VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH has opened new laboratories for fire detection and alarm technology in Cologne.

now in a larger and more modern environment. The investment strengthens the Cologne location and creates optimal conditions for manufacturers and partners through increased testing capacities.

Press Release 24/2025

Cologne, October 27, 2025. VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH has officially opened its new fire detection and alarm technology laboratories at its Cologne site. With this opening, VdS is consolidating its existing testing capabilities for fire detection and alarm products in a laboratory environment designed for efficiency and stability. What is new is not the “what” but the “how well”: more space and clearer pathways ensure faster cycle times that are even more closely aligned with customers' development and supply chains.

“With the new laboratory space, we are creating better conditions for what VdS stands for: reliable testing, clear statements, and results that are unambiguous and robust. We combine the same care with higher cycle stability—this helps our customers and strengthens Cologne as a location,” says Peter Schramm, Managing Director of VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH.

The laboratory architecture is designed to enable work processes to run even more productively in parallel. What already worked reliably before now runs more orderly side by side, handover processes are seamless, and decision-making paths are shorter. Manufacturers receive earlier feedback and reliable statements, while authorities and operators receive comprehensible evidence—still independent and compliant with standards, but more efficient.

In terms of content, the new rooms focus on fire detection and alarm technology. Proven testing facilities now work together more effectively: heat channels and smoke channels provide defined temperature, smoke, and flow profiles; Test facilities for linear smoke detectors ensure reproducible measurement distances; system test rooms enable realistic system testing; test facilities for acoustic and optical signal transmitters test the required perceptibility in accordance with standards. The result is decisions that stand the test of time – today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.

The investment is also a statement for the location: Cologne remains the base for the fire detection and alarm technology laboratory business. The new hall is designed for growth and offers additional capacity and predictability for national and international projects. Around 25 specialists work on site on planning, construction, testing, and documentation – supported by order control and test equipment management.

VdS would like to express its special thanks to the employees who supported the transition phase. Despite the stages of relocation and construction work, deadlines were met and audits were completed reliably. Many detailed improvements to the process can be traced directly back to suggestions from the teams and have now been implemented as standard.