- sales@ar-systems.uk
- 24/7 Emergency Callout
- Bothwell, South Lanarkshire G71 8LN
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions we’re asked most about fire and security systems, our process and pricing.
Working with AR Systems
Yes. AR Systems Ltd is an SSAIB registered installer and all our security systems are installed in accordance with the applicable British and European Standards. Our registration details are available on request and are shown on every installation certificate.
Yes. All installations are fully insured and we carry £5M public liability insurance. Insurance certificates can be supplied for contractor and local authority pre-qualification.
Yes. Much of our work is delivered as a specialist subcontractor to main contractors on commercial, housing and multi-tenant projects, from first-fix cabling through to commissioning and O&M documentation.
Yes. We carry out a takeover inspection and health check first, then bring the system onto one of our maintenance plans with a full record of its condition.
We’re based in Bothwell and cover Glasgow, Lanarkshire and the whole Central Belt as standard. Larger commercial fire and security projects and maintenance contracts are covered Scotland-wide.
Yes. Alongside our commercial work we install CCTV, intruder alarms and interlinked fire alarms for homeowners and landlords across Lanarkshire and Glasgow, including systems that meet the Scottish Tolerable Standard.
CCTV
No. The system records locally to the recorder. Remote viewing on your phone needs an upload speed of roughly 2 Mbps or more.
Typically 14 to 30 days for a residential system. Larger storage is specified for commercial and regulated premises that need longer retention.
Yes. Every system we install comes with a free iOS and Android app for live viewing and playback.
We recommend an annual service: lens cleaning, hard drive health check, time synchronisation and a check of every camera’s field of view.
Yes, especially with IP systems, which we install with spare recorder channels for future expansion.
The system stops recording unless a UPS battery backup is installed. We can include one in the specification for sites where continuous recording matters.
Not usually. Most CCTV installations on a private home or business don’t need planning permission. The main exceptions are listed buildings and properties in conservation areas, where we’ll check the requirements with you before the survey.
Most domestic installations are completed within a single day. Larger commercial systems with more cameras, longer cable runs or additional networking take longer, we’ll give you a specific timescale as part of your written quotation.
Intruder alarms
Grade 2 is designed for most homes and lower-risk businesses. Grade 3 is for higher-risk commercial premises where an intruder may know how alarms work. Your insurer will often tell you which grade they need.
Yes. Every system we install includes a backup battery, typically rated for 12 hours or more of standby cover.
No. Modern systems typically communicate over GSM (mobile network) or broadband rather than a landline.
We can specify pet-friendly PIR sensors, which are designed to ignore pets up to around 25kg while still detecting an intruder.
Yes, subject to a takeover survey and health check to confirm the existing system is safe and serviceable.
Yes. Communication between the app and your panel uses end-to-end encryption, similar to the standard used by banking apps.
Yes, especially with wireless systems, which make it straightforward to add extra sensors as your needs change.
Fire alarms
BS 5839-1:2025 recommends inspection and servicing by a competent person at intervals of no more than six months. Someone on site should also test a different call point each week and record the result in the logbook.
Smoke and heat alarms have a working life of around ten years. Wireless interlinked alarms use a sealed lithium battery for the life of the unit, so there’s no battery to change, at the ten-year point the whole detector is replaced.
An intermittent beep, as opposed to the full alarm sound, usually signals a fault, a low battery, or dust and insects in the sensor chamber. If it doesn’t stop after cleaning, get in touch and we’ll take a look.
Yes. Under current Scottish fire safety legislation, every home needs an interlinked smoke alarm in the living room, or the room you use most, in addition to alarms in hallways and landings.
Wireless interlinked systems involve very little disruption, with no cabling to chase into walls. Wired systems need some dust sheets and a vacuum afterwards, and we always leave the property clean.
Not necessarily. Whether you need a full panel depends on the size and layout of the premises and the findings of a Fire Risk Assessment. We can advise on the right level of protection for your building.
Fit a heat alarm rather than a smoke alarm in the kitchen. Heat alarms only trigger once the temperature passes a set threshold, so normal cooking steam and smoke won’t set them off.
Sensors typically have a working lifespan of around 10 years, after which they should be replaced even if they still appear to function.
Yes. A smoke alarm in the living room is a legal requirement under the current Scottish Tolerable Standard, as it’s typically the most-used room in the home.
Not necessarily, it depends on the outcome of your Fire Risk Assessment. We can advise what level of system is appropriate once we’ve surveyed the premises.
