CA-DOJ (California Department of Justice) certification is the baseline security you should accept for any safe. It confirms the safe can resist common hand tools for a set time and meets DOJ requirements for locking and construction. Safes without this certification offer no verified burglary protection and should be avoided.

These independent burglary ratings are ideal for residential use: UL RSC I: Resists basic hand-tool attacks for at least 5 minutes.UL RSC II: Stronger protection against more advanced tools and a longer attack duration. Both ensure better peace of mind than entry-level safes while remaining affordable.

TL-15: Endures expert tool attacks for at least 15 minutes.TL-30: Doubles that to 30 minutes, offering elite, commercial-grade security. These are the highest security ratings available for consumer safes, combining massive steel thickness, advanced boltwork, and hardened barriers to stop even the most determined burglars.

Yes. Fire ratings indicate how long the safe’s interior can stay below critical temperatures during a fire. Look for UL or ETL verified ratings of at least 60 minutes if you’re protecting documents, and 90–120 minutes for items in wildfire or high-risk areas.

Stronger safes have thicker steel bodies, more and larger locking bolts, hardened steel plates over the lock, multiple relockers, and advanced locking mechanisms. Safes with multi-layer steel and specialized alloys (like AR500) offer even higher resistance to cutting and drilling.

Even the heaviest safes can be tipped, pried, or removed entirely if left unsecured. Bolting your safe to a concrete floor or reinforced surface ensures it cannot be moved to a location where thieves can attack it with more time and tools. The SafeMarket’s professional installation team ensures your safe is secured in a way that meets manufacturer and warranty standards.

For burglary resistance, place your safe in a low-visibility, difficult-to-access location — such as a basement corner, interior closet, or reinforced utility room. Positioning against two solid walls (corner placement) limits attack angles. If the safe must be placed in the garage, avoid outside walls and ensure the safe is covered by at least one motion detector.

Burglars may use grinders, saws, or torches to cut through a safe’s body or door. Thicker steel dramatically increases cutting time, often making the attack impractical. Premium models may add AR500 ballistic steel, which is designed to resist penetration from cutting wheels, saws, and even rifle fire.

AR500 is a high-carbon, abrasion-resistant ballistic steel originally designed for armor plating. In safes, AR500 creates a drill- and cut-resistant barrier inside the door or body, adding significant protection without excessive weight. This upgrade is found in or custom, AR500 reinforced Ballistic Black models. Please contact us directly for more information.

Yes. In American Security’s high-security safes, the walls are filled with a proprietary concrete composite between layers of steel. This material is extremely dense, making it nearly impossible to cut quickly and adding thermal insulation for fire protection. It’s one of the most effective anti-burglary and anti-fire construction methods available.

Most standard fire-rated safes protect paper documents but not heat-sensitive electronics. For data storage, choose a safe rated for media protection, or add a fireproof media box inside your safe for extra protection.

Not all are created equal. Choose reputable lock brands (Sargent & Greenleaf, LaGard, AMSEC, SecuRam) and avoid unknown, untested options. High-end locks often include dual locking modes, time delays, and anti-manipulation features.

At The SafeMarket, we simplify the process with our Good (Levels 1–3), Better (Levels 4–7), and Best (Levels 8–10) categories — each tied to industry-recognized certifications like CA-DOJ, UL RSC I & II, and UL TL-15/TL-30.

No. In fact, the opposite is true. If you see a gun safe with an electronic lock AND a key backup, AVOID! UL-rated gun safes must use UL-listed Class 1 high security electronic locks. These locks must conform to standards, and it is physically impossible to have a backup key. If an electronic safe lock has a backup key, it means the safe is not UL listed.