Fire safety and the huge threat posed by flammable cladding in high-rise buildings was thrust into the spotlight in 2017, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, which saw 72 people lose their lives.
Over four years on, and hundreds of high-rise buildings throughout the UK are still covered in this unsafe cladding.
In many of these buildings deemed as being at high-risk of fire damage, a waking watch service is deployed to give building owners and its residents peace of mind. But does it really do that?
A waking watch is where a trained person continuously patrols all floors of a building, and its exterior, and alerts residents in the event of a fire, carrying out the necessary evacuation programme.
When you think about it, it’s pretty much an impossible job for even the most vigilant person, putting leaseholders in serious potential danger, and there have been incidents of patrollers falling asleep on the job.
The expense of a waking watch is also astronomical, costing an average of £16K a month in England, with leaseholders being forced to cover the fee, setting them back £331 a month.
It’s actually a Government recommendation that proper fire alarm systems should be installed in these buildings to eliminate the need for a waking watch.
Here’s why you should switch to a fire alarm if you currently have a waking watch in place:
- Employing one waking watch person exceeds the average cost of installing an alarm system in just three months (source: The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government).
- Other than having to pay the one-off charge for a fire alarm installation and the occasional bit of maintenance, that’s everything you’ll need to pay.
- A quality fire alarm will immediately detect when a fire breaks out, ensuring a prompt evacuation.
- Some alarm systems have the ability to instantly notify the fire brigade the moment a fire occurs.
- Wireless systems are available, which can be fitted quickly and will ensure no cabling penetrates fire barriers.
- The “human error” aspect of a waking watch will be gone.
The fire alarm system that we propose having fitted, if you’re wisely looking to move away from a waking watch and want an alarm instead, is an Analogue Addressable System.
This intelligent system will assist with any evacuation by informing you of the exact location of a fire, and it can also alert the fire brigade and open all access control doors.
Are you a freeholder looking to replace a waking watch with a far more cost-effective and far more reliable fire alarm system? Request a quote below for an installation from ABCA.
