General advice when choosing a security alarm system in your home or business.

The variety of alarms and their fitting is a complex subject. As a starting point the installation should meet with British Standard PD6662 (This calls up European Standard EN 50131 and UK standards such as BS8243 for alarm confirmation). These standards cover both hard-wired systems and wire-free. Though more expensive than many wire-free or DIY packages on the market, they are more reliable and conform to the National Police Chiefs Council Security Systems Policy.

If you are thinking about the installation of an alarm system in your home it is worth taking into account that the police response to alarm activations varies according to the type of alarm installed. In recent years the percentage of false alarm calls caused by equipment, communication or user error represented in excess of 92% of all alarm activations nationally. In order to redress the balance in favour of genuine calls the National Police Chiefs Council Security Systems Policy has been adopted by the police in which two types of alarms are defined, together with the relevant police response.

Type A - Remote Signalling Alarms, including intruder alarms terminating at approved central monitoring stations. They must be maintained and used in accordance with British Standards PD6662. Such alarms will be registered with the police and identified by a unique reference number (URN) for intruder alarm response and a URN for hold up alarm (personal attack alarm) response. The police response to their activation will be based on the assumption that an offence is taking place, but against the background of competing urgent calls and available resources. Such a response will also be conditional upon the number of false activations in any 12 month period, in which case the activation may receive a lower priority police attendance. 

Type B - Audible Only and Hybrid Alarms, including bells-only and automatic dialing alarms, as well as alarms from non-compliant companies and non-compliant central stations. URNs will not be issued for these systems. To obtain police attendance, in addition to their activation Type B alarms will also require some indication that an offence is in progress, e.g. from a witness at the scene.

In identifying a compliant company installing Type A alarms you should seek answers to the following questions:

• Before disclosing personal security details, have I checked the address and credentials of the company and seen proof of identity from the representative?
• Is the company subject of an independent inspection process and if so which organisation?
• Is the installation of an alarm a requirement of my insurance company and if so, is the company acceptable to my insurer?
• Can the company representative provide me with a list of police rules for occupiers of premises with alarms and written confirmation that the alarm and the company are currently acceptable to the local police for the transmission of alarm messages from new installations?
• Have I sought written quotations from at least two alarm installers?
• Does the quotation: specify that the installation will be to British Standard PD662 and include the terms of maintenance and monitoring contracts?
• Does the company operate a 24 hour call-out service and emergency attendance within four hours?

Police accept the installation of remote signalling alarms from alarm companies whose business is subject to inspection by independent inspectorate organisations identified in police policy.