FCS Issues 2022 Update to FCS1331 UK Code of Practice for Business Radio Engineering

Federation of Communication Services, FCS, the not-for-profit industry association for companies which deliver professional voice and data communications solutions to business and public sector customers in the UK, and provider of best practice for installation of equipment for delivery of these solutions, has issued a significant revision of its FCS1331 UK Code of Practice on business radio site engineering.

Operational communications remain essential to our society.  Whether the user is an emergency service, needs better retail security, wants to support the delivery of vital utilities, or in safety situations such as for crowd control, operational radiocommunications will be needed, and needed for the foreseeable future.  Whatever operations the radio system is intended to support, in whatever situation, however it is implemented, it will always need aerials to transmit the required signals to the other units to support the required services.  It is very difficult to see how this basic fact will ever change.

Central to the success of any such radiocommunications scheme is the installation of the equipment at the antenna site.  If the installation is done poorly, it is likely not only that the system itself will perform poorly (or not work at all) but that other neighbouring systems could also be degraded.  In extreme cases, the system could be shut down.

The FCS1331 Code of Practice on Business Radio Site Engineering was created to help purchasers of systems and installers to understand the issues that need to be addressed thereby providing a better operational solution.

FCS believes it is essential that the FCS1331 Code of Practice reflects current best practice of site engineering. Its guidance has all the latest information, including the contributions from many installation industry representatives under the guidance of the FCS Business Radio Council.

Accordingly, FCS is pleased to announce that FCS1331:2022 - Business Radio Site Engineering (the 2022 Revision of the Code of Practice) is now available and may be downloaded from the FCS website HERE.

This latest revision reflects:

• Current safety legislation and practice,
• Radio spectrum licensing (including changes to the Conditions),
• The regulatory and legal environment developments including those arising from the UK leaving the European Union,
• The increasing complexity of issues at the site,
  and...
• Advice on procedures.