SSAIB Chief Executive Geoff Tate reports back on progress during the past 12 months, starting with a move into brand new headquarters in January…
This has been a busy year for SSAIB. The lease on our previous office in North Shields was due for renewal last December and faced with a significant increase in our rent we were able to purchase a three-storey building in Whitley Bay, moving in straight after Christmas. So our office accommodation problems are now resolved and, importantly, our long-term accommodation costs have been fixed – with measurably cheaper running costs resulting from owning our freehold. Overall, the move makes sound business sense.
Registrations increase
Despite the economy remaining in the doldrums during 2012 the number of SSAIB-registered organisations has continued to increase this year and is now approaching 1500. Whilst most activity relates to the certification of organisations supplying security systems, we have seen an increase in the registration of organisations supplying fire detection and alarm systems. As a Security Industry Authority (SIA) approved assessment body we also conduct assessments on behalf of the SIA, which increased during the year too.
Standards update
Security Systems
On 1st June 2012 PD 6662: 2010 was introduced. The changes introduced by the update to the European Standards BS EN 50131-1 and DD CLC/TS 50131-7 were relatively minor. However, BS 8243 introduced some new requirements despite the general principles of the standard remaining unchanged. The major change was the introduction of DD 263, which essentially expanded on the basic requirements for maintenance and repair – including DD CLC/TS 50131-7.
SSAIB organised a number of seminars on the changes introduced by the implementation of PD 6662: 2010 and these appear to have been effective, because since then we have not received a significant number of queries on the topic.
Monitoring centres
There have been no changes to BS 5979 (ARC) or BS 8418 (RVRC) during 2012. Nevertheless, due to ambiguity in the scope of BS EN 50518 (the standard that will replace BS 5979 in January 2014) work has commenced on amendments to it. As a result, BS EN 50518 will apply to ARC monitoring of intruder alarm systems and the amended BS 5979 will apply to the monitoring of other types of systems, e.g. fire alarms, social alarms, CCTV systems etc.
However, work has also begun on amendments to BS EN 50518 to amalgamate the requirements into a single standard (currently it is in three parts) and introduce requirements suitable for the monitoring of systems other than intruder alarms. If this work is completed quickly it may not be necessary to amend BS 5979.
Schemes situation
As mentioned above, the take-up of our existing range of schemes has continued to increase during 2012, with a growing number of firms on the Roll. Security systems – primarily intruder alarms –continue to be the most popular scheme, but CCTV and access control schemes are also increasingly required.
In addition, the fire detection and alarms scheme (BAFE SP 203-1) is becoming very sought-after – no doubt due to its modular structure, allowing firms to select from one of four modules: design, installation, handover and commissioning, and of course maintenance. The monitoring centre schemes are doing well too and we now have some 36 centres on our Roll. Finally, the manned security services schemes are also moving along in tandem with our activities as an SIA Approved Contractors Scheme assessment body
New schemes
Responding to demand driven by the number of ‘void properties’ currently requiring security, we recently introduced a Temporary Alarm Systems scheme. It’s already caught the eye of insurance companies, a number of which have expressed interest in the scheme. Interestingly, we believe some insurers have begun specifying the scheme to their clients supplying protection for void properties. Another exciting new scheme, for which we achieved UKAS accreditation in October, is our BAFE SP 205 certification service. This scheme deals with the certification of companies or individuals carrying out fire risk assessments. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 placed responsibility for fire safety in England and Wales on the ‘Responsible person’, e.g. the owner or occupier of premises. The BAFE SP 205 scheme was developed to provide companies and individuals with a source of competent, certificated, fire risk assessors.
Communicating with you
Keeping you better updated is a key issue for SSAIB, so this year we updated the ‘public’ part of our website and produced a mobile version for the increasing number of smartphone users.
An exclusive portal has also been introduced specifically for our registered firms, with a range of new services and added-value benefits. The look, feel and functionality of the website is a leap forward and new features include a useful online standards section with easy reference search facility, plus E-commerce facilities with a variety of online payments for e.g. purchasing certificates of conformity (with template options allowing your logo to be included).
SSAIB news is also now available on Facebook and Twitter.
Our ‘SSAIB News’ publication was re-launched this year too, with a modern new design, and plans for 2013 include an e-newsletter to further improve our communications strategy.
Elsewhere, SSAIB was out and about around the UK and Ireland with exhibition stands at events including IFSEC in Birmingham, FM Ireland in Dublin, Firex South, ASIS International and Counter Terror Expo in London.
Looking ahead to 2013
The next 12 months look set to be challenging, with few signs of the economy improving in any meaningful sense. But don’t despair! In my experience the security industry has traditionally been resilient in times of economic stress and I am sure this will be the case in 2013.
In the New Year we will further increase the functionality of our website with additional features that will reduce your costs. We will also be introducing an online application system designed to make it much easier for firms to apply for registration and improve our applications processing.
We’re also developing an electronic auditing package intended to reduce the amount of paper we currently deal with. The plan is to equip auditors with a hand-held device that will work autonomously or communicate with a laptop, allowing checklists and audit reports to be completed more quickly and easily.
Christmas seems to come around with increasing frequency and 2012 has gone past in a blur. I would like to take this opportunity of thanking you all for your support during 2012 and to wish you every success in the coming year.
Best wishes,
Geoff Tate, CEO