April 2012


(from previous page)


Thirdly, the responsible person has a duty to their employees and customers under the law and using certificated providers is the best way of demonstrating this. It is of note that the Scottish Parliament did not provide similar guidance and endorsement of certification until 2011, after the report on the Rosepark fire. This duty does not, of course, only refer to the initial installation or purchase of fire protection products and services – unless they are maintained by companies and technicians who are competent then whatever the value of the system when new, if it doesn’t work months or years later when it is needed then it is of no value. Third party certification, assuming that it is carried out


by reputable, UKAS accredited certification bodies will show that a company is competent to meet its obligations and cares enough about their customers and staff to demonstrate this. It is also vitally important that the certification bodies and registration organisations such as BAFE make sure that they continue to meet the standards and take appropriate action when they fail to do so. No company is perfect and mistakes happen – the key is to ensure that prompt and appropriate action is taken when problems are identified. There is no doubt that price is still a major factor in purchasing decisions, but this is not necessarily a contradiction to getting fire protection that is fit for purpose. Oscar Wilde said that ‘A cynic is someone who knows


the price of everything and the value of nothing’ and the value of fire protection is to save lives and property. The fact that this is now being demonstrated in law, by the growing number of prosecutions for having inadequate fire risk assessments and protection will reinforce this message.


Geoff Tate – SSAIB


In challenging economic times, it’s tempting to think that end-users and buyers will be more swayed by price than third party accreditation when selecting a fire or security service, or equipment supplier. Whatever the prevailing financial


climate, price will always play a significant part in these choices – a factor SSAIB fully understands. As the leading provider of certification services to the security and fire sectors, offering a wide scope of accreditation within these specialist sectors, it’s one of our roles to explain the real value of third party certification. The saying ‘Buy cheap, buy twice’ is apt in this context, for the value of certification to a prudent buyer lies in providing assurance that the equipment or service provider will perform as expected. The key element here is third party, since accreditation means that a supplier has been effectively scrutinised by an independent organisation that’s outside the contractual relationship, with no vested interest in the transaction or selection process.


“Ultimately, specified accreditations will not seal the deal on their own – but cost and quality cannot win a contract without them” - Richard Bailey, Advance Security UK


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Moreover, as a certification body, SSAIB is itself certified as independent and competent to carry out this accreditation process – in our case by UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service). This provides a double assurance to end-users/buyers that a certificated supplier will meet the expected requirements. Purchasing on price alone exposes end-users/buyers to


the risk of product failures and inadequate service performance. Costs then arise from the impact of these failures, the disruption in rectifying the problems, and the need to pay twice to achieve the same result – not to mention the detrimental market perception on a business that doesn’t meet its contractual standards. Suddenly, buying on price alone isn’t such a smart move. Third-party certification also provides end-users/buyers


with independent assurance that increasingly important corporate social responsibility factors, such as environmental management and health & safety, are being met.


Robert Wells – BSI


In the highly regulated fire safety market buyers and specifiers are well informed and know the requirements that products must comply with to be placed on the market. They look for certification from a known and reliable source and specify, where appropriate,


that the product has third party approval from a recognised certification body. In the fire detection and alarm systems market for example many contracts for commercial and industrial buildings require products incorporated in a fire alarm system to be individually certified and in some cases these requirements are being extended to include testing to demonstrate full system compatibility i.e. when in use and at the extremes of potential service conditions all the components of a system work together without failure.


Additionally fire alarm installation companies in the UK certified to LPS 1014 or SP 203 are required to install only products that have been third party certified to the appropriate standard, where applicable, further enhancing the approval route. This continues into the domestic market for fire safety products where consumers looking to purchase smoke alarms or fire extinguishers for example are aware of third party certification marks, such as the BSI Kitemark, and know the quality that underpins this type of certification (according to GfK NOP Research, 88% of UK adults recognise and trust Kitemark). Well recognised and trusted certification marks, add


value, can increase sales and open up markets worldwide that would otherwise be closed to manufacturers. Price and delivery will always be important but overarching factors driven by international authorities who only accept third party certified products from certification bodies on their approved lists (achieved by virtue of their processes, accreditation and reputation) often prevail over other product factors. Some sectors of the security market have a high level


of third party certification particularly on the physical side such as doors, windows, locks etc. but it is less well developed and regulated on the electronics side such as intruder alarms and surveillance systems with far fewer products certified by third party certification bodies.


www.risk-uk.com


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