Government funding for waking watch services is being replaced with a £41m fund for rapid deployment fire alarm systems. Trail Fire & Security is seeing a rising demand for these services to support property managers and housing providers where a waking watch service is currently in place.
This is needed for residential buildings which have fire safety defects and so require additional protection for residents. The new policy is also aligned with the National Fire Chief’s Council (NFCC) change in guidance from a ‘stay put’ to ‘simultaneous evacuation’ fire safety strategy.
One of our recent projects was for the installation of an interim fire alarm system for social housing provider Housing Solutions in Maidenhead. This was to enhance life safety for residents until cladding remediation works are carried out.
The project involved access to over 100 homes and the communal areas of four fully occupied residential buildings.
We designed and installed a wireless system for high-risk areas to minimise cabling and disruption during installation. It integrates wireless heat detectors that are connected to a monitoring station 24/7 which facilitates faster evacuation and attendance by emergency services in the event of a fire.
The heat detection system reduces the incidence of false alarms – such as from cooking smoke and vaping. Each of the four blocks now has its own advanced fire alarm panel which is separately monitored at all times.
On this project, the communal areas were all open air so the translators which link detectors to the control panel had to be fully weatherproof.
Fire alarm systems provide early detection in the event of a fire, allowing faster evacuation and response, saving lives and reducing damage to homes.
Do reach out if you would like to start a discussion about our rapid deployment fire alarm solutions and other fire and security systems – firesecurity@trailgroup.co.uk.