What will happen to unqualified installers?

I am trying to get some definition on how the new European Regulations are going to affect installers. As I understand it, the new regulations stipulate that you must be a minimum NVQ Level 2 Fire, Security and Emergency Systems.

Can you clarify this? And what will happen to the installers who already work within the industry that do not have the above mentioned NVQ Level 2? I would appreciate any information on this topic.

Lee W. Dow, Inner London Training, Zenith House, 210 Church Road, Leyton, London E10 7JQ

(Mike Lynskey replies...)

You are looking along the right lines, the new Euro-Standards are based upon and require a qualification. However, let me quote from the standard. DD CLC/TS 50131-7 2003 states in clause 6.5 of the National Foreword (the bit at the front that says this is the English version) that “Persons responsible for risk assessment and the design, installation, maintenance and repair of IAS should hold appropriate qualifications".

At present there is no clearly defined agreed qualification structure for intruder and hold-up alarm installers within the United Kingdom and therefore clause 6.5 of DD CLC/TS 50131-7:2003 cannot yet be applied in the United Kingdom. In layman's language it means ... “Never mind what the standard says. We haven't got the qualifications available so we have to ignore that bit.”

However, your thinking is correct. Watch out for the standards coming in and make sure you are first in the queue. In the meantime (me being totally biased) you could have a look at the one-day EN 50131 course that is being run by the NSI. It will not give you a qualification but it will be a good start to your education.

(Here at Security Installer we anticipate a raftload of interest in EN50131-1 from installers throughout the coming year and we will be covering the subject in depth. Since the recent announcement of October 2005 as the cut off time for the dual running period, we have had a number of calls similar to the letter above. Endorsing Mike’s advice to attend one of the courses available, I can also recommend an initial visit to Cooper Security’s very helpful www.en50131.com website ... Ed)