Although a European standard for security alarm installations exists, its implementation in the UK is not without pitfalls for the installer, it is claimed. Ian Holland, Intruder Systems Market Manager for ADE writes.
From October 1, installers of intruder alarms systems will no longer be allowed to follow the British Standard for intruder alarms – BS 4737. Instead they will be obliged to comply with the requirements of a BSI document known as PD 6662:2004. This document in itself is not a standard as such but does include the European Standard prEN 50131-1:2004. It is in effect a guide as to how to comply with that standard, and how to meet requirements for components, such as detectors, not covered in that standard.
Between now and October contractors can install alarm systems that comply with either BS 4737 or the European standard in conjunction with PD 6662:2004 i.e. if they follow the European standard, then they need to ensure that equipment they install meets the requirements as laid out in PD 6662:2004. But first it is helpful to know the background to the present situation.
To reach even the present stage of harmonization of security system standards within Europe has not been easy. National standards in the different countries vary enormously in terms of practice and quality. Harmonization involves balancing the need to maintain the high standards used in some countries that result in expensive installations with the more lax and significantly cheaper standards used elsewhere.
It is a balancing act that has proved difficult and despite many years of work by CENELEC, the European standards body, the process of creating European standards covering all types of security equipment and systems is far from complete. It is planned to create several groups of standards related to the security industry. This article is restricted to two standards; EN50131 – Intrusion systems, and EN 50136 – Alarm Transmission Systems. The plans is for EN 50131 to have seven parts, but so far only the first part – General Requirements – has been completed and published as a standard. Other parts have been published as Technical Specifications. These include TS 50131-7 – Application Guidelines for installers and maintenance companies and TS 50131-3 (Control and Indication Equipment). Both of these are available from the BSI as DD (Draft for Development) documents. It is important to mention here that TS 50131-3 is not particularly relevant to installers in the UK.
Although the UK was represented on the committees preparing the European standards right from the beginning, it was not until 1997 and 1998, with the publication of various documents, that there was general awareness in the UK of the shortcomings of EN 0131.With the idea of assisting installers, the BSI published ‘A Scheme for the Application of European Standards for intruder alarm systems’, labelled as PD 6662: 2000. Industry take up of the use of this guide was limited, mainly because, although standards existed for the installed system and for power supplies, the lacks of standards for detectors and other parts made the use of EN 50131 difficult. To address this, PD 6662 was later revised and re-written.
In the UK, BS 4737 and other British Standards suited the industry and there was no desire to move to an unknown and, in some cases, awkward standard. These standards were based on practical solutions to meet the needs of British customers. However, under rules followed by the BSI, the existence of a European standard covering the same subject as a BS meant that the BS must be withdrawn after a period of overlap. The decision was initially made to withdraw the British standards in September 2003. This was later changed to the spring of 2004, with October 1 later that same year as the cut off date for the overlap.
Another difficulty that has had to be addressed is that EN 50131-1, which was published in 1997, is currently itself being revised, to be released as a new standard in late 2005, early 2006. It was realised that if the UK were to start to use the original version this year, and a new EN was published within a year or so, even more confusion would ensue. To prevent this, PD 6662:2004 includes a ‘mature draft’ version of the proposed new EN 50131-1 referred to as pr EN 50131-1: 2004.
A further complication is that changes to alarm confirmation requirements (DD 243) and also PA and duress requirements are to be introduced. It had been hoped that these changes would have been published in early 2004. The plan was that manufacturers and installers would complete the changeover to EN by March 2005. Delays in revising DD 243 mean this will probably now be October 2005. Equipment may be available earlier, but installers are advised to check whether equipment complies with both the new PD 6662: 2004 and also DD 243:2004 or DD 243:2005.
Installers also need to be cautious about using TS 50131-3, the technical standard for control and indicating equipment, as it is based on the original EN 50131-1 published in 1997. This means that although the standard exists, an installer should not rely on any claims to comply with TS 50131-3 when installing to PD 6662:2004 as the two documents are incompatible!
From what is written above, the standards situation in the UK is quite complicated and the installer needs to be alert to the difficulties he could face. Obviously installers will be trying to find equipment that is suitable for use in an EN 50131 installation. So what should they be looking for? Well, equipment that claims either compliance with or suitability for use with PD 6662: 2004 installations. Beware that if an installation needs to meet the revised DD 243:2004 then the equipment should also be suitable for use with that.
Remember EN 50131-1 is an installation standard and therefore no manufacturer can claim their products comply with it, although the products may be suitable for use in an installation conforming to the standard. In any case, such claims in respect of UK installations would be irrelevant. This is because the EN 50131-1 included in PD 6662:2004 is a draft of a revised version, yet to be published; of EN 50131-1: 1997 and claims of compliance are only valid in respect of published standards.
Nevertheless, a product that claims suitability for use with EN 50131-1 might be suitable for use in a PD 6662:2004 installation. An installer would need to confirm this, bearing in mind that, in respect of alarm system components, there is at present only a limited number of EN standards that are relevant to PD 6662:2004.
My advice to installers is for them to familiarise themselves with PD 6662:2004 and prEN 50132-1, copies of which are obtainable from the British Standards Institution (BSI). They might also find useful Form 171 published by the British Security Industry Association (BSIA), which gives guidelines to help explain the European standard.
Useful email addresses
BSI: [email protected] BSIA [email protected] ADE: [email protected]
