EN 54 Systems

Voice Alarm control and indicating equipment

The European EN 54 product standard is applicable for all voice alarm systems including loudspeakers that are used manually or automatically in the event of a fire.

EN 54 standards ensure consistency of production, product performance and reliability. All giving reassurance to customers as well as compliance with the law. Since its introduction in 2008, ASL has ensured that its products and most importantly systems are fully compliant with these critical industry standards. Let us guide you

Where it started

The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) formally the Construction Products Directive is an EU law that covers thousands of products used as part of the construction of buildings. You have to comply with one of the ‘Essential Requirements’ of the law which in our case is safety in case of fire. Since Brexit, it has been separately incorporated into UK law as part of the Construction Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and 2020.

Specific standards

In order to comply with these regulations, manufacturers are required to present their products to third-party approved bodies in order that they may be tested for compliance against specific standards which, in the case of the Voice Alarm market are:

EN 54-4 : power supply equipment
EN 54-16: voice alarm electronic equipment
EN 54-24 : loudspeakers

ASL and EN 54

Only voice alarm products which have been tested to show compliance with EN 54 may be incorporated into an overall Voice Alarm system, carrying the EN 54 CE mark in Europe, or the EN 54 UKCA mark in the UK.

The EN 54 product standards are recognised around the world, and products tested to these standards are often specified in the requirements specification outside of Europe.

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It’s not just what you use - it’s how you use it!

In order to deliver a safe and compliant voice alarm system, different countries have created their own voice alarm codes of practice. These offer guidance on how to design, install, operate and maintain voice alarm systems. All European codes of practice including the UK’s BS 5838 Part 8 require the use of EN 54 voice alarm products and this requirement extends beyond voice alarm e.g. EN 50849 for non-fire applications which also recommends EN 54 products.

Common codes of practice

BS 5839-8

UK

VDE 0833-4
Germany

Uni ISO 7240-19
Italy

TS EN 54-32
Europe

BS 7827
UK for stadiums and large venues

Helping you comply

All ASL products come with detailed installation instructions to help you get the best out of our product range and to ensure that you have all the necessary information available to design, build, configure and test systems that will be in compliance with the relevant standards.

You can find our system build and our design guides in the download section below.

In addition, ASL offers a full technical support service to help with all aspects of the system requirements through from design to customer handover, so if you have any questions about compliance, we are here to assist you.

When bespoke voice alarm systems are built, we carry out comprehensive System Acceptance Tests to ensure that the system operates and complies as needed. Additionally, we can also offer an option for customer-witnessed Factory Acceptance Tests.

We even carry out audits on system integrators to verify that they have the knowledge and skills to install our systems in a compliant manner.

How we test our products

In order to test the electronic products for compliance with the requirements of EN 54, it is obligatory to use an accredited test laboratory and for this purpose, ASL uses BRE, one of the most rigorous and respected ones anywhere. BRE certification is recognised by governments and authorities around the world.

BRE also operates its own certification board called LCPB providing third party approval for products across many global standards, including its own Loss Prevention Standards (LPS).

Hybrid systems

Some projects such as stadiums often use a combination of site-wide voice alarm equipment combined with high-power amplifiers for the main spectator stands. Using an ASL system to drive the entire site, these amplifiers can be connected and monitored, giving you the confidence of an EN 54 certified backbone and centralised control.

Keeping ahead

We don’t just keep up to date with standards, we stay ahead of the curve. ASL employees sit on both UK and European standards committees, as well as on some special standards task groups and trade association standards forums.

We help define the next generation of standards to help make the voice alarm industry better.

The system

When you purchase a voice alarm system, the standards consider it as one single entity, independent of whether it consists of a single wall mounted device or is made up of separate units housed in one or more distributed rack cabinets. In either case, it is treated as one overall certified system from a single manufacturer and for this reason, certified products from different manufacturers may not mixed and matched as they must all have been tested together as part of an integrated system