Alarm raised at noise

The new Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act – which applies to England and Wales, and comes into effect in April next year – will have a major impact on intruder alarm installations. The aim is to reduce noise pollution by minimising false alarms.

The Act allows a local authority to designate all or any part of its area as an 'alarm notification area'. This means that the occupier or owner of any premises – residential or non-residential – in the area must notify the local authority of the details of a keyholder for the premises.

The authority can then turn to that keyholder for assistance in silencing an alarm. It is an offence to fail to nominate or notify the local authority of the details of a keyholder.

As the BSIA points out in its 'Industry Strategy for Intruder Alarm Systems', this is the current method used by Westminster council in London.

"This increased administration will have to be paid for, and as yet we have not seen the Government's proposals on this issue," the BSIA says. Its plans to assist with the reduction of noise pollution could prove to be a considerable boost for installers if the Government approves of them.

"A simple method to cut noise pollution from audible intruder alarms is to abolish the use of external sounders as signalling devices," the BSIA's strategy document says.

"This will effectively require all systems to become Type A monitored alarm systems, but without external sounders.

“The owner would know that their property was monitored and that in the event of a false alarm they are not going to be penalised by the local council. As environmental issues become more prevalent and new technology becomes more available, then monitored systems without external sounders will be a method of reducing noise pollution, reducing the administration burden on owners, whilst still giving the same amount of security.

“The deterrent effect can be maintained by the use of signage.”

The BSIA's plans to recommend the Government scrap VAT on type A security systems (see “Could do Better”, page 15) could "be dovetailed with the Government's need to cut noise pollution, and thus Type A systems without external sounders would receive this incentive".

Hopefully, this would mean that many households and commercial properties would be keen to upgrade their existing systems to Type A alarms, meaning additional business for installers.

The rest of the legislation says that the local authority must be informed in writing of the name, address and telephone number of the nominated keyholder.

Nominated keyholder

The person responsible is the occupier of the premises, a person entitled to occupy the premises or the owner of the premises. The keyholder must be nominated either within 28 days of the 'alarm notification area' designation coming into effect, if the intruder alarm was already installed, or within 28 days of an installation being completed (if the designation is already in effect).

Monitored systems without external sounders will be a method of reducing noise pollution ...

A keyholder can only be nominated if that individual:

• holds keys sufficient to enable him or her to gain access to the part of the building in which the controls for the alarm(s) are situated;
• normally resides – or is situated within – the vicinity of the premises;
• has information sufficient to enable them to silence the alarm; and
• agrees to be the nominated keyholder.

Keyholding companies can be the nominated keyholder if they are able to be contacted at any hour of the day. In addition, local authorities are allowed to set fixed penalties for their areas. If they don't, the fixed penalty will be £75. Fixed penalties can be applied when a keyholder is not nominated or his details are not notified to the local authority.

An authorised officer can enter a premises for the purposes of silencing an alarm if:

• The alarm has been sounding continuously for more than 20 minutes or intermittently for up to an hour
• The sounding of the alarm is likely to give persons living or working in the vicinity of the premises reasonable cause for annoyance
• If the premises are in an alarm notification area, that reasonable steps have been taken to get the nominated keyholder to silence the alarm.

Under these circumstances the authorised officer can't enter a premises by force, and must show evidence of his authority to act under the legislation.

A warrant to enter premises by force can be issued if a justice of the peace is satisfied that the above conditions are met and that the officer is unable to gain entry to the premises without the use of force.

Before applying for a warrant the officer must leave a notice at the premises stating:

• That the officer is satisfied that the sounding of the alarm is likely to give persons living or working in the vicinity of the premises reasonable cause for annoyance, and
• That an application is to be made for a warrant authorising the officer to enter the premises, using reasonable force if necessary, for the purposes of silencing the alarm.

Silencing the alarm

In either case – whether entering with force or without – the officer can take "any steps he thinks necessary for the purpose of silencing the alarm”, and to do that he can take as many other people and as much other equipment as he deems necessary. But they can't cause more damage to the premises than is needed to silence the alarm. Which is nice.

They also have to leave a notice stating what action has been taken, and although they don't have to reset the alarm, they will have to leave the premises, as far as possible, effectively as secured against entry as when they found them.

This might not happen very often, but in the cases when it does, it could sway, for example, owners of larger commercial properties, to move toward monitored systems.

Installers will probably need to be familiar with the requirements of the local authorities within their installation areas, and be able to confirm for customers whether or not they are in an 'alarm notification area' – although local authorities should inform residents in writing if their area becomes an alarm notification area.

It will be worthwhile for installers to contact local authorities to find out what their plans are once the legislation comes into effect next year – and to familiarise themselves with the basics of the legislation in order to answer any customer queries.