Instalments

"According to General House-hold Survey, a domestic burglary took place every sixty seconds last year.

"In less than five years, house-hold burglaries have increased by 11 per cent, with the number of crimes reported to the police in 1987 just under half a million. 76 per cent of domestic robberies remain unsolved. This is bad news for householders, who have less chance than ever of having their possessions returned after a burglary.

"According to Jim Keenan, who works as a consultant for ATI Home Security, home and business security specialists, a recent survey discovered that 96 per cent of burgled homes did not have alarms fitted."

Passives to fly kites
(New British Standards heralded the approach of a testing system whereby products could be marked similarly to the BSI kite mark…)

"A British Standard just published heralds the approach of a testing system whereby each detector, warning device and control panel can be tested to a national standard, and the successful products marked with the British Standards Institution (BSI) kite mark.

"The British Standard is the beginning of the revision of BS4737 Part 3 Requirements for Detector Devices. The new edition will be quite different to the old one, it will specify precise requirements for Detector Devices. The new edition will specify precise requirements for each alarm component so that a test house can test and certificate products that meet the specification.

"To reflect the change of role there is a new title – Specification for Components. The first section of this new edition of Part 3 is BS4737:Section 3.0:1988, General Requirements."

Knowledge campaign
(Even in the late eighties, PIRs were still largely a mystery to the British public, according to one survey…)

"A research survey carried out by a European passive infra-red (PIR) detector manufacturer has revealed that the majority of the British public would know next to nothing about the use of PIRs for crime prevention.

"The survey was carried out on behalf of Merten of Germany, manufacturers of the Argus PIR. According to Merten's UK distributor, Euroelectric, when the benefits and costs are explained, a majority of homeowners will consider installing a PIR."

Associations in sync
(The main associations began their journey on the road to a common approach to standards and inspections…)

"After long negotiations, The Electrical Contractors' Association (ECA), the Electrical Constractors' Association of Scotland (ECA of S) and the National Supervisory Council for Intruder Alarms (NSCIA) have forged a policy of cooperation which, it is claimed will harmonise standards within the industry.

"Members of the ECAs can now enrol on the NSCIA roll of Approved Installers on a dual membership basis with the NSCIA's Certificates of Status and Competence bearing the logs of all three parties to the agreement.

"The ECA points out that this means the strength of the ECAs will be available to companies on the Roll of the NSCIA, without any possibility of a conflict of interest."