The EU has harmonised its standards for point heat detectors and point smoke detectors which will be mandatory from 31 August 2022. CertAlarm now also offers these certifications.
Whilst many manufacturers are currently working on understanding the requirements of UKCA, the new marking for placing relevant regulated products on the market in England, Scotland and Wales, it should not be forgotten that there is another deadline coming up for the certification of point-type heat and smoke detectors.
The Technical Committee CEN/TC 72 released in 2018 the two common standards EN 54-5: 2017 + A1:2018, ‘Heat detectors – Point heat detectors’, and 54-7: 2018, ‘Smoke detectors – Point smoke detectors that operate using scattered light, transmitted light or ionization’ and the European Commission cited them in the OJEU in 2019. The updated provisions include, above all, increased requirements for the EMC-resilience of the products.
Both updated norms are mandatory for products sold throughout the EU from the end of the transition period on 31 August 2022. That means that all manufacturers can start with the update of their corresponding external certificates and internal declarations by applying the latest version of EN 54-5 and EN 54-7 to their products. In due course, all manufacturers of heat and smoke detectors will be required to apply to authorised Notified Bodies for a Certificate of Constancy of Performance to the new revisions enabling them to update their DoPs (Declaration of Performance).
The majority of CertAlarm partners have been accredited by their national Accreditation Bodies and notified by the EU for the testing and certification based on the two harmonised norms and can now fully support manufacturers in obtaining the respective certificates.
‘We want to provide comprehensive, competitive and time-saving support to manufacturers by offering all relevant testing and certification services as a one-stop solution which is valid throughout Europe. We’re therefore pleased to announce that we also cover these new certification requirements,’ says Anja Kinsky, General Manager of CertAlarm.
About CertAlarm
CertAlarm is an independent, not-for-profit organisation started in 2010 in order to advance a pan-European ‘one-stop testing and certification’ process in the fire protection and security systems industry. Currently, products and systems undergo multiple tests and certifications when companies want to trade in certain European states. The time and costs are immense and result in unnecessarily high product costs which hinders product innovation, slows market introduction and stifles competition.
In contrast, CertAlarm offers a unique European quality mark based on third-party, one-stop testing and certification to EN54 fire standards and EN5013X security standards. The members of CertAlarm decided on scheme type 5 certification: the quality the market is asking for. Scheme type 5 is an assessment system that combines factory inspection, quality management review, product testing and ongoing surveillance in one package. These requirements make scheme type 5 and thus CertAlarm the most rigorous EU-wide scheme in the market.
CertAlarm is working with the following Contracted Certification Bodies (CCB) and Recognized Test Laboratories (RTL): Alter Technology TÜV Nord, www.altertechnology.com (CCB, RTL), Applica Test & Certification, www.applica.no (CCB, RTL), Applus LGAI, www.applus.com (CCB, RTL), Intertek, www.intertek.com (CCB, RTL) Kriwan Testzentrum GmbH, www.kriwan.de (RTL) and Kiwa FSS products (a trade name of Telefication B.V.), www.kiwa.com/nl/en/specials/fire-safety-and-security/ (CCB, RTL).
For more information, go to www.certalarm.org
