Security Concepts & Threat Analyses10 min read
Manufacturer-Independent Planning in Security Technology
Manufacturer-independent planning cannot be tested against a promise, only against the planner's business model. We show the four points at which product interest seeps into a plan, and a checklist that works against us as well.
Key Takeaways
- The test is the business model: anyone who sells or installs systems earns from the technology they recommend.
- DIN 14675 separates phase 6.1 Planung (manufacturer-independent) from phase 6.2 Projektierung (with reference to a specific fire alarm system).
- Under § 7b VOB/A, the work is described by a construction description and a specification of services broken down into partial services, not by makes.
- VdS 2311 sets minimum requirements for the planning, installation, operation and maintenance of intrusion detection systems of classes A, B and C.
- Neutrality is necessary, not sufficient: technical depth, certification to DIN 14675 and references must be evidenced separately.
The test is the business model, not the promise
Objectivity has become the standard promise in security technology. Manufacturers, installers and planning offices alike advertise holistic consulting and tailored solutions. For you as a security officer, this creates a practical problem: a self-description cannot be verified as long as you do not know how the provider earns its money. That is exactly where the reliable yardstick lies. The decisive question is not whether a planner claims independence, but whether it earns from the system, the product or the installation it recommends.
Manufacturer-independent specialist planning is a discipline in its own right. It stands alongside installation and alongside technical building services, in which security technology is only one of many trades. A specialist planner plans and advises, prepares the manufacturer-independent tender, and directs, supervises and checks the executing installer until the trade works and has been accepted. This profile can be verified against the business model, not against the marketing.
The following sections work through this test. They first show the structural cause, then go through the points in the planning process at which product interest takes effect, and end with a checklist of questions you can apply to any provider.
- The business model: consulting and installation from one source as an incentive structure
- Four concrete points at which product interest seeps into the plan
- The measurable effects of a product-neutral specification of services
- Questions that also work against the planner itself
- The honest limit: what independence does not deliver
Consulting and installing from one source
The incentive structure is structural: a provider that advises and also installs has a source of revenue that a pure specialist planner does not have. Installers and manufacturers recommend in line with their role, towards their own products, while an independent planner recommends solely in the client's interest. This is not an accusation against individual providers, but an observation about the logic of incentives: it follows the revenue model, not the intentions of the people involved.
The pure specialist planner is the counter-model. Such an office works according to this model, in which it earns exclusively from planning services: it sells no products, installs no systems and, by its own account, maintains no ties to manufacturers or installers. It plans, advises and supervises; it does not install, maintain or operate. Installation is carried out by an installer of the client's choice.
- Recommendations based solely on the client's requirements, free of manufacturer, product and installer interests
- Competition among several installers through the manufacturer-independent tender
- A planner who is free of instructions towards the installer, because there is no installation work of its own to protect
The consequence for you as the client is obvious: the conflict of interest is avoided before it arises and does not have to be managed after the fact. You pay for planning whose only source of revenue is the planning service itself.
Four points at which product interest seeps into the plan
Product interest rarely enters a plan openly. It shows itself in wording, specifications and contracts that each seem plausible in the individual case. Four points are particularly telling, and at all four the difference between tied and neutral planning can be read directly.
| Point in the process | How product interest takes effect | What neutrality means instead |
|---|---|---|
| System selection | If the make is fixed before the tender, competition is pre-empted | Selection only after needs analysis and target concept, described functionally |
| Specification of services | Item-by-item wording taken from manufacturer documentation steers bidders towards a particular technology | Functional requirements that several installers can meet equally |
| Interfaces and integration | Manufacturer-specific protocols tie extensions and replacements to the original supplier | Open, standards-based interfaces, including for higher-level security management systems |
| Maintenance contract | Ties to the installing manufacturer restrict a later change of provider | A maintenance concept that allows a change of installer |
With intrusion detection systems in particular, the sequence is decisive: whoever puts system selection before the needs analysis plans towards a product instead of towards a protection objective. The same applies to access control systems, where identification media, server architecture and interfaces carry forward for decades what was fixed in the planning phase. The four points are therefore also your reading aid: you can check planning documents and draft contracts specifically for the point at which a commitment to a make pre-empts the decision.
What a product-neutral specification of services changes
The specification of services is the central hub between planning and award. Under VOB/A § 7b, the work is to be described by a construction description and a specification of services broken down into partial services. For security technology this means: the system is described functionally, not by make. A product-neutral specification of services is therefore not a question of style, but the standard-compliant form of the tender.
