DIN EN 54-3:2014-09

The purpose of a fire alarm sounder is to warn person(s) within, or in the vicinity of, a building of the occurrence of a fire emergency situation in order to enable such (a) person(s) to take appropriate measures. This European Standard recognizes that the exact nature of the sound requirements, that is its frequency range, temporal pattern and output level will vary according to the nature of the installation, the type of risk present and appropriate measures to be taken, the type of signals used by other non-emergency alarms (see, for example, EN ISO 7731) and national differences in custom and practice. The resulting standard specifies therefore a common method for the testing of the operational performance of sounders against the manufacturer's specifications rather than imposing common requirements. In some European countries, specific frequencies of sound and sound patterns are used. These may be given in national codes or standards (see Annex D). Attention is drawn to national safety regulations which may specify maximum safe sound pressure levels received by occupants of a building. Attention is also drawn to International Standard ISO 8201:1987 "Acoustics - Audible emergency evacuation signal" which specifies the temporal patterns and the required sound pressure levels of audible emergency evacuation signals. This European Standard gives common requirements for sounders as well as for their performance under climatic, mechanical and electrical interference conditions which are likely to occur in the service environment. This European Standard covers sounders for either an indoor or an outdoor application environment category. In fire detection and fire alarm systems, voice sounders are used as alarm devices for warning the occupants of a building of the occurrence of a fire risk, using a combination of an attention-drawing signal and dedicated voice message(s). The requirements, test methods and performance criteria specified in this standard for sounders are also applicable to voice sounders. Additional requirements, test methods and performance criteria specific to voice sounders are also incorporated. The European Standard has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 72 "Fire detection and fire alarm systems" (secretariat: BSI, United Kingdom) and the committee responsible on the national level is Working Committee NA 031-02-01 AA "Brandmelde- und Feueralarmanlagen" ("Fire detection and fire alarm systems") of the Standards Committee Firefighting and Fire Protection (FNFW).