At SafeCave, safety isn’t a feature—it’s the foundation. Every saferoom we build is designed, engineered, and tested to meet or exceed the most rigorous standards in the industry. From real-world impact testing to advanced simulation, our process is built around one thing: giving you absolute confidence in what stands between your family and the unexpected.
FEMA P-361 is a guidance document from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that provides guidelines for the design and construction of safe rooms intended to protect people from tornadoes and hurricanes. It specifies criteria for a safe room’s structural integrity, requiring it to resist high winds and impacts from wind-borne debris, and outlines considerations for ventilation and emergency communication. FEMA P-361 serves as a foundational resource for life-saving protection and is used to develop consensus standards like ICC 500, which are then incorporated into building codes.
ICC 500 stands for the International Code Council (ICC) 500 standard, which is the official standard for the design and construction of storm shelters to protect people from tornadoes, hurricanes, and other severe windstorms. Developed by the ICC in partnership with the National Storm Shelter Association (NSSA), this standard sets the minimum requirements for storm shelter components, structural design, impact testing, and installation to ensure public safety.
Developed in partnership with Intertek, a globally recognized third-party testing lab—is aligned with and meets or exceeds all of the above standards.
While physical testing proves our strength in the lab, our engineering team takes it further with advanced simulation technology. This allows us to model conditions that are difficult or unsafe to recreate physically—like a full-size SUV collapsing onto the roof of a saferoom.
These simulations provide real-time visibility, stress mapping, and performance data to ensure your saferoom holds up in the most extreme conditions imaginable.
Anchoring is critical in any safe room system. SafeCave’s engineered anchoring plans:
Exceed FEMA’s requirements for uplift, overturning, and sliding
Are adapted for post-tension and rebar slabs
Include additional design criteria for earthquake-prone zones across the U.S.
Whether it’s a high-wind region or a seismic zone, our anchoring systems are engineered to perform.
These simulations provide real-time visibility, stress mapping, and performance data to ensure your saferoom holds up in the most extreme conditions imaginable.
We chose Intertek as our third-party testing partner for one reason: unmatched credibility. With over 130 years of experience, Intertek is a global leader in safety and quality testing.
They provide:
Verified third-party validation
State-of-the-art impact and pressure testing
Certification that meets or exceeds modern storm shelter requirements
Texas Tech’s Wind Institute played a critical role in early storm shelter research. However, they discontinued testing in 2019. Today, national labs like Intertek have taken the lead—offering more advanced testing and standardized certifications.
SafeCave’s shelters are tested and certified by the most current and credible labs available—giving you peace of mind and modern-day protection that legacy testing can’t provide.
With SafeCave, you’re not buying a bolt-on box or a DIY solution. You’re investing in:
A fully engineered, fully integrated system
Designed, tested, and validated to protect what matters most
Trusted by families, builders, and safety experts across the country
