S3 Ingeniería
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Intrusion · Alarm systems · EN 50131

Grade 3 and 4 intrusion. Designed from the risk, not from the catalogue.

An alarm system's grade is the grade of its weakest component. S3 designs detection, control panel, power supply and transmission to the EN 50131 series and Order INT/316/2011. The licensed security company you choose can adopt that design as the basis for its own, then installs, connects to the alarm receiving centre and certifies.

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What we decide in the design

The design follows CLC/TS 50131-7, the application guidelines that Order INT/316/2011 requires the installation design to follow. It is the technical basis the licensed company can adopt to draft its own.

  1. Zones laid out from the risk analysis

    We start from what needs protecting, against whom, and how it can be reached. That gives the layers: site perimeter, building shell (doors, windows, rooflights, roofs and party walls), volumetric protection of internal routes, and point protection of strongrooms, safes or high-value cabinets. Each zone goes on the drawings with the risk it covers and the detector assigned to it.

  2. Grade, component by component

    The system's grade is the lowest of its subsystems, and each subsystem's grade is that of its lowest-graded component. Order INT/316/2011 allows subsystems of different grades, but shared components such as the control panel, power supply or transmission equipment must match the highest-graded subsystem. The design sets the grade required of every device.

  3. Each detector chosen for its environment

    Technology follows from risk and environment: passive infrared, dual technology, magnetic contacts, glass-break or shock detectors. Each detector carries the environmental class of its location, from Class I (conditioned indoor space) to Class IV (outdoors, fully exposed to the weather). An indoor detector on an open loading bay is prone to false alarms.

  4. Anti-masking and supervision at Grades 3 and 4

    At Grades 3 and 4, movement detectors must signal masking, and at Grade 4 also a significant reduction in range. We specify supervision of every interconnection, wired or wire-free, and the tamper detection the standard requires of each device, from the control panel to the last detector.

  5. Control panel, warning devices and power

    The design places the control and indicating equipment inside the protected area, out of sight from outside. Audible and visual warning devices are chosen and positioned to be heard and seen where it matters, with their own tamper protection. Power supply standby time is calculated from actual consumption in quiescent and alarm states, against the standby time the EN 50131 series requires for the grade.

  6. Transmission to the alarm receiving centre

    When the system connects to the alarm receiving centre (ARC) of a licensed security company, we design the alarm transmission system to EN 50136: single or dual path, category, transmission times and supervision of each path. Order INT/316/2011 (art. 12.3) provides for two separate paths, or a single digital path with permanent supervision and a back-up. If one path is lost and a detector then activates and reports over the other, the alarm counts as confirmed.

  7. Verification, planned from the drawings

    The ARC verifies alarms using the technical or human procedures set out in the Order: sequential, video, audio or personal. At Grades 3 and 4, an alarm counts as confirmed with three or more successive signals from at least two different detectors within no more than thirty minutes (art. 12.2). For sequential verification, the Order requires that time to be taken into account when positioning detectors in the installation design (art. 7). Where video verification is planned, the associated camera's coverage equals or exceeds that of its detector (art. 8).

Typical failures we design out

Typical failure
A Grade 3 control panel with Grade 2 detectors. The system is Grade 2, whatever the technical report says.
In the design
The specification sets the grade required of each component and the conformity assessment it must provide. It is checked during supervision of the works.
Typical failure
Volumetric detectors in a warehouse with racking: stock blocks the detection field and nobody notices until it matters.
In the design
Each detector is positioned against the real layout and its foreseeable changes, and its coverage is checked with a walk test at commissioning.
Typical failure
A single, unsupervised line to the ARC: if someone cuts it, nobody knows until the next service visit.
In the design
An EN 50136 alarm transmission system of the category the risk calls for, with every path supervised and path-failure reporting set out in writing.
Typical failure
Verification cameras that do not cover the area of the detector that triggers them: the image reaches the ARC but does not show what caused the alarm.
In the design
A matrix pairs each detector with its camera, and we check that video coverage equals or exceeds the detector's, as Order INT/316/2011 requires.

What you receive

  • Risk analysis and justified grade by zone and by subsystem
  • Zoning drawings with the location, technology and grade of every detector
  • Specification of the control panel, warning devices and power supplies, with standby calculation
  • Transmission specification: paths, EN 50136 category and supervision
  • Verification matrix: which detector triggers which camera or audio channel
  • Bill of quantities and specification written by performance, not by brand
  • Commissioning test protocol
  • Designs S3
  • Installs, connects and certifies the licensed security company you choose
  • Operates your team

Reference standards

Questions

Who drafts the installation design and issues the certificate?

The licensed security company that installs the system. When the system connects to an ARC, the Spanish Private Security Regulation requires that company to deliver an installation design before the works and a certificate once they are complete, and Order INT/316/2011 requires that design to follow CLC/TS 50131-7. The S3 design is the technical basis the licensed company can adopt; it does not replace its own.

Does my system have to be connected to an ARC?

It depends on the activity. The Private Security Regulation requires certain establishments to have an intrusion system connected to an ARC, and Order INT/316/2011 requires Grade 3 for them. Grade 4 is reserved for critical infrastructure and other high-risk installations. Your insurer may also require connection. We review this when defining the scope.

Does S3 receive or verify alarms?

No. Receiving and verifying alarms for third parties, and reporting them to the police, is the role of the ARC of a licensed security company. S3 designs the system so that verification can be carried out with the procedures in Order INT/316/2011. Planning, consultancy and advice fall outside that reservation (Law 5/2014, art. 6.1.d): that is S3's work.

Can you review an intrusion system that is already installed?

Yes. We review the actual grade of each component, the zoning against the risk, the power supply and the transmission, and deliver a prioritised remediation plan. Corrections are carried out and certified by the licensed company.

Define the intrusion system before you request bids.

Tell us what needs protecting and which grade you are asked for. The first conversation takes 30 minutes, is with an engineer and is free of charge.

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