- Comparable offers: several installers can bid equally on the same functional basis, so that real price and performance competition arises instead of a single offer for a predetermined make
- Change-order management: functionally worded items can be assessed and delimited clearly when changes are made later, while make-specific items invite disputes over equivalence and price
- Later change of provider: openly worded interfaces and references to standards, such as VdS 2311 for intrusion detection systems, keep the tender usable years later
For access control systems the same applies as for fire alarm and intrusion detection systems: dependence on a manufacturer rarely arises from a single decision, but from the sum of small commitments in the specification of services, the interface documentation and the maintenance contract. Whoever keeps these commitments open from the start retains the freedom to consult the market in every new award round.
Questions to put to any provider
The following questions can be applied to any provider that offers you planning, including us. They are aimed not at the self-presentation, but at the business model and the documentation behind it.
- Do you earn from the system or the product? A pure specialist planner sells no products and installs no systems[1].
- Is your certification to DIN 14675 limited to the phases Planung and Projektierung, and does it cover exactly the phases commissioned?
- How is the specification of services worded: functionally or by make? Ask for a sample item.
- Who supervises the installer up to acceptance, and towards whom is the planner free of instructions?
- How are the interfaces and the later maintenance contract arranged? Require that both allow a change of provider.
A provider that answers these questions openly and verifiably gives you a reliable picture of its interests. If it evades, answers in general terms or refers only to certificates, that is an answer too. The questions do not replace a technical assessment, but they reliably sort out whose recommendation structurally depends on something other than your protection objective.
What independence does not deliver
Independence is a matter of interests, not proof of competence. A manufacturer-independent planner who lacks technical depth plans systems just as deficient as a tied one. Technical depth in fire alarm systems, intrusion detection systems, access control systems and voice alarm systems must therefore be evidenced separately, through demonstrable knowledge of the standards, project experience and references.
- Knowledge of the standards: planning to the relevant rules, including DIN 14675 for fire alarm and voice alarm systems, DIN VDE 0833-1/-2 for hazard alarm systems and DIN EN 50133 for access control systems
- Certifications with a clear scope: DIN 14675 certification covers only Planung and Projektierung, not assembly, installation or maintenance
- Project experience in your system size and sector, presented anonymously and by sector
Certifications such as DIN 14675 and ISO 9001:2015 document processes and quality assurance, but they do not replace project-specific experience. A quality management system says nothing about whether a planner masters the interfaces between trades, standards and coordination with expert assessors. Ask for both: evidence of the interests and evidence of the competence.
This is exactly where the Security Concepts & Threat and Risk Analyses service comes in: as the upstream phase of any security planning, with threat and risk analysis, definition of protection objectives, protection-zone concepts and catalogues of measures in workshops. The result is a target concept of several pages as a basis for decision-making, followed by specialist planning on request. System selection thus comes only after the requirements, and the tender remains functional, comparable and open to a change of provider.
Contact us for a no-obligation initial consultation. PLANATEL®: Independent planning and consulting since 1992[2]. Tel: 040 / 23 73 02-30 | Email: info@planatel.de
Frequently Asked Questions
What does manufacturer-independent planning mean in security technology?
The planner selects systems and components solely according to the requirements of the property and the applicable standards, without ties to manufacturers or installers. In the phase model of DIN 14675, Planung (phase 6.1) is explicitly defined without reference to a specific fire alarm system; Projektierung (phase 6.2) follows only after the award.
Does a manufacturer-independent planner earn from the systems?
A pure specialist planner that neither sells products nor installs systems has no source of revenue in the recommended technology. PLANATEL provides a binding statement on this: not an installer, not a manufacturer, no product sales, manufacturer-independent across all service phases.
How do I recognise a product-neutral specification of services?
It describes the required work functionally and item by item, not by make. § 7b VOB/A provides for a construction description and a specification of services broken down into partial services. References to standards such as VdS 2311 for intrusion detection systems make the requirements verifiable without pre-empting a manufacturer.
May the same provider take on planning and installation?
That is legally possible, but it creates an incentive logic: whoever advises and also installs naturally earns from their own solution. Whoever wants competition and comparable offers separates the award of the planning from the award of the execution and has the installer supervised by the planner up to acceptance.
Does manufacturer independence replace certification to DIN 14675?
No. Neutrality is a matter of interests, not proof of competence. Since 1 November 2003, certified specialist firms have been required for fire alarm systems connected to the fire brigade; certification to DIN 14675 covers only the certified phases, which for pure specialist planners are typically Planung and Projektierung.
How is manufacturer-independent specialist planning remunerated?
Remuneration can be based on the HOAI, a fixed price or an agreed daily rate. For optimisation projects, such as the neutral review of existing maintenance and servicing contracts, success-based remuneration is also possible: no savings, no fee.
For which systems is manufacturer-independent planning worthwhile?
Above all for systems with a long service life and a high degree of integration: fire alarm systems and voice alarm systems to DIN 14675, intrusion detection systems to VdS 2311, access control systems and video surveillance. The more strongly interfaces and maintenance contracts determine a later change of provider, the greater the effect of neutrally worded tenders.