When to use this guide
- Specifying doors or windows for a new dwelling
- Reviewing common access to new flats
- Considering a substitution affecting the security specification
What to check
Use these prompts with the responsible project team. Ticking a box does not certify compliance.
You can tick these prompts while reviewing the project.
Keep these records
- Door/window specification and applicable performance evidence
- Installation details and inspections
- Accepted substitutions and handover information
Common mistakes
- Applying Q1 as a universal upgrade rule for every existing home.
- Assuming a tested component proves that any assembled door or window is equivalent.
When to get specialist help
Ask the responsible designer about conflicting security, access or escape requirements and proposed product substitutions.
Scope and edition
Landing published 5 March 2015; updated 22 November 2024 to add official FAQs. Q1 applies to new dwellings. Do not apply Q1 indiscriminately to every existing dwelling. Check tested doors/windows as installed assemblies, including hardware.
Resistance to unauthorised entry through doors and windows in new dwellings and relevant common access to flats.
Use the official source to check the current text, amendments not yet incorporated, commencement and project-specific transition. A published future edition is not automatically the rule applying to your work.
Official sources
- GOV.UK — Approved Document QOfficial England guidance; check the applicable volume, edition and transition.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/security-in-dwellings-approved-document-q
Source links lead to external official websites. We provide original explanatory notes and do not reproduce paid standards.
About this library
Independent, plain-English reference notes by Saeed Azarshab. The library covers the 42 subjects listed here; it is not every law affecting construction, an official government publication or a project-specific compliance decision. Building Regulations, Approved Documents, workplace safety duties and planning permissions have different roles.
Editorial source review: . Check the current official text, commencement dates, outstanding amendments and transitional arrangements before relying on a requirement. Publication date is not necessarily the date a rule applies. A relevant competent professional or authority must resolve project-specific questions.
Sources and lawful reuse
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, except where otherwise stated. These are original practical summaries, with links to the official material. No government endorsement is implied. We do not host copies of proprietary BS, ISO or Eurocode standards, third-party diagrams or publisher layouts. Check each source’s rights notice before reuse.
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