Fencing System with Incorporated Corrugated Steel

A high-security fence that resists for more than 10 minutes sustained attack with specialist power tools has been developed by steel mesh fencing manufacturer Zaun.

Zaun has received a revised Certificate of Product Approval from the Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) to include its brand new CorruSec SR4 approved to Security Rating 4. The fencing system incorporates corrugated HiSec fencing sandwiched between panels of Super10. The concept was the brainchild of Zaun co-founder and director Alastair Henman in response to customer requests – and has been developed by research and development manager Adam Christie.

Christie explains: “Alastair thought how cardboard that’s corrugated creates a much stronger three-dimensional material. So we started experimenting with a corrugated steel centre section to give fencing greater rigidity and increase its thickness without adding much to the material content and weight, to counter the kind of tools attackers might use.”

CorruSec SR4 has been subjected to sustained attack by testers from the Buildings Research Establishment (BRE) wielding category D tools, including 12V jigsaws and disk grinders, axes including an 850mm felling axe, a hooligan bar, 1.5kg lump hammer and 500mm long bolt cutters. Even with this astonishing arsenal, they could not breach the CorruSec SR4 in less than 10 minutes.

The fencing system is approved at heights from 2.8 to 6m above the ground, while options for 300mm of buried fencing, toppings and stepping up gradients of up to 30º are included in the registered design. Henman says: “We had been approached by railway line builders and utilities in the Middle East interested in a ‘10-minute fence’, so we set about seeing if we could create a viable product.

“Across our customer base, operators of critical national infrastructure are upgrading their most sensitive sites given heightened fear of terrorist threats and the advances in technology, such as our CorruSec product.”

Further Zaun security systems have achieved Security Ratings including their HiSec Super10, Duo8 and HiSec 358 systems (certificate number 1164a/05) and are entered into the Red Book for LPS 1175: Issue 7. Zaun manufactures all these systems in-house at its West Midland HQ, where the product testing and factory controls are rigorous and set the product apart from 're-sold' fencing. That's why Henman is confident of maintaining the rating when the LPCB conducts its regular independent audits.

Henman adds: “We produce our own mesh, a claim many infer but do not do.  Our doors are always open to the LPCB and potential customers who would like to see for themselves where the product is made and how its quality is assured. And I urge all specifiers and end users to insist not just on certified product but also that they are installed to the approved drawings.“

To maintain accreditation and a listing in the LPCB Red Book, manufacturers must regularly demonstrate to independent auditors that they are producing products consistent with those tested.  This gives the customer the guarantee that they are getting a secure and quality product.

Products approved by LPCB are rigorously tested for resistance to deliberate attack and play an important role in protecting people and property against physical attack, burglary, vandalism and terrorism.

LPS 1175 specifically covers the approval and listing of intruder resistant building components, strongpoints, security enclosures and free-standing barriers.