Fit a heat alarm rather than a smoke detector in the kitchen. Heat alarms only trigger above around 58°C, so normal cooking steam and smoke won’t set them off.
Electric gates & barriers
Yes. Every automated gate we install has a manual release, usually a key-operated lever, so you can open and close the gate by hand if the power is out.
We recommend an annual service for residential gates, and six-monthly for gates in heavy commercial or high-traffic use.
Yes. We carry out a safety audit and force test on gates we didn’t originally install, and can bring them up to current safety standards where needed.
Yes. We can fit a GSM or Wi-Fi controller that lets you open and close the gate remotely and grant access to visitors from your phone.
A surface-mounted retrofit onto existing gates typically takes two to three days. New gates involving groundworks take a week or more, depending on the site.
Yes. Installations come with a standard warranty covering equipment and workmanship, and we offer maintenance packages to keep the system covered beyond that.
Yes. Every gate we install has a manual key-release lever so you can open and close it by hand if the power is off.
Yes, GSM and Wi-Fi controller integration can be included in the specification.
Fire risk assessments
Yes. Licensed HMOs are covered by Part 3 of the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, so the landlord must carry out a fire risk assessment and keep it under review. Councils usually ask to see it when the licence is granted or renewed.
Yes, if you’re the duty holder for non-domestic premises in Scotland. This includes workplaces, HMOs, care premises, retail and industrial units, and the communal areas of flats.
The person or organisation in control of the premises, typically the employer, owner, landlord or managing agent, depending on the type of building and occupation.
At least annually, and sooner if there’s reason to believe it’s no longer valid, for example after a layout change, a change of use, or a near-miss incident.
The local fire and rescue service can inspect premises and, where duties aren’t being met, issue an enforcement notice or prosecute. An up-to-date assessment is your evidence of compliance.
In multi-occupied buildings, each duty holder is responsible for their own premises, and the person or people in control of shared areas, such as a common stairwell, are responsible for those. We can advise on where the boundary falls in your building.
For very small, low-risk premises some duty holders do assess their own, but for most commercial buildings a competent assessor with a recognised methodology is the safer route, and is often required by insurers.
Passive fire protection
Protection built into the fabric of the building, fire-resisting walls, floors, doors and fire stopping, that works without any moving parts or detection, unlike an alarm or sprinkler system.
An alarm warns people a fire has started; it doesn’t stop it spreading. Fire stopping is what keeps a fire and its smoke contained to one compartment while everyone gets out.
Breaches are usually found during a compartmentation survey, particularly after cabling, plumbing or refurbishment works have taken place without a fire stopping specialist closing up afterwards.
Intumescent sealants, fire collars and wraps, fire batts and ablative coatings, selected to match the fire rating of the structure and tested to the relevant BS EN standard for that type of seal.
Yes. Every installation is recorded with photographs and product data for each seal, so you have a full record pack for your fire safety file.
Fire stopping should be checked whenever new services are installed nearby, and reviewed as part of your regular fire risk assessment, since later trades can easily disturb a seal.
Fire doors
The number is the minutes the tested doorset assembly resists the passage of fire, 30 or 60 minutes. It applies to the whole assembly, not just the leaf.
This depends on the building and how heavily the doors are used; communal doors in flats and HMOs typically need more frequent checks than a lightly used office door. We can advise a schedule once we’ve surveyed the building.
Only with care. Drilling for unlisted ironmongery, over-painting intumescent strips, or cutting the leaf down can all invalidate the door’s fire performance.
A fire door only works if it’s shut, or closes itself, when a fire occurs. A door wedged open won’t hold back fire or smoke, and defeats the purpose of the self-closer.
Yes. Doors onto communal escape routes and stairwells are typically part of the building’s fire risk assessment and should be included in a regular inspection programme.
Depending on the fault, we’ll either carry out a remedial repair, such as replacing a seal or closer, or, where the leaf or frame is damaged beyond repair, quote for a replacement certificated doorset.
Electrical
Not directly. The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require the installation to be kept safe, and an EICR is the accepted way to show it has been checked, usually at least every five years for offices and shops. For private rented homes and HMOs an electrical safety inspection is required at least every five years under the Repairing Standard.
There’s no single interval that applies to every business. BS 7671 recommends a maximum of five years between inspections for most commercial premises, and sooner for higher-risk environments such as those with heavy machinery or public access. Landlords have separate legal duties to keep their electrical installations in a safe condition.
