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Receiving the findings from a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) or Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW) rarely comes with much breathing room.. You know that you need to keep your residents safe above all else, alongside protecting your own investment and livelihood, but it’s not always easy to know exactly where to go next.
If you’ve been advised that you need to implement measures urgently – this could be as a result of a FRA finding that your existing fire alarm is insufficient, or that your FRAEW has uncovered life-critical issues with your cladding – a Waking Watch service is often the ideal, immediate coverage while you pursue more automated options (an interim fire alarm, for instance).
Our guide today focuses on how to choose the right Waking Watch provider, what to look for before, during and after the solution your chosen provider delivers, and why it’s important you opt for a company that has a proven track record.
As part of any due diligence process for choosing the right Waking Watch provider, you should ensure that they’re able to deploy rapidly, they’ve got proven expertise in supporting other Waking Watch requirements, they can offer complete, rotating 24-hour coverage, and that they’ve got plans in place to support once you’ve got a more automated solution in place.
However, those are just the headlines. We’ve compiled a step-by-step guide to ensure you get the urgent, round-the-clock protection your residents need.
Before contacting a provider, it is worth re-reading your FRA or FRAEW findings to confirm the exact scope required: how many officers, what shift pattern, and how quickly you need them in place. This ensures you can brief a provider accurately from the first call.
Our first pointer would be to read over the recommendations from your FRA and any Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW). As part of our overview of the FRA process, we’ve outlined how properly trained and certified professionals must complete these, and that these findings must be implemented by law.
In that article, we discussed how these recommendations should be easy to understand, clear in their scope and next steps, and free of any industry-specific jargon wherever possible. It’s not a strict requirement that this is the case, but these recommendations should tell you, in no uncertain terms, where a Waking Watch is needed.
While you’re naturally going to be concerned about resident safety if your property is found to have dangerous cladding or lack the essential infrastructure needed for fire safety (fire alarms, emergency lighting, etc.), we’d always advise taking the time to ensure that this is the right move.
One of the biggest advantages of a Waking Watch service – and why it’s the key stipulation for properties that have urgent recommendations uncovered as part of a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) or Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW) – is that it should be available immediately.
It’s that immediacy that means a Waking Watch is so often the recommendation after a FRAEW or FRA that uncovers significant issues. The ideal scenario is that an automated solution is implemented as soon as possible, but this can and does take time (as acknowledged by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) in the 4th edition of their Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance).
This is where a Waking Watch plays its role in modern fire safety, and where the immediate nature of it comes to the fore. Your chosen provider must be able to react rapidly, ideally within a few hours of you making your initial enquiry, and be available on site as soon as possible to ensure that they’re able to begin the service with the urgency it demands.
You should look for a provider who’ll utilise officers who are available in the surrounding areas to ensure that they’re able to be on hand whenever they’re needed. You’ll also need to consider the size and scope of your property, and whether the provider you choose can mobilise the level of coverage you need in an adequate timeframe.
At ProFM Group, we do exactly that. Our extensive roster of locally-based officers is on hand to support you whenever and wherever you need them, able to deploy on a rapid timescale, and adjustable to as many officers as your property demands.
As part of our work with Connexus Homes, for instance, we were able to have our officers on site within 3-and-a-half hours of receiving that first call. We stuck to a similar timescale in our work at Berwick Court, with 18 professionals deployed to the site in less than 4 hours to deliver complete, 24/7 coverage.
There are no set hours during which fire can strike. Any Waking Watch service you opt for can’t be just available immediately – they’ll need to be available consistently, 24 hours a day, and for as long as you need them. That consistency is built into the service by design. A Waking Watch exists to fill the gap before an automated solution, and that gap does not keep office hours.
Comparative cost estimates conducted as part of the now-outdated Building Safety Programme in 2021 add a layer of governmental support to the idea that a Waking Watch service needs to be a round-the-clock, professional presence. This is so often the sticking point for many providers, and it can be tricky to find the right model that works for your property.
That also links quite closely to the idea that every Waking Watch service needs to be custom-built for your property. It’s a sentiment shared by the bulletin announcing the release of the 4th edition of the National Fire Chiefs Council’s Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance, which calls for “an end to risk ‘one-size-fits-all’ applications of on-site staffing”.
Understanding the unique requirements of your property and how a 24-hour Waking Watch service fits into that is the responsibility of your provider, and ProFM Group position ourselves as a trusted leader.
