October 29, 2004—The British security industry has released a statement on the implementation of EN 50131-1, the new European intruder alarm installation standard, stating that there will be a dual running of PD 6662 and British Standards until October 1, 2005. The British Standards Institution published PD 6662 at the end of August to integrate the British and European standards.
The statement comes as result of talks between the British Security Industry Association, the Association of British Insurers, the National Security Inspectorate, and the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board, and was approved by the Association Chief Police Officers and the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland.
“Security companies had valid concerns about introducing EN50131-1 without allowing them any time to prepare,” says BSIA Technical Director, Alex Carmichael. “The European standard was incomplete as it relied too heavily upon other standards, which are yet to be published. It was estimated that the premature introduction of the standard would cost large manufacturers 1.5 million and even the smaller manufacturers 100,000—costs which might have had to be passed to the customer. The idea of dual running seemed the only logical solution to the problem.”
