Sold Secure or Secure By Design are testing standards often quoted by Police and insurance companies when giving advice on selecting padlocks. Here we explain what they mean.
Unfortunately this is a mistake on behalf of the Police and insurance companies. A few years ago a specification was written that included advice for locks and bicycle alarms. As a result, somewhere along the line, the same standards were applied to padlocks and now the Police and insurance companies continue to recommend that you get a padlock which is either Sold Secure rated or has a Secure By Design sticker. Unfortunately for you, as the user, these standards cover barely 1% of the padlocks available and are not adequate.
Sold Secure
Sold Secure is a good standard which tests bicycle locks mostly. You can visit their website here: http://www.soldsecure.com. They have a distinctive orange and blue logo. However, if you search the products that have been tested then they only include two brands which are aimed at the motorcycle trade and they only use a grading system from Bronze to Gold. Both brands are difficult to obtain for the general public and testing does not go far enough for the purposes of testing padlocks.
Secure By Design
This is an initiative setup by the Association of Chief Police Officers so recommended minimum standards for home and workplace security. Certain door locks have been SBD approved but not padlocks. So if you are told to buy an SBD approved padlock you are all out of luck.
Summary: If you are advised to get a Sold Secure or SBD approved padlock then you will find it very difficult. The best course of action is to obtain a CEN approved lock of grade 4 or above which would automatically ensure it fell within best practice. You can find out more about CEN Approvals Here.
