I write in response to your ‘Making EN50131 Easier’ campaign. As many of your readers will be aware, a key function of a trade association is to provide essential information and advice on industry issues such as standards development.
The British Security Industry Association has been heavily involved in the development of the new European standards for intruder alarms since the word go. As a result we have been able to advise members and the wider industry on the progress of the standards at every stage.
Since the publication of PD 6662:2004 and the various technical specifications, the BSIA has produced a number of guidance documents to assist installers, manufacturers and end-users with getting to grips with the standards. A number of those documents are listed below and are readily available in the standards area of the BSIA website www.bsia.co.uk:
- Guidelines for the use of PD6662:2004 scheme for the implementation of prEN50131-1:2004 (BSIA Form no. 171)
- Industry guideline on the interpretation of DD CLC/TS 50131-3:2003 Alarm systems – CIE (BSIA Form no.179)
- Industry guideline on the interpretation of BS EN501-6:1998 – Alarm systems – power supplies (BSIA Form no. 180)
- Recommendations to manufacturers on the interpretation of DD TS 50131-2- 6:2004 (opening contacts) (BSIA Form no. 184)
- Recommendations to manufacturers on the interpretation of DD TS 50131-2:2004 (detector standards) (BSIA Form no. 185)
- Recommendations to manufacturers on the interpretation of BS EN 50131-5-3:2005 (BSIA Form no. 192)
- Factsheet on European Standards for Intruder Alarms (Form no. 187)
In addition to these documents, which have been made available to the industry as a whole, BSIA installers have also benefited from regular email updates from the Association and seminars on the issue.
When the industry statement was issued at the end of last year, it was emailed immediately to our members, but was not made available as quickly as it should have been on our website. This was an oversight for which we apologise. However, I hope you will agree that there is wealth of information available to all on our new website and your readers can rest assured that we will continue to produce guidance documents to assist installers on this complex issue as the standards develop.
Alex Carmichael, Technical and Membership Services Director, British Security Industry Association