National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 16280:2012.

BSI, as a member of CEN, is obliged to publish EN 16280:2012 as a British Standard. However, attention is drawn to the fact that during the development of this European Standard, the UK committee voted against its approval as a European Standard.

It should be noted that in the UK, use of breath test devices by members of the public to determine whether or not they might be over the drink drive limit is not encouraged. There is a risk that improper use of such non-professional devices could mistakenly

lead individuals to think they were not impaired or above the limit, thereby threatening road safety.

The UK committee would like to point out that devices used by the police have to meet stringent type approval standards. Public

confidence in these could be diminished by the use of other devices which might conform to other standards but are not type approved. Other devices might not operate with the same accuracy and could in any particular case give a different reading; these scenarios could have legal implications.

In the UK, a device will not be type approved unless it meets all the requirements set out in the Guide to Type Approval for Electronic Breath Screening Devices (ESDs) used for law enforcement in Great Britain, published by the Home Office and is available here: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/police/road-traffic-documents/breathalcoholscreening.pdf?view=Binary

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee PTI/15, Natural Gas and Gas Analysis.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary.

This publication does not purport to include all the necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 November 2012.

Amendments issued since publication

Date	Text affected

BS EN 16280:2012

Breath alcohol test devices for general public. Requirements and test methods

Current

Published:

30 Nov 2012