SAVE 84%
COMPARED TO
WAKING WATCH
V-Fire: an affordable, rented, wireless common fire alarm system that removes the need for expensive Waking Watch Fire Marshals in high-rise buildings with flammable cladding.
SAVE 84%
COMPARED TO
WAKING WATCH
V-Fire: an affordable, rented, wireless common fire alarm system that removes the need for expensive Waking Watch Fire Marshals in high-rise buildings with flammable cladding.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), in conjunction with ARMA; Fire Protection Association; Fire Industry Association; OPTIVO; and Institution of Fire Engineers, state in their report that;
“Building owners should move to install common fire alarms as quickly as possible to reduce or remove the dependence on waking watches.”
This is the clear expectation for buildings where remediation cannot be undertaken in the ‘short term’. This approach should, in almost all circumstances, reduce the financial burden on residents where they are funding the waking watches.”
Read the NFCC’s Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance FAQs here.
V-FIRE VS
WAKING WATCH
HOW MUCH CHEAPER
IS V-FIRE THAN
WAKING WATCH?
WAKING WATCH VS V-FIRE
WAKING WATCH
VS
V-FIRE
You can see from the example cost comparison below, just how much you can save my switching from Waking Watch to our V-Fire Common Alarm System. Enter your building’s number of floors and apartments into our calculator and find out exactly how much your building can save. We’ll even email you the results.
* Waking Watch prices calculated on our own, real-world deployments with an average of one Waking Watch Fire Marshal at £15ph for every two floors of a building.
WHY CHOOSE V-FIRE?
Save 84%
compared to
Waking Watch
Average saving when compared to our real world Waking Watch deployments charged at £15 per hour.
British
Standard
compliant
System is BS EN54 certified, and compliant with BS 5839, and BS EN54 Parts 3, 5 and 25 compliant.
Quick
& easy
installation
Pre-configured, wireless units install quickly and easily, with no effect on existing fire compartmentalisation.
Future-proof
your building's
fire safety
Minimal cost to convert to permanent system, compliant with BS8629-2019, once cladding is replaced.
WHY CHOOSE V-FIRE?
Save 84%
compared to
Waking Watch
Average saving when compared to our real world Waking Watch deployments charged at £15 per hour.
British
Standard
compliant
System is BS EN54 certified, and compliant with BS 5839, and BS EN54 Parts 3, 5 and 25 compliant.
Quick
& easy
installation
Pre-configured, wireless units install quickly and easily, with no effect on existing fire compartmentalisation.
Future-proof
your building's
fire safety
Minimal cost to convert to permanent system, compliant with BS8629-2019, once cladding is replaced.
WHAT'S
INCLUDED?
The V-Fire’s nerve centre. This high-tech piece of kit is capable of monitoring and controlling up to 240 heat detectors. BS EN54 certified.
Combined wireless heat detector and sounder audio alarm. Fully compliant with the relevant sections of BS 5839, and BS EN54 Parts 3, 5 and 25 compliant.
Wireless heat detectors. Fully compliant with the relevant sections of BS 5839, and BS EN54 Parts 5 and 25 compliant.
V-FIRE:
EXPLAINED
In the aftermath of Grenfell External Wall Fire Reviews (EWS1) were carried out. High rise flats and apartment buildings that have failed an EWS1 have their status in the event of a fire changed from a Stay Put Policy to a Simultaneous Evacuation Policy.
To ensure a Simultaneous Evacuation Policy is adhered to, a building must either employ a full time Waking Watch service (recommended, on average, as 1 Waking Watch Guard for every two floors, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year), or install a Common Fire Alarm System which has heat detectors placed at every window in a domestic apartment which is part of a wall with the condemned cladding.
To retrospectively install a Wired Common Fire Alarm System would both be prohibitively expensive and also potentially compromise existing fire compartmentalisation, resulting in further costs to remedy or leaving the building at a greater risk of a spreading fire. A Wireless Common Fire Alarm is, therefore, the preferred option.
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), in conjunction with ARMA; Fire Protection Association; Fire Industry Association; OPTIVO; and Institution of Fire Engineers, state in their report that;
“Building owners should move to install common fire alarms as quickly as possible to reduce or remove the dependence on waking watches.
This is the clear expectation for buildings where remediation cannot be undertaken in the ‘short term’. This approach should, in almost all circumstances, reduce the financial burden on residents where they are funding the waking watches.”
