Best Practice

As an all-industry organisation, FCS believes the industry should get the maximum benefit from the investments it makes in common standards and intelligence gathering. So we work pro-actively with specialist industry organisations to avoid duplicated effort, re-invented wheels and wasted resource.

Best practice starts with each individual business. As a condition of membership, all FCS members are required to sign a code of ethics which includes treating customers fairly and training and developing employees.

Where a business’s trading patterns and customer profile fall within the scope of General Condition 14, FCS can provide an Ofcom-approved Consumer Code of Practice and Complaints Code wording, along with free access to the Ofcom-approved Communications Ombudsman alternative dispute resolution service.

In response to industry demand, FCS operates two specific best-practice schemes: FITAS for vehicle electricians, installing radio-frequency equipment to FCS1362, and SEAS for radio mast site engineers, installing and servicing equipment and antennas in accordance with FCS1331.

Telecoms best-practice documents

Industry common standard for Call Data Records

Recommendations for the secure deployment of VOIP

Best-practice number porting – creating of a bilateral agreement between range-holders.

Dial-through fraud – Code of Practice to reduce hacking risk over the copper network

A full list of the technical Network Interoperability Standards, developed by NICC

Business Radio best-practice documents

FCS 1331 – Code of Practice for Business Radio Site Engineering 2022.

FCS 1362 – Code of Practice for Installation in Motor Vehicles 2022.

FCS 1331 – Code of Practice for Radio Site Engineering 2013.

FCS 2020 – Resilience Levels in Business Radio Systems. The FCS 5-Level Resilience Assessment Scheme.

MPT 1306 – Continuous tone controlled signalling system (CTCSS) for use in the Land Mobile Services.
MPT 1315 – Requirements for duplex operation in the Land Mobile Services.
MPT 1316 – Code of Practice for Selective Signalling for use in the Private Mobile Radio Services.
MPT 1317 – Code of Practice for transmission of digital information over Land Mobile Radio Systems.
MPT 1318 (large) – Engineering Memorandum on trunked systems in the Land Mobile Radio Service.
MPT 1351 – Code of Practice for Repeater Operation at Communal sites.
FCS 1362 – Code of Practice for installation of mobile radio equipment in land based vehicles -previously known as MPT 1362 Updated 2010.
MPT 1381 – Digitally Coded Squelch Signalling (DCSS) system for use in the Land Mobile Services.

FCS Short Term Hire Code of Practice

NEW Light Licence Code of Practice – for suppliers and licensees with Ofcom light and simple business radio licences.

NEW Intrinsically Safe Radio Equipment – practical best practice guidance from the Australian Radio Communications Industry Association. Contains solid practical guidance and industry best practice principles. Please note this is not a definitive legal document for UK users.

Information sheets

FCS-BR53 – Remote control of base stations by landlines.

FCS-BR55 – Signalling systems.

FCS-BR56 – Telephone interconnect on PBR channels.

FCS-BR59 – Talkthrough facilities – use by wide-area and on-site PBR licensees.

FCS-BR70 – Reverse frequency working for PBR.

FCS-BR72 – Alarms on PBR.

FCS-BR73 – PBR wide-area distress alarm licence.

FCS-BR74 – Trunked systems for PBR.

FCS-BR75 – PBR licence requirements for Watchschemes (Shopwatch etc.)

FCS-BR76 – Local authority PBR – use by independent contractors.

FCS-BR77 – Business Radio communications for Tower Cranes.

FCS-BR116 – Short range business paging.

FCS-BR119 – Public access mobile radio (including TETRA).

FCS-BR130 – On-frequency repeater stations for use by PBR.

If you have any difficulty finding what you require please send an enquiry by email to fcs@fcs.org.uk

For a full list of MPT codes of practice please visit the Ofcom website

Technical standards are devloped and published by ETSI- for a list of technical standards relevant to business radio please click here

Installers best-practice documents

FCS1362:2022 (UK CODE OF PRACTICE for the installation of mobile radio and related ancillary equipment in land-based vehicles)

FCS1364:2019 UK CODE OF PRACTICE ADR ‘FL’ & ‘AT’ VEHICLE RADIO COMMUNICATION

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