Why service your Burglar Alarm? | Common Faults & Prevention

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The benefits of regular servicing and upkeep are unparalleled and there is absolutely nothing in the world that can work efficiently without some time and love from your part.

You wouldn’t buy a brand-new car and not have it serviced, would you? If you wish to prolong its life and performance, you’ll keep a check on its health and have it washed, cleaned, and regularly inspected.

Similar is the case with burglar alarms. They are an integral part of security and having them installed on your property can significantly reduce unauthorised access.

However, just installing them is not the end of the story. To ensure they keep working as they should in providing you with the maximum level of protection, it is necessary to have them serviced and maintained.

According to statistics, the most common security measures taken by homeowners in the UK include locks, light sensors, and burglar alarms.

What comes as a shock is that most of the people investing in burglar alarms rarely set them and an even greater number don’t even check for faults.

Why is that so? It’s clearly due to being uninformed and not realising the danger they’re putting themselves and their loved ones into.

Regardless of the type of property you own, domestic or commercial, a burglar alarm is an effective deterrent against intrusions and burglaries, and here’s why regularly servicing them is so important:

HOW DOES A BURGLAR ALARM WORK?

Before we discuss how regular servicing is important for burglar alarms, we need to first understand how they work and the most common faults that they can develop.

Burglar alarms work using sensors through which they pick up on intrusions and by alerting the people nearby by sounding an alarm.

The main components of the system include the control panel, sensors, keypad, sounder, and batteries. Each one plays an important part in its overall functioning, and faults in any of them may cause the system to malfunction or stop working completely.

There are different types of sensors attached to the system that pick up on various types and levels of intrusions. They are:

Door and window sensors – to detect when someone tries to gain unauthorised access through them,
Motion sensors – to detect any movement or kinetic activity,
Glass break detectors – to detect the sound of breaking glass, and
Shock sensors – to detect vibrations in the area being broken into.

The keypad is the main interface through which a PIN is entered to arm or disarm the alarm. The sounders are the alarms that go off when the sensors pick up any unusual activity and are in the form of a loud bell-type noise or siren, sometimes even accompanied by flashing lights.

As far as power is concerned, burglar alarms come in two variants – wired and wireless – and are either hardwired into a property’s main electrics or are dependent on batteries.

Most modern alarms run on a combination of both and, regardless of the primary power source, the systems must always have back-up batteries to ensure absolutely no downtime due to power outages or battery issues.

Burglar alarms come in different types and offer varying levels of protection. They are: bells-only, dialler, smart, and monitored burglar alarms.

Bells-only burglar alarms offer the most basic level of protection and alertness and sound an alarm when triggered. Dialler alarms do the same with the addition of contacting relevant people in the event of an alarm trigger.

With smart burglar alarms, the systems are connected to your smart devices allowing you to control them remotely and through a single tap on the screen, along with receiving push notifications whenever the alarm picks up something out of the ordinary.

Monitored burglar alarms work by sending signals to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) via telephone lines or the internet, where experts monitoring the system check and verify every alarm ensuring that no alarm goes unnoticed.

COMMON FAULTS IN BURGLAR ALARMS

Burglar alarms can develop all kinds of faults due to various reasons. They might be due to low-quality hardware, faulty installation, misuse, and most importantly, lack of maintenance.

Here are the most common burglar alarm faults that may not just become a nuisance but also put your and your property’s safety in jeopardy:

Low battery

Batteries have a limited lifespan, with a maximum of 6 to 7 years, after which they start to deteriorate and cause the device to either malfunction or shut down completely.

For burglar alarms, this could be a serious issue causing downtime and a golden opportunity for intruders to strike without getting noticed by the alarm.

A few of the indicators of a battery issue might be a beeping keypad or a warning code on the monitor. Insufficient charges during power outages may also cause the low battery indicator to show.

Faulty sensors

Sensors are an integral part of a burglar alarm designed to pick up vibrations caused by an intruder trying to break into your property.

They may become faulty for several reasons such as dust and dirt or the pins inside them jamming in an open or closed position, making it impossible to arm or disarm them.

Faulty sensors may be the reason for false alarms – the sensors detecting intrusions when there aren’t any – or not detecting anything at all.

Loose cables and connections

Several cables are used to connect the components within the burglar alarm and also the entire system to the main power supply.

Over time, these cables and connections may become loose due to general wear and tear and harsh weather conditions, resulting in the system not working properly, not charging completely, or the alarm not triggering.

Unresponsive keypad

Arming and disarming a burglar alarm is done through the keypad and, as is obvious, faults arising with the keypad interface will make it impossible to do so.

Over repeated use, some keys might become unresponsive and not register at all. This can be the case if the same keys are used over a long period, such as using the same PIN throughout, which is a huge security issue in itself.

Simple features such as setting and resetting the alarm may become an issue if faced with an unresponsive keypad causing annoyance and frustration with the users and those affected by the system such as the neighbours.

No sounder

The sound that a burglar alarm makes plays an important part in alerting people nearby of an intrusion along with possibly scaring away the intruders.

Faults with the sounder may result in the alarm going silent even when it is triggered or producing a very muffled sound.

This might be due to a battery issue or rust depositing on the bell and, in case of a bells-only burglar alarm where the users rely solely on the sounders to alert them, the system can be rendered utterly useless.

WHY BURGLAR ALARM SERVICING IS SO IMPORTANT

Why would you install a burglar alarm on your property? To ensure that you and your property remains safe from unauthorised access and intrusions.

