RC1
Resistance to body force: pushing, kicking, lifting. No resistance to tools. For a window on an upper floor that cannot be reached from outside, this is enough.
Security
A burglar
is in a hurry
Almost nobody breaks glass. It makes noise and it cuts. What actually happens is a screwdriver between frame and sash, one short lever movement, and the window is open. Anything that makes that movement slow works.
Four layers
What actually stops a window
They only work together. One of the four on its own achieves little, and that is exactly where most brochures mislead.
- The hardware
Mushroom cams hook behind a steel keep. With an ordinary roller cam the sash simply slides over it. We fit multipoint locking only, as standard, not as an option.
- The handle
A lockable handle with a pressure cylinder stops the handle being turned from inside after someone drills through the glass. This is the cheapest of the four measures.
- The glass
Laminated safety glass cannot be pushed out of the frame: the interlayer holds the panes together. That same interlayer damps noise, so this choice pays twice.
- The fixing into the wall
The strongest window in the world helps nothing if it sits on too few anchors in a crumbling joint. This is the layer nobody sees and the one we always check.
Classes
RC2 means something, RC1 barely does
The resistance classes come from the European standard and describe how long a window withstands an attack with given tools. What you need at home depends on how reachable your facade is from the street.
RC2
Resistance to simple tools such as a screwdriver or pliers. This is the class that makes sense for everything reachable from the ground or from a flat roof.
RC3
Resistance to a crowbar. Heavier, more expensive, and rarely needed on an ordinary house. We propose it when the facade is screened off and nobody would hear anything.
Watch one thing in any proposal you receive: a class applies to the complete window as a whole, tested with its glass, its hardware and its fixing. A profile that is available in RC2 but installed with ordinary glass and ordinary screws is not an RC2 window.
Questions
About security
Can my existing window be made safer?
Often yes, and it costs a fraction of a new window. Lockable handles, extra keeps and sometimes additional cams on the existing sash. We tell you honestly when it is worth doing and when the profile is simply worn out.
Does my insurer have a requirement about this?
Some policies attach a discount or a condition to a resistance class. Check with your broker before ordering, because the class then has to appear on the invoice and in the file.
Is a roller shutter enough?
A shutter that locks and cannot be pushed up genuinely helps. An ordinary shutter without anti lift slides open with two hands. The difference is a few euros of parts.
We look over your facade
Which window is easiest to reach, and what it costs to make just that one slow. That is usually the conversation that pays off most.
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