National Security Inspectorate Sentinel House, 5 Reform Road Maidenhead SL6 8BY Website: nsi.org.uk Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 1 of 10 © NSI 2020 Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria EAS 001 Issue 1 Aug 2020 Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 2 of 10 © NSI 2020 These approval criteria are to be read in conjunction with the NSI Regulations. No company may hold out or claim to meet the Evacuation Alert Systems Gold approval criteria , other than b y virtue of holding Evacuation Alert Systems Gold a pproval. Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 3 of 10 © NSI 2020 Contents 1 Scope and introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 4 2 Premises ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………… 4 3 Vehicles and equipment ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………. 4 4 Insurances ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………….. 5 5 Experience of management ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………. 5 6 Repute of management ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 6 7 Finance ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 6 8 Twenty – four hour cover ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. 6 9 Level of trading ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 7 10 Con tracts (general) ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. … 7 11 Maintenance contracts ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………. 7 12 Staff ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. . 8 13 Security screening of personnel ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. 8 14 Customer communications ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………….. 8 15 Management of sub – contracting (outsourcing) ………………………….. ………………………….. ………… 9 16 Management of complaints ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 9 17 Compliance with standards, codes of practice and so on ………………………….. ……………………. 9 18 Wiring rules ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. 9 19 Documented quality management system ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… 10 20 Installation & Maintenance Standards ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………… 10 Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 4 of 10 © NSI 2020 1 Scope and introduction 1.1 T his document lists th e criteria for Evacuation Alert Systems (EAS ) Gold approval. 1.2 The criteria apply to EAS Gold approved companies and to companies applying for EAS Gold approval. 1.3 Definitions are as stated in the NSI Regulations. EAS Gold approval includes the design , install ation, commissioning and maint e n ance of Evacuation Alert S ystems in accordance with the requirements of BAFE Scheme Document SP207 . In this document, text under the column s headed Criterion are criteria for approval. Text under the column s headed Guideline are guidelines for assessing compliance with the stated criteria. Nevertheless, we reserve a right to refuse approval if you do not meet the guidelines or to end your approval if you do not meet the guidelines. 2 Premises C riterion Guideline You m ust operate from suitable and adequate secure premises. When you apply for approval, we expect you to show us that you have reasonable security of tenure of the premises (for example, freehold; leasehold w ith at least three years to run or a long history o f occupying the premises and no reason to expect that you will have to leave). For further information on requirement s for premises, see BAFE Scheme document SP207. 3 Vehicles and equipment C riterion Guideline You need to have suitable tools, equipment, test instruments and vehicles. They need to be available and in use. None. Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 5 of 10 © NSI 2020 4 Insurances C riterion Guideline You need to hold employer ’ s liability insurance and public liability insurance. None. You need to hold products liability insurance extending to wrongful advice and failure to perform. Your insurance cover must be wide enough to cover all of your work and servi ces provided under your NSI EAS Gold approval . The limit of indemnity for any one event and also in total for any one twelve month period of insurance needs to be not less than one million pounds sterling. `Wrongful advice’ and `failure to perform’ are specialized forms of insurance cover not necessarily included in ordinary business policies. We advise you to check the scope and extent of you r cover before you apply for approval. Some of your commercial contracts are likely to require you to hold cover for more than one million pounds sterling. 5 Experience of management C riterion Guideline You need to have suitably experienced managers, known as “qualifying managers” . These are the people within your company who are responsible for the technical aspects of the business and /or for the overall business and financial management of the business. This includes being responsible for all the wor k and service provided by any sub – contractors. At least one of the “ qualifying managers ” needs to have relevant technical and engineering experience. At least one of the “ qualifying managers ” needs to be a director or senior manager who has relevant busi ness management and commercial experience. The number of qualifying managers you need will depend on the size of your company and on the nature and extent of your company ’ s security systems operations. For a small company, one qualifyin g manager is enoug h, if they have the appropriate technical and engineering experience and also the appropriate business management experience. A qualifying manager is normally expected to have at least three years’ relevant experience in a management or supervisory capacity in a relevant discipline (e.g. fire detection and fire alarm systems) if they do not have relevant experience in evacuation alert systems . The experience may have been gained within your company or during previous employment / trading. The experience needs to be of a standard acceptable to us. Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 6 of 10 © NSI 2020 6 Repute of management C riterion Guideline T he people who manage, control and have principal interests in the ownership of your company must be demonstrably reputable and of good standing. During the application process and at any time subsequent to approval being issued, we may ask specific individuals within your organisation to provide, through completion of NSI personal data forms and / or other methods, relevant personal information, evidence of character and repute, references, guarantors and so on, to our satisfaction. When we are assessing whether a company meets this criterion, we can take into account all the information we have about the people concerned. The mere a bsence of information against a person is not necessarily enough. We can refuse to approve a company if we are not satisfied that we have the necessary positive evidence of repute and good character. Similarly, if we are not satisfied, we can end approval or set a condition (for example a condition that your approval can only continue if you remove a named individual from office). 