C1 means danger is present and requires immediate action. C2 means the observation is potentially dangerous and needs urgent attention. C3 is an improvement recommended but not required for safety. We explain every code on your report in plain terms.
Usually, yes. For larger installations where results need collating, we agree a turnaround time with you before the work starts.
Yes. This is often how we’re brought in, providing the dedicated supply and containment a new fire, security or data system needs as part of the same project.
No. Emergency lighting has its own testing regime and standards, covered on our emergency lighting page. An EICR covers the fixed electrical installation, not emergency luminaires.
An EIC is issued for new work, including any new circuit. An MEIWC is issued for smaller additions or alterations to an existing circuit, such as an extra socket outlet, where a full new-circuit certificate isn’t appropriate.
Emergency lighting
A short function test of every light and sign each month, and a full rated-duration test once a year (usually three hours), with results recorded in the logbook, as set out in BS 5266-1:2025 and BS EN 50172.
Under the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, the duty holder for a premises must ensure escape routes and other areas are adequately lit, including in the event of a power failure, where the fire risk assessment identifies the need. In practice this means the great majority of commercial premises need some form of emergency lighting.
Maintained luminaires are lit whenever the premises is occupied. Non-maintained luminaires stay off and only switch on if the mains supply fails. Most offices, warehouses and retail units use non-maintained fittings alongside maintained exit signage.
Most commercial premises need a minimum of 3 hours duration under BS 5266-1, which covers buildings that stay occupied or are evacuated in phases rather than immediately.
A central battery system uses one battery bank to feed every luminaire through dedicated sub-mains cabling. A self-contained system gives each luminaire its own battery. We recommend whichever suits the size, layout and cabling of your premises.
The monthly function test can be carried out by the building user or a nominated responsible person. The annual full-duration test should be carried out by a competent person, which we can provide as part of a test contract.
A logbook recording every test, any faults found and the remedial action taken, in line with BS EN 50172 / BS 5266-8. We set this up as part of every installation and can maintain it under a test contract.
Access control
It depends how the door is specified. A fail-safe door unlocks automatically if power is lost or the fire alarm activates, so it never blocks an escape route. A fail-secure door stays locked in a power cut, which suits doors where security matters more than emergency egress. We agree the right choice for each door with you during the survey.
Yes. Credentials can typically be added, edited or cancelled without needing to physically reprogramme every door, so a leaver’s access can be switched off immediately.
Yes. We design access control to work alongside your CCTV and intruder alarm rather than as an isolated system, so entry events and camera footage can be reviewed together.
Yes. Permissions can be set per door, per user or per tenant, so each business only has access to their own areas and any shared spaces.
We recommend a periodic service to check readers, door hardware and battery backups are all functioning correctly, and to tidy up user permissions as staff join and leave.
Data cabling & fibre
Yes. We install copper cabling for desks, cameras and access points, and fibre for backbone links between cabinets, floors or buildings, choosing whichever suits the distance and bandwidth involved.
Yes. This is often the most efficient way to do it, first-fixing data, CCTV and access control cabling together during a fit-out or refurbishment.
Every cable run is tested end to end with a calibrated cable tester, checking length, wiring map, attenuation and crosstalk against the relevant standard, with results provided as part of the handover pack.
Yes. First-fix cabling and containment is usually done early in a fit-out programme, before partitions, ceilings and floor coverings go in, alongside the electrical first fix.
Both support gigabit data comfortably. Cat6A carries 10 Gbps over the full 100m distance and has better shielding against interference, so it’s the specification we recommend for new installations that need to stay current for longer.
Yes. We carry out a takeover inspection and health check first, then bring the system onto one of our maintenance plans with a full record of its condition.
CCTV recording stops unless a UPS battery backup is installed, and we can include one in the specification. Intruder alarms typically run on backup battery for 12 or more hours during a power cut.
Lens cleaning, a hard drive health check, time synchronisation and a check of every camera’s field of view.
Sealed smoke and heat detectors are typically rated for a 10-year lifespan before the sensor itself needs replacing, regardless of how well it’s maintained in the meantime.
Jump to
Still have questions?
Call us and we’ll talk you through it, or request a free site survey and fixed written quotation.
AR Systems Ltd
71 Hume Drive, Bothwell,
South Lanarkshire G71 8LN
24/7 Emergency Callout for contract customers