EN 54

EN 54-x
EN standard
ReferenceEN 54-x
StatusPublished
TitleFire detection and fire alarm systems
CommitteeCEN/TC 72
Work Itemvarious
Directives 305/2011, 89/106/EEC
Citation in OJEU305/2011 (C 226, 2015-07-10)
CE markingYes

The EN 54 Fire detection and fire alarm systems is a series of European standards that includes product standards and application guidelines for fire detection and fire alarm systems as well as voice alarm systems.

The product standards define product characteristics, test methods and performance criteria against which the effectiveness and reliability of every component of fire detection and fire alarm system can be assessed and declared.

Many of the product standards of the EN 54 series are harmonised standards under the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) EU 305/2011. Annex ZA of the harmonised standards specifies which sections of the standard apply for the purposes of the CPR. Annex ZA also describes the two-stage certification:

  • certification of constancy of performance for the product (product certification) and
  • certification of conformity of factory production control (FPC certification)

This standard series is partly used around the world in several countries outside of European Union, for example in Latin American countries, Brasil, African and Asian countries and several islands in the Pacific Ocean.

History

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How EN54 are made in the EU

The standardization topics relating to fire protection were among the first dealt with by CEN. This is obvious since CEN numbers the European standards in numerical ascending order according to the date of project registration. The standard on fire classes is numbered EN 2[1] and the series of standards on portable fire extinguishers is numbered EN 3.[2] The European standardization on fire detection and fire alarm systems started already in the 1970s. EN 54-1 and EN 54-5 were issued in 1976.[3][4]

Technical Committee CEN/TC72 Fire detection and fire alarm systems

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The EN 54 series has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC72 "Fire detection and fire alarm systems" of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN, French: Comité Européen de Normalisation). The figure shows some examples of national mirror technical committees.[5]

EN 54 Standard Series

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Current parts

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The EN 54 series of standards covers the following topics and product groups related to fire detection and fire alarm systems:[6][7]

  • Introduction: the introduction to the series of standards contains a diagram of a fire alarm system as well as numerous definitions of terms that are used in the other parts of the series of standards.
  • Product group control panels and power supply: These parts of EN 54 concern fire alarm control panels, voice alarm control panels and power supplies.
  • Product group alarm devices: These parts of EN 54 concern optical and acoustic alarm devices (flashing lights, sounders, loudspeakers).
  • Product group detectors: These parts of EN 54 concern manual call points and automatic fire detectors according to different measuring principles (smoke detectors, heat detectors, fire gas detectors ...).
  • Product group "other components": These parts of EN 54 concern other devices that can be connected in a fire detection system, either as a stand-alone device or integrated in another component.
  • System compatibility: This part of EN 54 deals with the compatibility of the system components of a fire detection and fire alarm system.
  • Application guidelines: These parts of EN 54 are guidelines for the application of fire alarm systems and voice alarm systems. They have the status of a technical specification (CEN/TS).

The following table lists all parts of the EN 54 series of standards:

Parts of the EN 54 series on fire detection and fire alarm systems
Topics, group of products Number of the standard Title of the standard Stand Harmonized
Introduction EN 54-01 Part 1: Introduction[8] 2021 No
Control panels and power supply EN 54-02 Part 2: Control and indicating equipment (Fire alarm control panel) 1997 + A1:2006 + AC:1999 Yes
Alarm devices EN 54-03 Part 3: Fire alarm devices - Sounders 2014 + A1:2019 Yes
Control panels and power supply EN 54-04 Part 4: Power supply equipment 1997 + A1:2002 + A2:2006 + AC:1999 Yes
Detectors EN 54-05 Part 5: Heat detectors - Point heat detectors 2017 + A1:2018 Yes
Detectors EN 54-07 Part 7: Smoke detectors - Point smoke detectors using scattered light, transmitted light or ionization 2018 Yes
Detectors EN 54-10 Part 10: Flame detectors - Point detectors 2002 + A1:2005 Yes
Detectors EN 54-11 Part 11: Manual call point 2001 + A1:2005 Yes
Detectors EN 54-12 Part 12: Smoke detectors - Line detectors using an optical light beam 2015 Yes
System compatibility EN 54-13 Part 13: Compatibility and connectability assessment of system components 2017 + A1:2019 No
Application guidelines CEN/TS 54-14 Part 14: Guidelines for planning, design, installation, commissioning, use and maintenance (of fire detection and fire alarm systems) 2018-10 No
Control panels and power supply EN 54-16 Part 16: Voice alarm control and indicating equipment 2008 Yes
Other devices EN 54-17 Part 17: Short circuit isolators 2005 + AC:2007 Yes
Other devices EN 54-18 Part 18: Input/output devices 2005 + AC:2007 Yes
Detectors EN 54-20 Part 20: Aspirating smoke detectors 2006 + AC:2008 Yes
Other devices EN 54-21 Part 21: Alarm transmission and fault warning routing equipment 2006 Yes
Detectors EN 54-22 Part 22: Resettable line type heat detectors 2015 + A1:2020 No
Alarm devices EN 54-23 Part 23: Fire alarm devices - Visual alarm devices 2010 Yes
Alarm devices EN 54-24 Part 24: Component of voice alarm systems - Loudspeakers 2008 Yes
Other devices EN 54-25 Part 25: Components using radio links 2008 + AC:2012 Yes
Detectors EN 54-26 Part 26: Point fire detectors using carbon monoxide sensors 2015 No
Detectors EN 54-27 Part 27: Duct smoke detectors 2015 No
Detectors EN 54-28 Part 28: Non-resettable line-type heat detectors 2016 No
Detectors EN 54-29 Part 29: Multi-sensor fire detectors - Point detectors using a combination of smoke and heat sensors 2015 No
Detectors EN 54-30 Part 30: Multi-sensor fire detectors - Point detectors using a combination of carbon monoxide and heat sensors 2015 No
Detectors EN 54-31 Part 31: Multi-sensor fire detectors - Point detectors using a combination of smoke, carbon monoxide and optionally heat sensors 2014 + A1:2016 No
Application guidelines CEN/TS 54-32 Part 32: Guidelines for the planning, design, installation, commissioning, use and maintenance of voice alarm systems 2015-07 No

