The policy decides, the wall disposes
The starting point is your insurance policy: it states how much is covered for what you keep at home, and usually ties that cover to a minimum resistance grade and to proper fixing. It is the policy that dictates the model, not the other way round, for a flat by the banks of the Var as much as for a villa up at Les Pugets.
A built-in safe sits inside the masonry and disappears: what is not found is not attacked. It calls for a load-bearing wall of sufficient thickness. In the terraced houses of the old village, stone lends itself well to this, but the real thickness is checked before cutting, because the original cross walls hold surprises from one home to the next.
A free-standing safe is bolted to the floor, to the wall or to both, with anchors suited to the support. Everything turns on that: fifty kilos with nothing holding them go out through the door in two pairs of hands and get opened elsewhere, unwatched. In the blocks built on the plain between the 1960s and the 1990s, concrete holds perfectly well; a dry lining does not.
Where it goes matters as much as which model
Rule out the main bedroom, the dressing room and the office: those rooms are searched first, and they are searched quickly. Look for a load-bearing wall, a discreet spot and an access that stays convenient day to day, or the safe ends up unused. On the slopes, be wary of villa basements that open straight onto the shared private track.
Think about damp. Close to the river and the seafront, ground-floor cellars and garages are damper than people assume, and salt air does not help. Paper documents, deeds and digital media do not last in those conditions, even shut inside a safe that has been correctly bolted to the wall.
For a business at the marina or in the retail park the reasoning changes: the safe goes where customers cannot see it, in a room with controlled access, and its location is known only to authorised staff. Finally, put the documentation and the serial number somewhere other than inside the safe itself — that precaution is forgotten more often than you would think.
How does this service work?
Techniques, typical situations, standards and things to watch out for: it is all on our safes page. This page focuses on what the service involves in Saint-Laurent-du-Var.