Electrical Contracting News (ECN) May 2016 | Page 45

FIRE DETECTION & SECURITY

SPECIAL FEATURE

The development of EN54-23
required a fundamental change
in visible alarm technology.

CAUSE FOR ALARM?
Chris Massey at ESP discusses the latest legislation affecting the fire and
security sector and the implications for electrical contractors and installers.

T

he new product
standard, EN54-23:2010
Fire detection and fire
alarm systems. Part 23:
Fire alarm devices –
Visual Alarm Devices,
became mandatory
across Europe from 1st
January 2014, after which date any Visible
Alarm Device (VAD) newly installed and
used as the primary means of warning as
part of fire alarm system, must under the
Construction Product Regulation (CPR),
conform to EN54-23.

Drivers
The standard dictates that all beacons
manufactured for fire alarm use and
sold for fire alarm applications in the
EU after this date must be CE-certified
using the new standard. It will affect
architects, building owners, contractors,
fire equipment installers and anyone
responsible for fire system design.
The key driver behind the introduction of
the requirements is the Equalities Act. The
product standard is designed to ensure
that, as far as is practical, the fire system
will generate an effective warning for all

occupants of a building, particularly people
with hearing difficulties, in the event of a
fire. The standard sets out the requirements
for the performance, installation and test
methods of Visual Alarm Devices (VADs)
used in all fire alarm systems to ensure that
the light output from the VADs are sufficient
to clearly alert (both audibly and visually)
any person within the area that an alarm
event is in progress.
VADs had been used for this purpose
for many years. Up until May 2010,
there was no fire industry standard that
determined the light output performance

criteria and installation requirements
of VADs. This led to inconsistency and
confusion among manufacturers when
specifying the performance of products.
In the UK alone there are around
one in seven blind or visually impaired
and one in 30 deaf or hard of hearing
people. With the introduction of the
Equality Act, a higher percentage of
such people are now working in public
buildings and workplaces, and this
has therefore heightened the need
to provide improved methods of alert
during life critical alarm events.

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11/04/2016 12:09