Why We Use Multi-Point Locking Systems on All Garden Openings
A garden room often houses thousands of pounds worth of equipment — computers, monitors, musical instruments, specialist tools, and quality furniture. Yet the security of that investment depends entirely on the weakest point in the building’s envelope: the doors and windows. A single inadequate lock on a bi-fold or sliding door represents an open invitation to an opportunistic intruder. This is why every door and window we install at RoomRise is specified with a multi-point locking system that meets or exceeds PAS 24 — the UK benchmark for enhanced security performance.
Breaking Down the Mechanics of Insurance-Approved PAS 24 Security Standards
PAS 24 (Publicly Available Specification 24) is the UK security performance standard for doors and windows in residential buildings. It is published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and is recognised by insurers, police initiatives, and building regulations as the baseline for enhanced security. The current iteration — PAS 24:2022 — sets out a rigorous series of mechanical tests that a door or window must survive to achieve certification.
The tests are deliberately aggressive. A PAS 24-certified door must withstand:
- Manual check testing — a skilled technician attempts to breach the lock using knowledge of common vulnerabilities
- Dynamic loading — a 50-kilogram weight is swung against the door to simulate a physical forced-entry attempt
- Manual unhinging — the tester attempts to lever the door from its hinges using tools
- Soft and hard body impact — the glazing and frame are subjected to impacts simulating kicks and blows from blunt instruments
Crucially, PAS 24 certification applies to the complete doorset or window — the frame, sash, glazing, locks, hinges, and beads tested together as a system. A high-end lock fitted into a weak frame will fail, and a strong frame with an inadequate lock will fail equally. The standard demands that every component is engineered to work as a unified security system.
For garden rooms, PAS 24 is the standard we specify on every opening — not because building regulations require it for outbuildings (they do not), but because anything less represents an unacceptable compromise on the security of your property. Most major insurers also require PAS 24 or equivalent certification for external doors on insured premises, so specifying it on your garden room keeps you compliant with your home insurance policy.
How Multi-Point Hooks Bite Securely Into Steel-Reinforced Framing Profiles
A standard cylinder night latch or deadbolt — the kind fitted to many budget garden rooms — secures the door at a single point: the centre of the locking edge. This creates two structural weaknesses. First, the top and bottom corners of the door remain unsecured, allowing them to be flexed outward with a pry bar. Second, the entire force of any attack is concentrated on one lock mechanism, one strike plate, and one section of the frame.
A multi-point locking system eliminates both weaknesses. When you lift the handle, a mechanism within the door engages a series of locking points — typically three to five — distributed along the full height of the locking edge. A modern system usually includes a combination of:
- Hook bolts — curved metal hooks that rotate outwards and physically hook into reinforced keep plates on the frame, preventing the door from being pulled open even if the main deadbolt is defeated
- Roller cams — rounded bolts that push against wedge-shaped keeps, pulling the door tight against its weather seal while providing additional security
- Deadbolts — solid metal bolts that project into the frame keep, providing the primary locking force
- Latch bolts — sprung bolts that hold the door closed when the handle is not lifted
The critical component is the keep plate — the metal plate set into the frame that receives the locking bolts. On our doors and windows, these keeps are fitted into steel-reinforced sections within the frame profile. The reinforcement is typically a galvanised steel box section that is bonded or mechanically fixed inside the frame extrusion, creating an anchor point that cannot be torn out or deformed by physical attack.
When a multi-point lock is fully engaged, the door is secured along its entire edge — top, middle, and bottom — with hooks biting into steel-reinforced keeps at multiple points. An intruder with a pry bar cannot flex the door corner because the hook bolt at that corner is physically locked into a steel anchor. Defeating one lock point does not defeat the system because the remaining points continue to hold.
Preventing Entry Lever Attacks on Wide Sliding and Folding Glass Structures
Bi-fold and sliding doors present unique security challenges because of their large glass areas and multiple panel junctions. An intruder does not always try to break the glass — often, the attack focuses on the junctions between panels or the tracking system that guides the doors.
On our aluminium bi-fold doors, we specify multi-point locks with shoot bolt systems that project solid metal rods into the top and bottom tracks of the frame. When the door is locked, these shoot bolts lock the panel mechanically to the frame at the head and sill — preventing the door from being lifted off its track, which is a common attack method on cheaper bi-folds.
The intermediate panel junctions — where two folding panels meet — are secured with flush bolt locks that anchor each panel to its neighbour. This means that even if an intruder removes the glazing bead from one panel, the remaining panels remain locked together and cannot be folded open from outside.
On sliding glass doors, we specify lift-and-slide hardware with multi-point locking that engages hooks and cams along the full height of the operating panel. The sliding track itself is engineered with anti-lift blocks that prevent the door from being levered upward and out of its frame — a vulnerability that affects many older or budget sliding systems.
The glazing itself contributes to security. We use laminated glass — typically 6.4mm or 8.8mm laminated — on all external doors and ground-floor windows. Laminated glass consists of two panes bonded with a polyvinyl butyral (PVB) interlayer that holds the glass together even when shattered. Unlike toughened glass, which breaks into small cubes and leaves a clean opening, laminated glass resists repeated impacts and remains a physical barrier even after the glass itself has cracked. This is the same technology used in car windscreens and shopfronts — and it is highly effective at delaying or deterring forced entry.
Peace of Mind Guidelines When Storing Expensive Gear Far from Your Main House
The distance between your house and your garden room creates a security gap. You cannot hear someone attempting to force the door from your bedroom, and you are unlikely to notice activity in the garden during the night. This makes the physical security of the building itself your primary defence.
The guidelines we recommend to clients storing high-value equipment in their garden rooms are straightforward:
- Specify PAS 24-certified doors and windows on every opening — this is non-negotiable for us and should be a minimum standard for any garden room housing valuable contents
- Ensure all locks are key-operated from both inside and outside — this prevents an intruder who gains access through a broken pane from simply walking out through the door with your equipment
- Install laminated glass on all accessible glazing — the additional cost over standard double glazing is modest compared to the security benefit
- Keep a documented inventory of everything stored in the room, including photographs and serial numbers — this streamlines any insurance claim and increases the chance of recovering stolen items
- Notify your insurer that you have a garden room and confirm that your contents insurance extends to it — many standard policies have sub-limits for outbuildings that may not cover the full value of your equipment
- Consider smart security integration — as we discussed in our previous article, smart cameras and door sensors provide real-time alerts that the physical locks alone cannot
Security Engineered Into Every Opening
Security is not a feature you can add later — it is built into the specification of every door, window, lock, and piece of glass at the manufacturing stage. A garden room with single-point locks, non-laminated glass, and unreinforced frames is a liability regardless of how well the rest of the building is constructed. At RoomRise, we treat security as a core engineering principle, not an optional upgrade.
Every RoomRise garden room comes with PAS 24-certified aluminium doors and windows, multi-point locking systems, laminated glass, and steel-reinforced frames as standard. If you are planning a garden room and want to understand the security specification in detail, book a complimentary 3D CAD design consultation. We will walk you through the locking systems, demonstrate how they work, and ensure your investment is protected to the highest standard.