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If you’re involved with the property industry in any capacity, the likelihood is that you’ll have seen the recent changes around legislation on fire safety at high-rise properties. While the news has meant greater safety for residents and visitors, it’s also meant headaches for property owners, management agents and landlords.
Our comprehensive report today seeks to provide a comprehensive understanding of what Waking Watch is, what changed in the wake of the devastating Grenfell fire, and what the current legislation outlines for those who take charge of high-rise properties.
We’ll also look at where Waking Watch services apply and the measures you (or your property manager) should have in place to ensure comprehensive resident safety.
A Waking Watch is a fire safety system where specially-trained professionals regularly patrol a high-rise property or building, both inside and outside. They will monitor constantly for the first signs of fire, raise the alarm if a fire is detected, and ensure a calm and swift evacuation. It’s a short-term option used to keep residents safe when there is no fire alarm system in place or if an issue has caused the fire alarm to not work properly.
It’s been recommended as a temporary solution by the NFCC and UK Government and is designed to ensure that fires are detected early and that evacuation can happen quickly and effectively.
Trained experts (referred to as Waking Watch Officers or Fire Wardens) will also be able to liaise with the Fire Service in the event of a fire, providing key information and insights into the building.
A Waking Watch service is also there if a resident or other member of staff reports the first signs of fire. They’ll be able to investigate the report and act accordingly based on what they’ve found and what the other person has told them.
In most properties, a Waking Watch service operates 24 hours a day. Fire can and does strike at any point, and it’s important that there is always someone with the right training on hand to assess the situation and take control of it.
All Waking Watch officers are trained to the same exacting standards and understand the demands of the latest fire safety guidelines. This acts as both a reassurance to residents and leaseholders but also ensures these professionals are able to act appropriately in the event of an emergency.
Waking Watch services have been a part of fire safety services for years, but it’s only since the Grenfell tragedy and the irreplaceable loss of 72 lives that we’re starting to see them become more common across high-rise buildings, social housing developments and supported living schemes.
It goes without saying that the Grenfell Fire on 14th June 2017 is among the most devastating tragedies in recent memory. The loss of life, livelihoods and homes is something we can’t – and won’t – attempt to do justice to. What we can focus on is what’s changed in the wake of those tragic events.
Chief among these was the public inquiry launched immediately following the fire. Beginning on the 15th June 2017 – the day following the tragic fire – the inquiry produced a damning, 1,700-page document. This was completed in September 2024 and outlined the failings across the board, from contractor issues and material defects to governmental oversights.
That’s more recently meant the investigation of those involved in the initial Grenfell project, all of whom were either involved in the manufacturing, or the subsequent installation, of unsafe materials.
The BBC’s report on this from late February 2025 explores the depths of this, citing Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s comments on how the Grenfell Inquiry uncovered “serial incompetence and negligence, complacency and inaction, and blatant dishonesty and greed”.
However, while there are significant changes in the works, they naturally take time. It’s a long and arduous process to enact major-scale changes – as exemplified by the 7-year turnaround for the report alone – and the Grenfell Fire acted as a horrific but much-needed catalyst in promoting essential change to building regulations, construction standards and due diligence.
What has changed, though, and what we’re starting to see now, is updated fire legislation that’s designed to offer more robust protection to residents or those who use the building regularly. This is perhaps the most impactful news for residents and building owners – better legislation means safer homes, safer livelihoods and safer people.
Waking Watch applies to any building where:
These will have been confirmed by an independent Fire Risk Assessment. These are conducted in conjunction with the Fire Brigade or a competent company or individual accredited by the Institute of Fire Engineers (IFE).
This usually comes in the form of a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW) – also called a PAS9980 – and will provide appropriate next steps. Should the inspection find nothing of concern, your property does not need a Waking Watch service.
If there are concerns (such as with the cladding on the property), the relevant people will be adequately informed and immediately begin the needed reparations. As outlined by the SEG (4th Edition),
This will involve the provision of fire alarm systems and, for the short-term, a Waking Watch solution.