7 Finance C riterion Guideline We can withhold approval or end approval if we have reason to believe that: your company does not have sufficient financial stability to be able to trade; the financial affairs of your company are not being (or have not been) carried on in a responsible and prudent manner; or your company is not trading lawfully, meeting its just debts and other financial obligations. We usually get a report from a credit reference agency. We may view public records such as stat utory accounts and county court judgments. To help us form a clear picture, we may ask you to send us financial information such as annua l accoun ts, monthly management accounts and forward financial plans (projections). We do not usually grant Gold approval to companies that have been trading for less than two years. However, we can allow an exception if there is evidence of substantial fin ancial backing. 8 Twenty – four hour cover C riterion Guideline You must provide a maintenance service in accordance with the codes of practice and published documents in Criterion 20 . If you have joint – working arrangements and/or sub – contracting arrangements with another company, we can take these arrangements into account, if these arrangements are with an NSI EAS Gold approved company. The arrangements should be ones that are stated in a written agreement or ‘memorandum of understanding’ between Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 7 of 10 © NSI 2020 C riterion Guideline your company and the other company concerned. 9 Level of trading C riterion Guideline You must maintain a level of trading activity in the relevant discipline , enough for our representatives to assess and examine the standard of work carried – out and the m anagement system applicable. F or initial approval, you are expected to have installed a sufficient number (normally four) Evacuation Alert S ystems. W here a company does not have a sufficient number of systems installed then “ Qualified Certification” may be granted for a limited period to all ow the company time to provide completed projects for inspection by NSI. The decision to grant “Qualified Certification will be based on an assessment of the company’s documented processes / procedures and previous experie nce in a related discipline (e.g. fire detection and fire alarm systems). For EAS approva l to be maintained, you should normally issue at least four certificates each year. 10 Contracts (general) C riterion Guideline You must not try to get customers to accept contract conditions that are un reasonable. We draw your attention to consumer protection law and good practice. 11 Maintenance contracts C riterion Guideline You need to adopt a company policy that you always draw the customer ’ s attention to the ne ed for Evacuation Alert S ystems to be adequately maintained and that you encourage your customers to enter into a maintenance service a greement with you (or an other NSI EAS None. Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 8 of 10 © NSI 2020 C riterion Guideline approved company) and to continue in the maintenance service agreement. Evacuation Alert S ystems must be maintained in accordance with BS 8629 and manufacturer ’ s instructions. 12 Staff C riterion Guideline You need to have suitably trained and qualified people, sufficient to meet your obligati ons to your customers and to NSI . As a minimum, you need to have at least two suitably trained and qualified ‘ staff personnel’ available for maintenance call – out. ‘ Staff personnel ’ here means the managing partners of your company, the directors of your company, and employees who are on the payr oll of your company. Note: Where sub – contractors are used they must be used only as allowed in NSI Quality Schedule EAS QS 207 and BAFE Scheme document SP207 . See C riterion 15 . You should have at least one full – time member of your company’s own staff serving as a ‘qualifying manager’. You should have at least one full – time member of your company’s own staff trained, experienced and capable of, where applicable, designing, installing, commissioning and maintaining the types of system covered under your NSI EAS Gold approval. The same individual full – time member of staff can be both ‘qualifying manager’ and technician, if they have the appropriate and relevant training, qualifications, experience and capabilities. 13 Security screening of personnel C riteri on Guideline You must have a documented policy on security screening in accordance NSI quality schedule EAS QS 207 . None. 14 Customer communications C riterion Guideline You must ensure customer communications meet all the requirements of the applicable BAFE Scheme Document SP207 and the standards they refer to. None. Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 9 of 10 © NSI 2020 15 Management of sub – contracting (outsourcing) C riterion Guideline You must keep to the requirements for sub – contracting as stated in BAFE scheme document SP207 and NSI quality schedule EAS QS 207 f or the application of BS EN ISO 9001 to EAS Gold approval. None. 16 Management of complaints C riterion Guideline You must keep to the requirements for management of complaints in NSI quality schedule EAS QS 207 for the application of BS EN ISO 9001 to EAS Gold approval. None. 17 Compliance with standards, codes of practice and so on C riterion Guideline You must make sure the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of Evacuation Alert S ystems is done to the regulations and approval criteria. This includes any work or other functions or activities that you sub – contract. It also includes work or other functions or activities that you accept as a sub – contractor. In particular, every Evacuation Alert S ystem you install must be to relevant technical codes and published documents listed in these approval criteria. None. 18 Wiring rules C riterion Guide line You must make sure that all your electrical wiring and installations keep to good safety practice and they meet the applicable standards and regulations. We draw your attention to BS 7671: Requirements for Electrical Installations (also known as the “ IET Wiring Regulations ”). It is important you take particular care that wiring carrying mains voltage is electrically segregated from Evacuation Alert Systems Gold Approval Criteria Document no. EAS 001 Document issue no. 1 Document issue date August 2020 Document owner Head of Certification Services Last review date August 2020 Document classification PUBLIC (RESTRICTED) Page 10 of 10 © NSI 2020 C riterion Guide line wiring carrying extra – low voltages, and that electrical separation between circuits operating at these different voltag es is achieved and maintained. If you connect into an existing electrical circuit, you need to check the existing circuit is safe and is suitable for what you are going to use it for. You may need to make certain electrical safety tests on the existing e lectrical installation. For example, you may need to check the type of supply system, the protective electrical (equipotential) bonding, the means (fuses or circuit breakers) for automatic disconnection, and you may need to measure the earth fault loop imp edance and to verify whether the impedance is low enough to give an adequate automatic disconnection time. You need to be sure the appropriate test and inspection report(s) and certificate(s) are in place. For your own protection, you should keep a copy (or details) on your file. You need to keep to the relevant health and safety at work law. You need to keep to the relevant provisi ons of the Building Regulations. 19 Documented quality management system C riterion Guideline You must have a documented quality management system to BS EN ISO 9001 and NSI quality schedule EAS QS 207 . None. 20 Installation & Maintenance Standards C riterion Guideline You must design , install, commission and mai ntain Evacuation Alert S ystems in accordance with the requirements of manufacturers ’ instructions , , the recommendations of BS 8629 and any other relevant technical standards and Codes of Practice including the BAFE Scheme Document SP207 . None.