Kiwa first associate member Euralarm

The associate membership is a result of Kiwa's  Fire Lab, located in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands that opened up less than a year ago. Here, the company certifies fire products on average three times faster than its competitors. As Sabyne van Mourik, business unit manager at Kiwa, explains:"Kiwa enables easy market access for everyone who wants to introduce electrical or electronic equipment - related to fire safety, security or EMC - to the European market or even the world. We test products for example against the EN 54 or EN 14604 standard."

Associate membership

Kiwa is the first organization that became associate member of Euralarm. Only recently Euralarm opened the doors for associate members to work together with other members to keep Europe a safe place to live, work and relax. The associate membership allows companies to make personal connections with technical and political experts, share expertise on standardisation and be heard and influence standardisation and legislative processes. Associate members like Kiwa will stay in touch with the latest trends in regulation and technology and have direct access to a repository of Euralarm documentation produced by Euralarm members and its professional team. Associate members are also welcome to network with industry experts during the annual Euralarm Symposium and other expert events.

Grow and intensify network

Sabyne van Mourik on the associate membership: "We build long-lasting relationships by offering customized testing services tailored specifically to the needs of our customers, and we will offer guidance and support every step along the way. We aim to be both flexible and market oriented by allowing customers to closely participate in planning the testing process. With our associate membership we plan to grow and intensify our network in the fire safety and security industry. And I think we have a lot to offer as well. Our expertise is not only limited to the traditional fire safety and security topics but also covers data security management, cyber security, social security, alarm and emergency management systems and procedures, alarm transmission chain, vehicle security, domotic components, connections and electrical and explosion safety. And with Kiwa NCP and Kiwa R2B we offer companies one-stop-shops for every part of the testing, inspection and certification chain. That ranges from one stop shops for product certification and process certification via personal certification to inspection certificates. For every service a specialized team guides customers through the process, from to first contact to the final certification and after sales."

Technical Assessment Body

Next to being a Notified Body Kiwa is also a Technical Assessment Body (TAB) under the Construction Products Regulation. This enables customers to have their European Technical Assessments (ETAs) done by Kiwa so as to ensure that products that are not falling under a harmonized standard will have a European Assessment Document for. "Although this service was originally intended to serve innovative companies bringing the latest technology on the market, we now also see that other companies of e.g. building products use this service as a solution for products that don't fall under a standard and/or scheme or for which the standard or scheme is temporarily not valid", according to Sabyne van Mourik who refers to the current problems with harmonized standards like the CPR.

Kiwa Fire Lab

The Kiwa Fire Lab has a wide variety of testing and certification facilities. For example, the Fire Lab has a smoke tunnel and a fire room. Both installations form the basis for testing detectors according to EN 54 series standards. In combination with the existing facilities, this gives Kiwa the opportunity to broaden the scope of services. When asked what trends or developments are currently important for the market, Sabyne van Mourik answers: "Digitalisation and integration are determining factors for the markets that we serve. It causes more complexity and therefore more uncertainty at companies. What are the main risks? What is an acceptable level of risks? These and other questions can be answered by frequent assessments. It enables companies to keep their role in the supply chain as clear as possible, to avoid liability and reputational damage. We aim to make the testing and certification process as easy as possible and will tailor the process to the needs and requirements of our customers."