While guidance around fire safety, Waking Watch measures, and what’s expected from high-rise buildings is improving, it can still present a stumbling block for those responsible for buildings. We’ll discuss who takes responsibility in our next section, but let’s first outline the expectations of that person/those people.
We’ve chosen to focus on two key pieces of legislation and what they entail. There are other guidance documents available, such as this piece from the House of Commons Library, but the two we’ve opted to cover are comprehensive in their approach and come from regulated, trusted sources.
These legislative stipulations are:
These are often cited as the major regulations surrounding current fire safety protocols and seek to outline the path forward. For many, though, these can be quite a time-consuming process – they’re detailed, robust documents for a reason, but it’s a major hurdle for building management companies and those who take charge of resident safety.
Here are the key pointers from both those documents and what they outline for the future, alongside our interpretation of those guidelines.
This is the key takeaway, and it’s likely to resonate more closely with those who are actively looking for fire safety guidance on their residential building. In a nutshell, this stipulates that Waking Watch services are not intended to be a long-term part of the fire safety measures at any residential property.
This is best exemplified by the 4th edition of the SEG, which “seeks to actively discourage the ongoing and prolonged use of a Waking Watch”. There’s further support for that in the full, 44-page guide from the NFCC, which places Waking Watch services firmly in the category of “Transition Period” – an option for shorter-term, immediately-actionable coverage.
A Waking Watch here is designed to facilitate the Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance enacted by the NFCC and to ensure – above all else – that residents are safely and securely removed from imminent danger. It’s intended to be in place for no more than 6 months, but can, should a bespoke plan take longer to formulate, last for up to 12 months.
Chair of the NFCC’s Protection Scrutiny Committee Gavin Tomlinson sums this up well in the SEG press release issued in August 2022. In their words, a Waking Watch service is “the clear expectation for buildings where remediation cannot be undertaken in the short term”.
We would also argue that, given the highly-trained nature of Waking Watch personnel, there’s the natural sense of leadership. The NFCC’s SEG guidance for short-term solutions requires that someone take charge, and a Waking Watch solution allows for a suitably qualified individual to do just that.
It’s easy to assume that this goes without saying – particularly given the communicative and safety-focused nature of a Waking Watch service – but it’s now written into the SEG guidance published by the NFCC.
This, for us, is a welcome change and something we’ve been firm advocates for in our work across Waking Watch solutions. Take our recent work with Berwick Court Management – a beautifully appointed residential block in Southwark. In conjunction with our guidance, they’ve issued a full, resident-wide policy change via their website.
That’s only one option of how to approach it, but what the SEG does make clear is that resident engagement should be an integral and consultative part of the Waking Watch. We agree with that, and – as with any site we deliver services for – instruct our personnel to ensure that residents know who they are and why they’re there.
We’ll discuss more about resident engagement and its importance with a Waking Watch service in a later section.
A key takeaway that’s so often overlooked in the Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance (SEG) is that Waking Watch solutions should be bespoke to the site they’re in place for. That, in our eyes, should go without saying, but there have clearly been issues in the past where that hasn’t been the case, and the SEG outlines the need for that tailored approach.
To quote the SEG, it seeks to promote an “end to risk averse ‘one size fits all’ applications of on-site staffing”. Our expert interpretation of that – and one that we hope is shared by others in our industry – is that Waking Watch solutions should be designed with the site in mind.
That’s particularly true for larger buildings or those where there are multiple buildings on the same site. For ProFM, Waking Watch isn’t a service that can be “cookie cutter” in its approach – residents with specific needs, floorplans and even exit strategies will all be different from property to property and even across the same site with multiple buildings.
Waking Watch is, as we’ve seen, a “stop-gap” but an extremely necessary solution. Both the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and the Fire Safety England (FSE) Regulations outline it as such, and we would strongly agree – there needs to be a firmer plan in place for the ongoing safety of the building.
