple	354	886	1771	3985	10627	22140	Ib-in
	40	100	200	450	1200	2500	Nm
Cutting Of Shackle/Staple	1349	3372	5620	7868	15737	22481	IBF
	6	15	25	35	70	100	kN
Blow on Shackle/Staple (weight t / g x height/mm)			1250x800	3050x1000	6550x1400	7150x1500	x 5 Times
Test Temperature			-20 C	-20 C	-40 C
Blow On Lock Body (weight / g x height / mm)			1250x800	3050x1000	6550x1400	7150x1500	x5 Times
Test Temperature			-20 C	-20 C	-40 C	-40 C
Load On Cylinder Plug Or Locking Mechanism			899	1124	2248	3372	IBF
			4	5	10	15	kN
Drilling				2	4	8	Mins
Sawing				2	4	8	Mins
Torque Resistance Of Cylinder Plug			44	133	177	266	Ib-in
			5	15	20	30	Nm