Important changes to fire and rescue services’ response to automatic fire alarms
August 9, 2024
The following article contains some important changes to the way fire and rescue services across the UK will respond to automatic fire alarms (AFAs) in commercial and workplace premises. The date these changes take effect depends on your local Fire & Rescue Service and will effect how you manage your fire safety and alarm systems.
The changes are based on data and intelligence that show that very few AFAs in commercial premises result in actual fires. In fact, responding to AFAs currently accounts for almost 30% of mobilisations for fire and rescue services, but only a small proportion (less than 2%) of these fire alarms lead to a fire being found on attendance. This means that a lot of time and resources are wasted on attending false alarms, which also poses a risk to fire crews and the public by increasing blue light responses.
Therefore, some fire and rescue services will no longer attend AFAs in commercial and workplace premises, unless a call is received confirming it is not a false alarm. This means that if your alarm system is monitored by an alarm receiving centre (ARC), they will need to contact you or your keyholder to verify the cause of the alarm before calling 999. If you or your keyholder are not available, or cannot confirm the presence of fire or signs of fire, no fire appliance will be sent.
The signs of fire that will trigger a response from fire and rescue services are:
- Activations from verified alarm sources other than single smoke detectors
- Smoke or flames seen or smelled by a person on site reported via 999
- Heat or sparks detected by a person on site reported via 999
- Other indications of fire such as sounds, smells, or alarms from neighbouring premises reported via 999
The changes will apply to all commercial and workplace premises except premises with sleeping risk, educational premises, COMAH sites, heritage sites and specific risk premises as authorised by fire and rescue services’ senior operations teams. These premises will continue to receive a response to AFAs without call challenge, as they are considered to have a higher risk of fire or impact on life safety.
The benefits of these changes are:
- Improving fire cover as fire appliances will be available for other incident types when not responding to AFAs
- Creating more time for fire and rescue services to carry out community safety work, operational training, fire safety checks, and building premise familiarisation visits
- Reducing the risk to public and firefighters by significantly reducing blue light responses
- Bringing fire and rescue services in line with the majority of services across the country on AFA response
What do you need to do as a business or building owner?
- Ensure you have a robust procedure in place to safely investigate a fire alarm activation, both during and outside of business hours
- Ensure your automatic fire alarm is maintained periodically by a qualified engineer and tested regularly
- Ensure staff are aware of the procedures and trained to safely investigate the source of an alarm
- Ensure staff are aware of how to make a 999 call and what details they should pass to the control operator
- Ensure your alarm monitoring company are aware of the nature of the facility or business currently using the building e.g. a children’s nursery, or food storage warehouse
- Ensure you provide your alarm monitoring company with the relevant keyholder information. Out of hours, the keyholder should be able to arrive at the business/building within 20 minutes
- Ensure you record any changes to your existing fire alarm procedures within your fire risk assessment and communicate them to all staff
We appreciate your cooperation and understanding in implementing these changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] or 0330 678 0635.
