The new standards have been introduced by CENELEC (European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization) to meet growing demands for EN compliant products from users and installers of security systems. The European standards will gradually replace existing national standards within Europe and will also extend to European countries that currently do not have an established standard of their own. The aim of the new EN standards is to guarantee a consistently high level of performance for electronic security systems throughout Europe.

Commenting on the independent testing, Darren Cox, intrusion Pproduct manager for Bosch Security Systems said: "For these new standards to gain credibility and become widely accepted throughout the industry, it is essential for products to be tested by independent laboratories and not by the manufacturers themselves. A self-declaration of compliance to EN 50131 provides absolutely no guarantee of product quality or product features. For this reason, many national laboratories such as CNPP (Centre Nationale de Prevention et de Protection) in France, VdS in Germany and ANPI in Belgium have already initiated product testing based on the available EN standards and Technical Specifications.

"Bosch is a strong supporter of the EN 50131 standards as an important quality label on which installers, distributors and end-users can rely, and we are one of the first companies to submit products for independent compliance testing."

"The CNPP laboratories in France have recently tested the Bosch Blue Line and Tri Focus Professional Series motion detectors as well as its wLSN wireless technology and Easy Series alarm panel for EN 50131 compliance. All products submitted passed the relevant tests. The test reports are available on request to provide a guarantee of product quality," adds Paul, "which is not solely based on a self-declaration but on rigorous testing by an independent organisation."

Currently, requirements and test procedures are available for alarm systems (EN 50131-1), passive IR detectors (EN 50131-2-2), passive IR/microwave detectors (EN 50131-2-4), alarm panels (EN 50131-3), warning devices (EN 50131-4), wireless links for alarm systems (EN 50131-5-3) and power supplies (EN 50131-6). Opening Contacts (TS 50131-2-6) and Combined PIR / ultrasonic detectors (TS 50131-2-5) are in preparation to be published as EN - Standards. Others will follow, including requirements for transmission systems and related products for alarm systems.

Bosch has expressed a commitment to submit all its intrusion-detection products for EN 50131 compliance as and when the requirements for these other products are issued.