LPS 2081 stealth attack

LPS 2081 is the UK standard for rating resistance to stealth attack. Published by LPCB, it tests building components against quiet hand tools, with ratings SRA at one minute and SRB at three minutes. The SRA and SRB ratings suit places where an attacker must work quietly, such as flats, offices and plant rooms after hours.

• 2 ratingsSRA and SRB
• 1 and 3 minutesDelay against quiet tools
• LPCBThe publisher and test body
• Stealth attackFor intruders who must not be heard

What LPS 2081 is and who publishes it

LPS 2081 is a Loss Prevention Standard published by LPCB, the UK certification body for fire and security products. It rates building components for resistance to stealth attack: entry attempts in which the intruder must not be heard.

There are two ratings. SRA means one minute of resistance; SRB means three minutes. The SR stands for the security rating against stealth, and in both cases the attack is limited to hand tools chosen for quiet operation.

Like LPS 1175, it is a product standard rather than a company accreditation. The rating belongs to the tested product design, and the test evidence names the exact product and its configuration. ArxBridge supplies LPS 2081 rated products with third-party test evidence for each one.

The rating table

The table is short because the standard is focused: two ratings, one threat. The choice between them comes from the threat assessment, not from the product catalogue.

Stealth is about noise, not just time. An intruder who must stay quiet cannot use disc cutters or sledgehammers. LPS 2081 tests against the quiet tools such an intruder actually has, which is a different challenge from forced entry.

How the test works

Independent test teams attempt entry using hand tools selected for quiet operation. Noisy powered tools are excluded, because the whole point of the standard is the intruder who cannot afford to be heard. The product must resist for one minute to earn SRA, or three minutes to earn SRB.

As with forced entry testing, the team may attack any part of the assembly: leaf, frame, glazing, locks, hinges and fixings. The rating covers the complete product exactly as tested, and the evidence names the precise configuration.

The times look short next to LPS 1175, but they reflect the nature of the attack. Quiet tools work slowly, and the intruder is constrained throughout by the need not to wake or alert anyone nearby. Three minutes of resistance against an attacker who cannot make noise is a demanding result, and it is measured the same disciplined way as any other LPCB test.

The minutes are attack time under controlled test conditions, not a promise of how long a real attempt lasts. What the rating proves is a measured delay against the specific threat of quiet entry.

How to read a rating

On test evidence the rating appears in forms such as “LPS 2081, Security Rating SRB”. There are no old SR-style alternative names to translate, which makes the reading simpler than LPS 1175.

Check the same three things as with any LPCB rating: the product name on the evidence matches what is being supplied, the configuration and options are within the tested scope, and the evidence comes from an independent test body rather than the manufacturer alone.

A product may hold LPS 2081 alongside LPS 1175. The two ratings are tested separately against different tool sets, and each needs its own evidence. Holding both means the product resists force and stealth, which suits doors that face both threats at different times of day.

Where LPS 2081 is specified

Specify LPS 2081 wherever the realistic attack happens quietly. In residential blocks, flat entrance doors and communal entrances are attacked at night while residents sleep a few metres away; a forced entry rating alone does not describe that threat. In healthcare buildings, ward and department doors face the same pattern, with patients who must not be woken by an attack the specification never considered.

Student accommodation combines both pressures: young residents, high occupancy and doors attacked in the early hours. In banking, cash offices and server rooms attacked out of hours may face quiet entry before they face force. In each case the question for the threat assessment is simple: would the attacker need to stay quiet to succeed? If the answer is yes, LPS 2081 belongs in the specification. Name the rating on the door schedule so the stealth threat is visible to everyone pricing the work.

How LPS 2081 compares with related standards

LPS 1175 rates forced entry, where noisy tools are allowed: category D alone includes sledgehammers, disc cutters and jigsaws. LPS 1175 answers the attacker who does not care about noise. LPS 2081 answers the attacker who must stay silent. Specify LPS 1175 where force is the threat, LPS 2081 where stealth is the threat, and both where a door faces each at different times.

PAS 24 and EN 1627 rate forced entry for residential and European products respectively. Neither tests stealth attack, so neither answers the quiet intruder. Where night-time entry near sleeping people is the realistic threat, LPS 2081 is the standard that was written for it.

LPS 1270 rates security glazing against hand hole, arm hole and body passage. It can sit alongside LPS 2081 on a doorset with glazed panels, with each standard covering its own part of the threat. See the LPS 1270 guide for the glazing detail.

How to specify it

1. Identify the stealth threat. Mark the doors near sleeping accommodation, night wards, hotel corridors and any room where an intruder must stay quiet to succeed.
2. Choose SRA or SRB. SRA suits lower stealth risk; SRB suits sleeping people and higher-value targets. Let the threat assessment decide, not the budget.
3. Name the standard and rating. Write “LPS 2081, Security Rating SRB” in the specification, with no ambiguity about which of the two ratings applies.
4. Demand named evidence. Ask for independent test evidence naming the exact product, configuration and rating, as with any LPCB standard.
5. Specify quiet operation. A doorset that resists stealth attack but slams every time it closes defeats its own purpose. Include quiet closers and ironmongery that staff and residents will not wedge open.
6. Combine with forced entry ratings where needed. A flat entrance door faces stealth at night and force by day. Specify LPS 2081 with an LPS 1175 rating on the same doorset and check the evidence covers both.

Products rated to LPS 2081

LPS 2081 applies most often to doorsets. Swing security doors are available with both LPS 1175 and LPS 2081 ratings for entrances that face force by day and stealth by night. Residential security doors and communal entrance doors carry the rating for flats and blocks where night-time entry is the threat, and security doors more widely can be specified with SRB for plant and service doors near occupied rooms. Security hatches keep service openings at the same stealth rating as the doors around them.

Frequently asked questions