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by approved providers. Becoming approved necessitated signing up to TPC and an ongoing programme of independent third party inspection and approval, delivered in part by the National Security Inspectorate (NSI). A certificate of compliance to key alarm standards, along with monitoring of the alarm by an approved alarm receiving centre, was required to obtain a unique reference number (URN), without which a police response was unavailable. The success of this approach is readily
demonstrable in a number of ways. The false alarm rate has reduced over time by more than 90%, and the deterrent effect of now reliable approved alarms serves its purpose. The number of burglaries has fallen over the long term, fewer police officers are deployed on ‘wasted’ call outs and there have been sizeable resultant savings to the public purse.
Insurer gains
In addition, from the insurers’ point of view, burglary is no longer the greatest overall risk covered. It has long been overtaken by fire and flood, and this has been reflected in insurance premiums over the long term – benefiting end users in turn. Commitment to TPC has delivered the desired outcome, and so the evidence base is clear: strong governance in the form of TPC of alarm installers and monitoring centres has raised standards in the market, with significant benefits for all industry parties and the wider public. It’s a proven, widely respected model for delivering consistent high standards across the marketplace. Undeniably, the world is safer as a result of partnership between the police and the private sector, based on a standardised approach underpinned by TPC. We are convinced that the approved
intruder alarm partnership between industry and the police is transferrable to the FRS. It could reap similar or even greater benefit in saving lives and property, reducing false alarms and lowering attendant costs. The police alarms URN model, if adopted into fire safety and with particular regard to critical infrastructure, public buildings and commercial property, could have a significant beneficial effect across the board.
Starting steps
So how could lessons learned in the security arena be transferred into meaningful measures to similarly benefit the fire sector? As a starting point, the national guidance recognised by the NFCC and industry is BS 5839-1: 2017: Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings. Code of practice
50 JULY/AUGUST 2020
www.frmjournal.com
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