Therefore, after taking the necessary steps for your and your loved ones’ safety, you need to ensure that the security alarms can be relied upon 24/7, 365 days a year to work effectively and without fail.

One way to make sure that happens is to have them regularly serviced and maintained by a professional. Here are all the reasons why burglar alarm servicing is so important:

Potential fault fixes and longer life

Faults are inevitable and, with prolonged use, some ups and downs with the burglar alarm system are expected. It may develop faults that might cause it to not work as effectively as it should, consequently and adversely affecting the safety and security of your property.

The good news is that servicing the system and keeping all the components in check can prevent the faults from manifesting at all and, with regular inspections, the issues can be fixed before they even start to affect the system.

Since servicing includes cleaning the system of dust, dirt, pollution, and rust, it doesn’t just fix potential faults and issues but also increases its lifespan.

Priority response to callouts

Having your burglar alarm regularly serviced by a professional security company or being covered under a maintenance contract (more on that in a bit) guarantees priority response to emergency callouts.

Regardless of when the emergency arises, even if it’s the middle of the night, a good track record will get you favourable treatment and guaranteed quick service.

Reduced insurance premiums

In addition to providing security and safety benefits, well-maintained burglar alarms can affect the cost of home insurance in the form of reduced premiums.

Insurance companies just want to be sure that you have done all that you are required to do to make your home secure and deter such criminal activities, which is why they encourage the idea by offering deductions on home insurance premiums for people having such systems in place.

HOW OFTEN SHOULD BURGLAR ALARMS BE SERVICED?

As a general rule of thumb, it is best to test the burglar alarm every six months and get professional maintenance services set up annually.

This duration, however, is not set in stone and if you feel like your system is acting up and needs a check-up before it is due, do not hesitate to contact your security company and have someone inspect the burglar alarm ASAP.

During a maintenance check, a professional from a reputable security company will inspect all the components of the system and make sure they meet the SSAIB and the British Standards of safety.

Here’s what will be checked and tested:

Previous logs since the last service,
All major components of the system including the cables and connections for visual signs of damage or deterioration,
The mains power supply for interruptions and surges,
The battery, including its charging rates,
All the sensors,
The sounders for audible warnings,
Manually operated buttons such as the panic buttons,
Remote signalling equipment (where applicable).

After all of this is done, the burglar alarm is adjusted and repaired for minor faults if there are any. Suggestions are given on how to use the system better and ways to prolong its life. If it is required, user training is also provided to help them walk through the basic features and components of the system, along with troubleshooting minor issues.

At the end of the maintenance check, all the test results are logged in and the alarm system is returned to operational status.

HOW MUCH DOES BURGLAR ALARM SERVICING COST?

Professional burglar alarm repairing and maintenance services are vital in keeping your burglar alarm healthy and in top-notch condition. A faulty burglar alarm is not only a nuisance but also a huge risk since it leaves your property and its security in a vulnerable state.

Domestic burglar alarm maintenance and repair services cost around £86.40 including VAT. This includes full testing of the entire alarm system including the control panel, sounders, sensors, as well as the engineer’s time on site.

Similar commercial burglar alarm maintenance and repair services cost around £92 including VAT. Remember, these are average costs and they may vary depending on the nature of the fault.

BURGLAR ALARM MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS

Along with providing regular maintenance and service checks, a lot of security companies offer maintenance contracts to their customers.

What are maintenance contracts? They are contracts between the security company and the burglar alarm owner that ensure the system will be looked after and all its servicing needs will be taken care of, leaving you, the owner and user, carefree and at ease.

A maintenance contract will put you and your system on top priority in case of an unexpected fault and also during emergency callouts.

The duration of the contract, the price, and other details may vary between contracts and companies and you may set up a custom maintenance contract as per your requirements and budget.

Some maintenance contracts also include professional burglar alarm monitoring services for added security and protection.

The benefits of a maintenance contract include:

A regularly maintained system by professionals,
24-hour coverage,
Reduced call-out and labour charges,
Reduction on insurance premiums.

CONTACT CALDER SECURITY

A good burglar alarm servicing company will provide you with 24/7 customer support along with customised maintenance packages suited to your needs.

At Calder Security, we offer a comprehensive security solution that includes not just burglar alarm maintenance but also professional installation, repair, and monitoring services.

We are professionals working in the security industry for over 40 years and have extensive knowledge about all kinds of burglar alarm systems. Our experts can also recommend the best system suited for your domestic and commercial security needs.

Here’s why you should choose us:

We are SSAIB approved installers and all of our burglar alarm installations are carried out by qualified, experienced engineers that comply with standards: PD6662: 2010, DD243 and BS8243, required to qualify for police assistance.
Our systems meet the stringent requirements of BS4737 and European Standard EN50131 (Intruder Alarm Systems in Buildings).
We have both wired and wireless systems and can also advise you on the best option for your property.
We only install high quality systems including Hikvision, Texecom, Visonic, Scantronic, Risco, and Pyronix that we know and trust.
Our expert installers guide and train users before leaving the site, making sure they are comfortable with the system and understand how it works.
We offer a 24-hour emergency call-out and can help you when your alarm goes off at 3 am if needed.
We can also talk you through fault fixes over the phone.
We have extensive knowledge of all the types of burglar alarms and can also repair systems that we haven’t installed.
We offer maintenance contracts for both residential and commercial properties.
We give out timed appointments so that you know when we’re coming.
We also send out reminders for you to know when servicing is due.

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