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| A Specifiers Guide to Access Control Systems aims to create awareness for specifiers and potential purchasers |
The British Security Industry Association (BSIA) has recently updated one of its guides to access control systems.
The guide, ‘A Specifiers Guide to Access Control Systems’, aims to raise awareness to specifiers and potential purchasers about the contributions and benefits that access control systems can give to a premises. Properly designed and installed access control systems are known to be very effective forms of security, allowing for integration with other security systems to enhance the protection of employees, buildings and assets. The earlier versions of the guide had already been welcomed by a range of readers.
Secured by Design, the ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) initiative for ‘designing out crime’, has supported the principles in the guide that describe how to grade an access control system in line with other security applications and measures. The new updates provide readers with more in-depth details of this recommended grading system which has also been revised.
The new grading recommendations are now in line with the National Security Inspectorate’s (NSI) code of practice for access control ‘NCP 109’, published this year. The code of practice applies to NSI inspected installers and the BSIA was consulted regarding its revision. This consistency with both installer codes of practice and common requirements for physical security, such as doors, means that the guide can be used to specify an integrated system.
The BSIA guide includes a list of terms and definitions that has been enlarged, improved and updated and will prove useful for readers when applied to other documents containing security jargon, such as manufacturer’s brochures and supplier quotes.
Paul Phillips, Technical Officer at the BSIA, explained that in addition to other improvements the updated guide includes more details about tokens, “an improved overview of biometric reader technology” and “a useful summary of the recommended features for each grade” featured at the end of the document.
The BSIA guide is available for download free of charge from the BSIA’s website here.