Both the FSE and the NFCC pose this as effective fire detection methods, namely smoke and fire alarm systems, clear signage for emergency exits, and other measures (such as resident methods for raising the alarm).
There’s further information on this contained within the Appendices of the NFCC’s Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance (SEG), which we’ve linked here.
Resident engagement is essential. Not only does that allow for a better relationship between Waking Watch officers and residents, but it’s also crucial so that people know what’s happening and why it’s happening. Unnecessary fear or worry only leads to issues further down the line, and transparency here is key to creating a calm environment even in the face of danger.
That’s part of the current stipulations from the Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance (SEG) issued by the FSE and something we’ve seen in action in our recent work with Berwick Court Management.
If the building you live in or visit regularly has a Waking Watch solution in place or will have one in the very near future, you will already have been notified.
There are a few different ways this can happen. Our client opted to issue a statement via their tenant and landlord website, which is a great way to distribute the information quickly and effectively to everyone affected.
It’s not the only option, though, and we’re starting to see apps and smart technology take an active role in Waking Watch. Take Marshal Eye as a great example of that. Not only does this keep Waking Watch personnel continuously connected, it also allows for notifications to be sent to residents to alert them of a fire as soon as possible.
This is coupled with a managed and calm evacuation and allows for everyone to be on the same page. Any Waking Watch apps that you need to download or use will be advised to you before they’re implemented and should always be compatible with multiple devices.
The person who’s responsible for your building (more on this in our next section) will also make any decisions about how to inform you of changes to Waking Watch services at your building.
As part of the Building Safety Act 2022, the government introduced the concept of accountable persons (APs) and the principal accountable person (PAP). These are, as the name suggests, the people who take on accountability and responsibility across high-rise residential buildings.
Under those regulations, every high-rise building in England must have at least one AP. If there is only one AP, this person will also be the PAP (or principal accountable person). If there are multiple APs, the PAP will be – per the Building Safety Act 2022 – whoever “is legally responsible for the repair of the exterior and structure of the building”.
As a general rule, and what many will find as the circumstances for their building, there are a handful of PAPs that will be the principal point of contact. That includes:
In rare circumstances, the PAP may also live at the property, but this is seldom the case as many high-rise buildings fall under the control of a commonhold association, a local authority or a social housing provider.
The governmental guidance around AP and PAP duties is robust, but as an overview, some of the main duties of an AP are:
Alongside those duties, the PAP will also have a handful of additional, more specialist responsibilities. These are:
While these do seem like extensive and often stressful duties, they’re an essential part of the process and of ensuring the ongoing safety of any residential building. They’ll also be the ones who are ultimately responsible for choosing the Waking Watch supplier (ProFM’s Waking Watch services, for instance) and for organising the necessary measures that come after that.
The costs of the Waking Watch service are usually paid by the leaseholder of the property. This is often an estate or building management company, a local authority, or a social housing provider, but it can occasionally be an individual.
The guidance on what the leaseholder does and doesn’t need to pay for is complex, but as a general rule, costs associated with unsafe cladding remediation and historical defects, as well as issues caused by a developer who is currently the leaseholder, are always paid for by the leaseholder.
In terms of cost, there is no set price for a Waking Watch package. The most recent estimates are from 2020 and do not take into consideration new guidance from the NFCC and SEG, meaning they’re not reflective of current fire safety standards. These place the average cost at around £15,000 per building per month, but this is likely to be multiple times higher.
The bespoke nature of the service means that it depends entirely on key factors associated with the building, including:
While the costs can initially seem steep, it’s important to remember that this is an absolute necessity, especially in the short term. We’ve discussed the laws and regulations surrounding Waking Watch at length in this guide, and it’s clear that it’s a non-negotiable solution.
There are options available, however, which can allow leaseholders to recoup some of those costs. On the 11th April 2025, the Government announced a new wave of Waking Watch Replacement funding, which is set to run until March 2026.