Withdrawn parts

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  • EN 54 part 6 Heat detectors; Rate-of-Rise point detectors without a static element
  • EN 54 part 8 Components of automatic fire detection systems. Specification for high temperature heat detectors
  • EN 54 part 9 Components of automatic fire detection systems. Methods of test of sensitivity to fire

Test fires of EN 54

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The test fires TF1 to TF8 are used to test the fire sensitivity of the fire detectors according to the standard series EN 54.

The combustibles selected represent a spectrum of large and small combustion particles for both grey and black smoke. These include burning liquids, plastics and cellulosic (wood) materials, and glowing and smouldering fabrics.[9]

Test fires TF1 to TF8 according to EN 54[10]
Fire type Combustible Heat

development

Upward

flow

Smoke

development

Aerosol

spectrum

Visible

part

TF1 open cellulosic fire wood strong strong yes mainly invisible dark
TF2 Smoldering pyrolysis fire wood negligible weak yes visible bright
TF3 glowing (smoldering) fire cotton negligible very weak yes mainly invisible bright
TF4 open plastics fire polyurethane strong strong yes mainly invisible very dark
TF5 liquid fire n-heptane strong strong yes mainly invisible very dark
TF6 liquid fire methylated spirit strong strong no none none
TF8 liquid fire decalene negligible weak yes mainly invisible very dark

For smoke detectors according to EN 54-7 and fire detectors with smoke sensor (parts 12, 20 and 30 of EN 54) the test fires TF2, TF3, TF4 and TF5 are used. The EN 54-20 defines the following test fires with reduced fuel quantity for aspirating smoke detectors with enhanced or very high sensitivity (class A or B):

  • TF2A and TF2B
  • TF3A and TF3B
  • TF5A and TF5B

For flame detectors according to EN 54-10, the liquid fires TF5 and TF6 are used. TF5 (n-heptane) produces a yellow sooty flame and TF6 (methylated spirits) produces a clear invisible flame.

For CO fire detectors according to EN 54-26, the smoldering fires TF2 and TF3 are used.

For duct smoke detectors according to EN 54-27 the test fires TF2, TF4 and TF8 are used.

For multi-sensor fire detectors according to EN 54-29 and EN 54-31, the test fires TF1, TF2, TF3, TF4, TF5 and TF8 are used.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "BS EN 2:1992, Classification of fires".
  2. ^ "BS EN 3 - Portable fire extinguishers".
  3. ^ "BS 5445-1:1977, EN 54-1:1976".
  4. ^ "BS 5445-5:1977, EN 54-5:1976".
  5. ^ "CEN". cen.eu.
  6. ^ "EUROPA - European Commission - Enterprise - Regulatory policy - NANDO". Archived from the original on 9 July 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2011.
  7. ^ Becky Reid. "BS EN 54 Standards". the Fire Industry Association ("FIA").
  8. ^ "BSI Shop - Buy British Standards".
  9. ^ "ISO/TS 7240-9:2012, Fire detection and alarm systems — Part 9: Test fires for fire detectors". ISO.
  10. ^ "EN 54 Test fires (in German)" (PDF). BHE.