Advancements in technology and industry practices as well as changes in regulatory agendas and directives make it necessary to continuously initiate new standards and update existing standards to ensure they remain relevant and effective.
In this context, leadership in standardisation is a crucial factor for achieving the desired benefits and outcomes both for industry and society. That requires the ability and willingness of an actor to initiate, influence and shape the development and implementation of standards that are relevant, effective, and legitimate. Here, Euralarm proactively highlights its role of leadership on standardisation issues and the importance of being prepared for the so-called “tsunami” of new standards set to hit the fire and security industry in the near future.
Standards support market-based competition and help ensure the interoperability of complementary products and services. They are, according to Euralarm, there to reduce costs, improve safety, and enhance competition. Due to their role in protecting the health, safety, and security, standards are important to the public. The EU has an active standardisation policy that promotes standards to better regulate and enhance the competitiveness of European industry as well as to advocate EU values.
Indeed, the success of the market-driven and consensus-based European standardisation system has, according to Euralarm, had significant economic benefits in the development of specific industries. Above all, standards allow businesses of all kinds and sizes to enter the international market.
Whereas uniformity is the goal of standardisation, the process of standardisation itself is neither uniform nor standardised at all. It is influenced by numerous factors, such as technological change, market dynamics, consumer preferences, regulatory frameworks and societal values. Therefore, standardisation requires constant adaptation and coordination among different actors, such as industry, government, academia, civil society and international organisations.
There are several megatrends that are currently affecting the fire safety and security industries as well as the standardisation for these industries. The threat of trade wars constantly lurks and protectionism reigns supreme. Inflation has been high in recent years and the supply chains have been regularly disrupted. Moreover most sectors are experiencing labour shortages. Additionally, there is a growing focus on sustainability and an ever-increasing emphasis on digitisation.
All these developments have led to a tsunami of new (European) regulations. Two important ‘drivers’ behind this are the Green Deal and the Digital Decade, reflecting the green and digital transition of Europe. Under the umbrella of these programs a wide variety of regulations is introduced having an impact on all aspects of our industries, ranging from products and project design to installation, operations and response and maintenance. Examples of regulation under the Digital Decade with a high impact are the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act, Data Act, the Delegated Act of the Radio Equipment Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act.
Many of the regulations such as Cybersecurity, AI, Data Transparency, are so-called horizontal in nature, meaning that they cover a broad number of sectors. While these are not directly focussed on the fire and security industries, they are affecting them, and this is creating numerous challenges for the industry. The lack of knowledge on these subjects and the shortage of expertise to deal with these is apparent.
Euralarm is supporting companies and national associations that want to meet those challenges thereby establishing leadership. That role is filled in a variety of ways. First, Euralarm initiates new standards through the bodies in which it is represented. For example, two service standards that were first issued by Euralarm as guidelines were later elevated to European standards. Today, EN 15763 specifies minimum requirements for service providers as well as the competencies, knowledge and skills of their involved staff charged while the EN 50710 defines the requirements for the provision of secure remote services for fire safety systems and security systems.
Secondly, Euralarm is leading the actualisation of existing standards to ensure they evolve with technological, social or economic developments. A good example is the overhaul of the requirements for intruder and hold-up alarms as defined in EN 50131-1. The outlines of this overhaul were drafted by Euralarm as a memo in 2020. Following that first draft Euralarm provided the relevant Technical Committee (CLC/TC 79/WG 1) with conceptual drawings for a future-proof and function-oriented standard. Euralarm was then actively involved in compiling the new text for the adapted standard.
Finally, Euralarm closely monitors the development of horizontal standards and acts where necessary to adjust the development. An example of this was given by Euralarm’s involvement in supporting Technical Committees that faced the impact of cybersecurity regulations.
For example, Euralarm provided Guidance and explanatory documents to the CLC/TC 79 community to ensure that the different players in Security and Fire Safety understand their roles and responsibilities with regards to cyber security. It also ensured that RED DA standards (prEN 18031 series) are in line with the requirements of alarm systems. The same goes for monitoring the activities in artificial intelligence (CNC/CLC/JTC21), intervening where necessary to ensure that developments in artificial intelligence don’t conflict with the requirements of security and fire safety systems and services.
Euralarm’s involvement is not only limited to standardisation level but also relates to regulation. With the Data Act, for instance, Euralarm played a significant role in limiting the mandatory sharing of data for security systems and avoiding conflicts with National Regulations on security. The same goes for the Digital Product Passport (DPP) where Euralarm is ensuring the compatibility between DPP requirements under other regulations, such as the Eco-design Directive for Sustainable Products (ESPR), CPR and Battery Regulation.
The tsunami of new regulations will affect the security industry in all European countries. Therefore, it is of vital importance to stay informed, either via national associations such as APSEI or Euralarm via webinars, guidance papers, articles and training courses. For the individual companies it is of utmost importance that they ensure that their personnel are qualified to cope with these new types of regulations.
