Bosch Security Systems’ latest Praesideo technology has become the first Public Address and Voice Alarm System to attain the new EN54-16 accreditation – a qualification that brings PA/VA systems in line with the fire alarm standard.
EN54-16 is the successor to the former British Standard (BS) 5839 and requires all new product to be independently tested – rather than being self-certified – by a recognised testing house. Praesideo has been fully certified by TÜV to both EN54-16 and ISO 7240-16 safety standards.
“Praesideo has set the benchmark for the evacuation market for its quality and reliability from the time it was introduced,” says Paul Wong, Managing Director of Bosch Security Systems, “and this new accreditation demonstrates our continued commitment to invest our time, money and technical resources into developing world-leading products that support our customers in critical environments.”
Any systems specified or installed after April 2011 will need to be EN54-16 compliant, with certification to the new standard taking between six and 12 months to attain, at an investment level of between 50 and 100K euros.
The functionality of the core Praesideo technology meant that most of the requirements demanded by the new standards were already covered. New software (Version 3.3) was developed, however, to extend the functionality still further.
“With Praesideo being software based and programmable we have a distinct advantage,” Paul adds. “It means that customers using legacy systems will have an upgrade path, thus maximising their total cost of ownership.”
An example of the extended functionality includes new zone-status indicators that show a fault status when any failure of equipment or cabling prevents a specific zone from being addressed. Other functionality extensions relate to voice alarms, outputs to fire alarm devices and managed evacuation. Furthermore the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) of the system has been upgraded to EN50130-4 levels for alarm systems and, with that upgrade, both hardware and software fully comply with the obligatory and optional requirements of EN54 and ISO 7240.
Certification of compliancy to EN54-16 and ISO 7240-16 has been granted by TÜV, the independent German quality and safety organisation. TÜV previously tested Praesideo to EN60849 and IEC60849 standards.
EN 54-16 and ISO 7240-16 describe the requirements, test methods and performance criteria for voice-related components in fire alarm and detection systems. The European and international standards derived from these requirements promise to play a role in voice evacuation markets in Europe and internationally, the firm suggests. The standards are aimed at ensuring that voice alarm control and indicating equipment provides the best possible communication for users, installers, the public and fire brigades, as well as providing uncompromised system availability and system supervision. EN54-16, in particular, will play a role in the market for voice evacuation as the member states of the European Union will in the future be obliged to replace their local standards by the EN54-16 standard.