Across our security services work, the consistent feedback from clients is that no two deployments look the same, because no two sites are the same. That same approach shapes every Waking Watch we deliver. You’re guaranteed an approach that’s unique to your property, your risk profile, your residents, and your remediation plans – no matter what stage you’re at.
Of course, while providers can discuss their expertise and understanding of what a good Waking Watch service looks like, there’s little substitute for real-world examples. It’s one thing to know the key principles and legislation (which we’ll discuss in more depth shortly), but it’s another entirely to have delivered successful, potentially life-saving solutions.
Although your solution will always be unique – a key stipulation of the legislative guidance around Waking Watch – it’s important to have professionals on hand who’ve seen these services be successfully implemented, and know how the duties of their officers impact and shape the safety of residents, property and assets.
At ProFM Group, we’re delighted to have supported multiple major Waking Watch projects, including packages designed around properties in inner-city London (with the iconic Berwick Court Development, a converted Royal Mail sorting office in Southwark) and Manchester, as well as more out-of-town work in Hereford (with the nationally-renowned Connexus Homes) and Hemel Hempstead.
It’s also important to look at their work outside of Waking Watch services, too. For many providers, Waking Watch will be one part of a larger business model, meaning that they’re able to draw on trained professionals from across a range of areas, such as security officers or mobile patrols.
That’s actually discussed as part of the 4th Edition of the Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance (SEG), which recommends that suitably qualified professionals, like security guards, are the ideal option for a Waking Watch, which actually does not require any formal qualifications.
One of the more nuanced aspects of delivering a Waking Watch service is understanding the why behind why it’s needed, and the supporting guidance and documentation that acts as the foundation for a successful, knowledge-driven, and well-integrated service. It can be a complex ask, but finding a provider who does understand those more intricate details means a more rewarding and mutually beneficial partnership.
The key points of legislation you should look at, and that any chosen provider should adhere closely to, are:
These are the documents all compliant Waking Watch providers should be working from, and the benchmark against which their service should be measured. The documents are robust in their scope, but they’re essential in determining what the right course of action is, whether that’s before, during or after your Waking Watch is in place, and in learning how life-critical guidance is changing in 2026.
They’re documents that ProFM Group adhere to in every Waking Watch project we undertake, and that we’re quick to adapt to upon any update (such as the 5th edition of the Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance (SEG), which is yet to be released) or reissue.
Our in-house operatives and teams also fully understand what’s expected from any Waking Watch enquiries we receive. From that initial conversation, we’re on your side, designing a custom-built package to match both yours and your residents’ demands, and the guidance from official resources like the SEG or Regulatory Reform Order.
With response times under four hours, full 24/7 cover, licensed security professionals, and a thorough understanding of the current legislative framework, ProFM Group is built for exactly this.
While you’d naturally be focused on the short-term when you contact your chosen Waking Watch provider, it’s equally important to be looking at those next steps. Your Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) or Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW) will have pinpointed a Waking Watch as your immediate action, but it will also point towards your next remedial actions (such as an alarm installation).
It’s a good idea to partner with a business that can also help facilitate those next steps. Of course, the immediate actions will still be your focus, but a provider that goes above and beyond in supporting after their services come to an end is one that you know you can trust.
That’s an area ProFM Group have invested significant time and effort into. While our expertise lies in delivering that round-the-clock, professional Waking Watch services, we’ve been quick to recognise that the service is designed to be a stopgap, and something that can (and should) only be utilised in the short term.
We’re able to signpost your next steps clearly and without bias, offering support and advice on Waking Watch funding streams like the Interim Measures Alarm Fund, as well as what those next steps might look like at your property.
As one of the most critical services you may ever need for your property, it pays to do your due diligence before choosing your Waking Watch service provider. We’ve outlined everything important to consider as part of the process, and while we’d naturally position ourselves as a leader, we know it’s important to opt for the best solution for you.
At ProFM Group, we’re firm believers that that’s us. With a proven track record of rapid response times of less than 4 hours for even large-scale deployments, full 24/7 solutions, trained and licensed security professionals for all Waking Watch projects we undertake, and that working knowledge of the legislative framework, updated as guidance changes, is what separates a reactive deployment from a properly governed one.
If you’d like to learn more about how we’re the clear choice for your urgent requirements, or find out how we’ve delivered bespoke packages from London to Manchester, get in touch on 03444 779991.
Facilities Management
John has a proven track record for motivating and leading high performance teams and has helped mentor and develop many people at ProFM who now hold key or senior positions within the business. John is committed to delivering only the finest services, exercising compelling leadership, maintaining good internal morale and striving to resolve any challenges efficiently and effectively.
