Post by BRAC ONLINE on Jan 6, 2006 6:47:32 GMT -5
“SECURITY NOTICE - IS YOUR ALARM SYSTEM SAIDSA APPROVED?
Source: Lonehill Residents Association - LRA
The security industry in South Africa is governed by SAIDSA (South African Intruder Detection Services Association). SAIDSA has set standards with regards to the installation of alarm systems in homes and contractors for this service should be registered with the Association and be able to show you their registration certificates.
There are, however, those contractors who do not comply with the standards set and we would encourage all residents to ensure that their installers are SAIDSA registered. (It is a standard clause in most insurance policies that the installers are SAIDSA registered).
One specific short cut that the unethical installers take is with regards to end-of-line resistance and here are the details:
What this means in layman terms is that in a working alarm, the alarm panel measures the resistance of the wires running to each detection device (eye, passive, glass breaker or door contact). Should this resistance change by the wire being cut or tampered with then an alarm or trouble situation is activated thereby bringing the attempt to someone's attention. To be able to do this each detection device requires a resistor of a specific quantity to be installed inside each detection device.
What happens is that the resistors are installed inside the alarm panel and not the detectors.
This would allow a potential perpetrator to bypass the detector and return to gain access into the house without being detected even while the alarm system is active.
The alarm system, to all intents and purposes, seems to operate perfectly and only if the clients happen to notice that the detector is not registering on the keypad will the tampering be detected.
To easiest way to check your alarm system is to take the cover off a door magnet reader (this is the section attached to the frame of the door) and check for a resistor. Should there not be one, then the system has been installed incorrectly.
We strongly urge all residents to check their systems and immediately take it up with the supplier of the system should they find fault. Should the supplier not be able to attend to this, then, to fix the problem, a technician would need to take all the resistors out the panel of the system and put them into the individual detection devices.”
Source: Lonehill Residents Association - LRA
The security industry in South Africa is governed by SAIDSA (South African Intruder Detection Services Association). SAIDSA has set standards with regards to the installation of alarm systems in homes and contractors for this service should be registered with the Association and be able to show you their registration certificates.
There are, however, those contractors who do not comply with the standards set and we would encourage all residents to ensure that their installers are SAIDSA registered. (It is a standard clause in most insurance policies that the installers are SAIDSA registered).
One specific short cut that the unethical installers take is with regards to end-of-line resistance and here are the details:
What this means in layman terms is that in a working alarm, the alarm panel measures the resistance of the wires running to each detection device (eye, passive, glass breaker or door contact). Should this resistance change by the wire being cut or tampered with then an alarm or trouble situation is activated thereby bringing the attempt to someone's attention. To be able to do this each detection device requires a resistor of a specific quantity to be installed inside each detection device.
What happens is that the resistors are installed inside the alarm panel and not the detectors.
This would allow a potential perpetrator to bypass the detector and return to gain access into the house without being detected even while the alarm system is active.
The alarm system, to all intents and purposes, seems to operate perfectly and only if the clients happen to notice that the detector is not registering on the keypad will the tampering be detected.
To easiest way to check your alarm system is to take the cover off a door magnet reader (this is the section attached to the frame of the door) and check for a resistor. Should there not be one, then the system has been installed incorrectly.
We strongly urge all residents to check their systems and immediately take it up with the supplier of the system should they find fault. Should the supplier not be able to attend to this, then, to fix the problem, a technician would need to take all the resistors out the panel of the system and put them into the individual detection devices.”
