FCS has issued a significant revision of its FCS1362 code of practice for the installation of mobile radio and ancillary equipment into land-based vehicles.
Today’s newly manufactured vehicles are fitted with a wide array of devices covering information needs and communications as standard, but there is almost always something that a vehicle in its factory specification does not support that the end-customer requires. Both individuals and companies including operational groups or teams, emergency service personnel and the general public, require certain facilities to be available to them in their vehicles, the complete range of which can only be obtained through after-market providers. The after-market installation of a wide variety of equipment into vehicles is therefore a matter of prime importance and this importance will remain into the future.
This demand for facilities is accompanied by an associated demand for the installation to be implemented to a reliably high standard, firstly to ensure the robustness and resilience of the service provided and secondly, to ensure that no hidden safety implications arise at a time when safety has become a critical consideration.
The market is rapidly changing and the additional facilities required change even more quickly. Installation best practice today is not the same as it was five years ago, for example. To this end, FCS believe it is essential that the FCS1362 Code of Practice reflects current best practice of installation of after-market equipment into vehicles and have therefore updated its guidance with all the latest information including the contributions from many installation industry representatives under the guidance of the FCS Installer Committee.
Accordingly, FCS is pleased to announce that FCS1362:2022 (the 2022 Revision of the Code of Practice) is now available and may be downloaded from the FCS website HERE with the full impact of the changes and how to implement them and an update to the training manual available to FCS members.
This latest revision reflects:
- Current safety legislation and practice,
- The regulatory and legal environment developments including those arising from the UK leaving the European Union,
- The increasing complexity of vehicle electrical / electronic systems,
and
- The wider range of aftermarket vehicle drive technologies to be installed.
Tim Cull, FCS Head of Regulatory Affairs and Business Radio, highlighted the importance of end-users’ confidence in installation services adding,
“Those responsible for the procurement of installation services need a high degree of confidence that the work they are commissioning will be done to the required level of excellence in advance of the work commencing.
The due diligence processes undertaken by procurement professionals when purchasing installation services will naturally look to how they will establish the necessary confidence. Without some sort of accreditation process, this is almost impossible to do.
This requirement to have some guarantee of the quality of the work has been understood for many years and has been supported by the widely recognised Federation of Communication Services document, FCS1362 – UK Code of Practice for the installation of mobile radio and ancillary equipment in land-based vehicles. If the installer follows the FCS1362 Code of Practice the chances are that a good, quality job will be done and everything will run smoothly, providing years of use.”
He went on to emphasize that assurance that the Code of Practice is being followed can be addressed through FCS’ FITAS Accreditation Scheme.
“Our FITAS accreditation scheme provides theory and practical assessments that together, assure that the individual installer has the competency to perform the work and provides certification to confirm that. The Scheme lists all accredited installers on a website page which allows the customer to easily check that the installer doing the work has the necessary certification.”
Itret Latif, FCS CEO, highlighted the contribution to this update from many installation industry representatives in collaboration with the FCS Installer Committee saying,
“The involvement of so many parties from the installation industry is not only crucial to the relevance of this update, but also ensures its usefulness and accuracy for its use going forward.
This is a clear example of the FCS Installer Committee leading and coordinating installer industry best practice development. FCS provides the credibility and gravitas thanks to your efforts and is the natural place for industry stakeholders to coalesce for the development of industry standards. Also, importantly it provides a recognised industry governance platform to agree the future for the installer community as a whole.
FCS is very grateful for the input and hard work from all contributors.”