Monday 6 July, 1998

European Standards for Security Systems

"1. INTRODUCTION

Comite Europeen de Normalisation Electrotechnique (Cenelec) is responsible for developing European technical standards. One of its committees, CLC/TC79, is developing technical standards for electronic security systems. It has set up 11 working groups, each developing standards for different areas of security.

The committee and its working groups are made up of representatives from the European Union (EU) and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries who have been nominated by their National committees. The members of CLC/TC79 represent the views of their National committees whereas the members of working groups attend meetings as technical experts in a particular field.

2. STRUCTURE OF STANDARDS

194183 All European standards are prefixed with the letters EN (European Norm) and a number.

194183 The security systems standards have been allocated the number series

EN 5013x, where '' is a number defining the area of security. All series of standards have the initial title of 'Alarm system' e.g.

EN 50130 Alarm systems : Environment

EN 50131 Alarm systems : Intruder alarm systems

EN 50132 Alarm systems : Detection devices

EN 50133 Alarm systems : Access control systems

EN 50134 Alarm systems : Social alarm systems

EN 50135 Alarm systems : Hold up alarm systems

EN 50136 Alarm systems : Alarm transmission systems

EN 50137 Alarm systems : CCTV systems

194183 Each series can be further sub-divided e.g.

EN 50131-1 Alarm systems : Intruder alarm systems : Part 1 : General requirements

EN 50131-7 Alarm systems : Intruder alarm systems : Part 7 : Application guidelines

194183 The standards within each series follow a similar format e.g.

EN 50131 is the series for intruder alarm systems.

- A general requirements standard EN 50131-1 is developed. This specifies what an intruder alarm system should consist of and how it should perform.

- An application guidelines standard EN 50131-7 is developed in parallel. This gives guidance on the survey, installation and maintenance of an intruder alarm system.

- At the same time product standards for intruder alarm components are developed e.g. power supplies, control and indicating equipment, warning devices etc. These standards specifiy requirements and associated tests for products which can be tested either by the manufacturer or an independant test house.

Therefore, once a series of standards is published manufacturers are able to have their products tested and certificated in accordance with the product standards. Installers can then install these products in accordance with the general requirements and application guidelines standards. The end result should be professionally installed systems which use certificated products.

However, not all standards in a series are being developed in parallel and this can create problems, particularly for manufacturers, as systems standards tend to be developed before product standards.





3. PUBLICATION OF STANDARDS BY NATIONAL COMMITTEES

European standards which are in draft form are given the prefix 'p' e.g.

prEN 50131-7. Prior to publication a draft European standard goes through a number of enquiry stages where National committees are asked to submit comments on the content. Following the enquiry stages a standard is sent out to National committees for voting. A weighted voting system is used, the number of votes per country depending on the contribution made to the EU.

Once a European standard has been published National committees have a certain time in which to publish an identical National standard or acknowledge the existance of the European standard. The British Standards Institution (BSI) publish an identical standard and add the prefix BS before the EN number e.g. BS EN 50131-1. National committees must also withdraw, after a suitable time scale, any National standards which conflict with the European standard.







4. CURRENT STATUS OF STANDARDS

The list below does not include proposed standards where work has not started on their development.



EN 50130 SERIES - ENVIRONMENT

Published as BS EN

BS EN 50130-4 : 1996: EMC Product family standard

Published as EN

None

EN Standards being developed

prEN 50130-5 : Environmental test

Expected to be published early 1999

________________________________________________

EN 50131SERIES - INTRUDER ALARM SYSTEMS

Published as BS EN

BS EN 50131-1: 1997: General requirements

BS EN 50131-6 : 1998: Power supplies



EN Standards being developed

prEN 50131-2 : Detection devices series

The first standard in the series, prEN 50131-2-2: PI's, is scheduled for voting.

The second standard in the series, prEN 50131-2-4 is expected to be published late 1999.

prEN 50131-3 : Control and indicating equipment

Not expected to be published until late 1999

prEN 50131-4 : Warning devices

Not expected to be published until 1999

prEN 50131-5 : Wire free alarms series

No date for publication can be given

prEN 50131-7 : Application guidelines

Not expected to be published until 1999









EN 50132 SERIES - CCTV SYSTEMS

Published as BS EN

BS EN 50132-7 : 1996: Application guidelines

BS EN 50132-2-1 : 1998: Black and white cameras



EN Standards being developed

prEN 50132-4-1 : Black and white monitors

Due for publication before the end of 1998

prEN 50132-2-3 : Lenses

No date for publication can be given

prEN 50132-1: Systems requirements

No date for publication can be given





EN 50133 SERIES - ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS

Published as BS EN

BS EN 50133-1 : 1997: System requirements

Published as EN

None

EN Standards being developed

prEN 50133-2-1 : General requirements for components

Expected to be published early 1999

prEN 50133-7 : Application guidelines

Expected to be published late 1998







EN 50134 SERIES - SOCIAL ALARM SYSTEMS

Published as BS EN

BS EN 50134-7 : 1996: Application guidelines

Published as EN

None







EN Standards being developed

prEN 50134-1-1 : System requirements

Expected to be published early 1999

prEN 50134-2-1 : Trigger devices

Expected to be published early 1999

prEN 50134-3 : Local unit and controller

No date for publication can be given







EN 50135 SERIES - HOLD UP ALARM SYSTEMS

Work has not started in this series.







EN 50136 SERIES - ALARM TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS

Published as BS EN

BS EN 50136-1-1 : General systems requirements

BS EN 50136-1-2 : Dedicated paths systems requirements

BS EN 50136-1-3 : Digital communicators systems requirements

BS EN 50136-2-2 : Dedicated paths equipment requirements

BS EN 50136-1-4 : Voice communicator systems requirements

BS EN 50136-2-1 : General equipment requirements

BS EN 50136-2-3 : Digital communicators equipment requirements

BS EN 50136-2-4 : Voice communicator equipment requirements

EN Standards being developed



prEN 50136-4 : Annunciation equipment

Expected to be published early 1999

prEN 50136-7: application guidelines

no date for publication can be given





COMBINED AND INTEGRATED SYSTEMS (SERIES 5013x)

Published as BS EN

None



Published as EN

None

EN Standards being developed

A general requirements standard is being produced. No date for publication can be given."

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