This is estimated to be around £41.7 million, dedicated to replacing Waking Watch services in favour of fire alarms in residential buildings. According to the above guidance, this builds upon the £35 million Waking Watch Relief Fund issued in 2023, and seeks to extend support long into the future.
Applications for the funding opened in September 2024, but with the revised deadline of March 2026, there’s now more time than ever to act upon the issues raised by your Fire Risk Assessment.
If you’ve contacted a relevant Fire Safety Service (such as the Fire Brigade or a member of the IFE’s Register), you’ll already have the recommendations for the next course of action outlined by the results of your Fire Risk Assessment.
If this states that your property is in good working order or that its construction does not use any unsafe or potentially dangerous cladding, you do not need to do anything. Your property is completely safe, and there would be little benefit in having a Waking Watch service here.
As part of this, your residents will adhere to “Stay Put” guidance. This means that the construction of the building ensures that fire is contained for between 30 and 120 minutes, ensuring that the Fire Brigade have plenty of time to respond and keep residents safe.
The only time where this may change, and wherein your AP or PAP will need to request a further Fire Risk Assessment, is if there is something that changes the capacity of the fire alarm system. This may be construction works which disrupt the communications or damage to the structure of the property.
If your property has recommendations as part of the Fire Risk Assessment, then the PAP and AP (or APs) must immediately begin the process of making the building safe. Multiple factors could jeopardise the safety of the residential building, including
This is where a Waking Watch must be implemented, and implemented with immediate effect. Without one, your property is in direct contravention of the Simultaneous Evacuation Guidelines (SEG) outlined by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and could potentially put people in huge, avoidable danger.
Here is also where the PAP/AP should alert residents to the changes and what they may mean for them. In the case of a Waking Watch service, it’s good practice to let your residents know about the company that will be providing the Waking Watch, how many officers are expected to be on site, and the shifts they’ll be operating on.
Choosing a Waking Watch service should be done swiftly but with decisive consideration. Our tips for choosing the right Waking Watch provider include:
This is an area where ProFM truly excel. While we understand (and support) the idea that Waking Watch services are designed to be a short-term solution, that doesn’t mean we cut corners. Waking Watch solutions are, to us, an essential part of keeping people safe and preventing incidents like those we saw with Grenfell and, in 2024, the Dagenham Fires.
We’re ideally equipped, on both a local and national level, to deliver those solutions your residents deserve. Each one of our officers undergoes extensive, fire-specific training and understands the requirements of the Waking Watch service. The consequences of not having that aren’t something we take lightly, and we strive for that expert coverage across all we do.
Our in-house experts act as your first port of call in this matter and – if you’ve just received your Fire Risk Assessment – are immediately contactable on 03444 779991. You can also see how quickly and seriously we take Waking Watch solutions with our ongoing work with Connexus Homes in Herefordshire.
Not only will our in-house team be able to advise you on your next steps with regard to a Waking Watch service, they’re also able to offer more tailor-made advice on the number of officers you need and how quickly we’re able to deploy. It’s an area you can’t afford to delay on, and we’re on hand to help.
Once a Waking Watch has been implemented, the SEG guidelines state that a plan for further action (a Transition Plan) should be drafted within one month of the Waking Watch starting. This allows for enough time to arrange the relevant installation and completion of a robust fire alarm system.
This should then be done within a 6-month timeframe (referred to by the SEG as a Transition Period). From there, the PAP/AP will need to formulate a longer-term Remediation Plan to change any unsafe constructional elements to safer, more compliant materials.
There is no set timeframe for the Remediation Plan to be completed within, and the NFCC understand that it can be a time-consuming process that’s tied to so many moving parts.
However, by implementing our steps above and prioritising both a Waking Watch service in the short-term and those more permanent measures in the long-term, you’re able to ensure comprehensive safety for your residents and ultimate transparency for everyone involved.
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Emily is responsible for business growth and account development via new sales. She leads the Business Development teams through strategic goals and objectives in line with business targets and strategy. Emily is a friendly, approachable and a respected senior manager at ProFM Group who always strives to deliver service excellence.