Aico raises smoke alarm standards awareness

Aico is reminding all installers and specifiers to check they are fitting smoke alarms with the new BS EN 14604: 2005 standard.

BS EN 14604: 2005 supersedes the previous standard for smoke alarm manufacture (BS 5446-1: 2000), which has been officially withdrawn.

At this point, it became an invalid standard to produce smoke alarms to, although it is acceptable to sell existing product made to this standard before the 31 July cut-off for a period of two years.

While this old stock can be sold, Aico is advising installers and specifiers to move to the new BS EN 14604: 2005 code immediately to avoid installing product that is 12 months old before even fitted.

It will also avoidance of products produced to the old standard after the July 2008 cut-off date.

Many of the tests in the two standards are similar, but the differences that do exist cover some key areas such as EMC, Vibration, Electrical Safety to EN60065: 2002, Dry Heat Testing and 'Clauses addressing the provisions of the EU Construction Products Directive (89/106/EEC)'.

While it isn't essential to understand the differences between the old and new standards, it is important to realise that the new standard is an advance on the previous one; for example, failure to adequately meet EMC requirements could result in a product being more prone to random beeping or even nuisance alarm.

It is also important to note that both the standards are only applicable to smoke alarms, not heat alarms (which is BS 5446-2:2003).

All EI Professional smoke alarms manufactured since July 2008 sold by Aico conform to the BS EN 14604 standard and are Kitemarked to prove that third-party testing has been undertaken by BSI.

Aico and EI Professional are committed to raising the standards of domestic fire alarm systems and are actively engaged in creating new standards.

Aico also runs the Fire Products Trained Installer Scheme, which is dedicated to providing members with the information and training necessary to achieve a successful and effective fire alarm installation.

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