Main Control Panel
Situated on the ground floor must have Independent Isolated Mains Supply.
Radio Booster Unit
Roughly one needed every other floor in riser cupboards also requires Independent Isolated Mains Supply.
Radio Heat Detector with Combined Sounder
Minimum of one per residential unit – must be at a level of 85dB outside each bedroom door.
Radio Heat Detector
One to be installed close to each window situated in a wall with condemned cladding at least one such detector should have combined sounder as above.
Radio Survey Kit
Used to measure signal strength between walls and floors to identify required locations of repeater panels to ensure complete system coverage.
Legally speaking, anyone can fit a fire alarm, so long as they are deemed ‘competent’, as laid out in the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. If you wire a fire alarm, you need to be aware of the Fire Safety Order. If you do it incorrectly, you could be prosecuted. There have been cases of fire authorities charging fire alarm installers for doing things wrong.
However, independent fire safety experts recommend that: “This product should be installed, commissioned, and maintained by qualified service personnel in accordance with codes of practice, statutory requirements, and IEE regulations for electrical equipment in buildings.” In practice, the main panel and repeater panels will need to be installed by a qualified electrician so that relevant fire accreditation would be preferred. As the detectors and sounders are battery-powered and wireless, they can be installed by a competent person.
Prior to installation, the building where the system is to be installed must be surveyed to ensure that each device to be fitted has a good radio communication path to the control or booster panel. This is done with the V-Fire survey kit. When installing devices, they must be positioned as per the survey. Installing a device even a few inches from the surveyed position can affect the signal strength significantly, especially if any metalwork is contained in the ceiling above the new position (e.g. air-conditioning ducting).
Once the building has been surveyed, the floor plan should be marked up with the locations of the Main Panel, Repeater Panels and all Heat Detectors & Detector / Sounders. The detectors should be labelled by the name of the flat plus the type and number of the detector e.g. 3/1 H1; (Floor 3 – Flat 1 Heat Detector 1).
This allows the fire brigade to quickly identify where a detector has been triggered. From a maintenance point of view, if there is a component fault, the exact location of the faulty component will also be identified on the main panel or by text/email.
The primary system and repeater panels should be installed by a qualified electrician with fire experience. The detectors and sounders can then be installed by a competent person, as and when each dwelling can / will allow. As each detector is installed, it will automatically come into service, meaning that the system does not have to be fully installed before it becomes operational.
Once the condemned cladding has been entirely removed and the building has been signed off as having a Stay Put policy once more, the building management company has a choice of:
1. Decommissioning the entire system – all of the equipment will be removed and the contract will end. All removed equipment will be taken back to Prime Secure stores where it can be tested and reused.
2. The system can be reconfigured from a Common Fire Alarm System to a Stay-Put Evacuation Alert System. In this instance all heat detectors must be removed, leaving sounders only within every residence. The main panel is replaced by a dedicated Evacuation Alert System which is vandal proof and is for exclusive use by the fire brigade. Read more further down this page
HERE FOR YOU
AT EVERY STAGE
Rapidly deployed Waking Watch Fire Marshals.
V-Fire Common Fire Alarm to save 84% on Waking Watch costs.
Cheaply convert your V-Fire system to a Stay-Put Evacuation System once cladding remedied.
COMMON FIRE ALARM
VS
STAY-PUT EVACUATION SYSTEM
COMMON FIRE ALARM
VS
STAY-PUT EVACUATION SYSTEM
Our V-Fire Common Fire Alarm can be easily converted to a Simultaneous Evacuation System once cladding has been remediated. The systems are similar, and the terminology can be confusing, so we thought we’d explain the difference between the systems.
COMMON FIRE ALARM
A Common Area Fire Alarm is essentially a Simultaneous Evacuation System combined with heat-detecting fire alarms to create a single system capable of protecting buildings found to contain flammable cladding. It immediately triggers all alarms in the building if a fire is detected, allowing residents of a building to evacuate immediately. It is used in properties with flammable cladding where it is not safe to adopt a stay-put policy in the event of a fire.
STAY-PUT EVACUATION SYSTEM
A Stay-Put Evacuation System is used exclusively by the Fire & Rescue Service in buildings where cladding has been remediated, and a stay-put policy is in place. Fire alarms in each residence alert the emergency services who use the Stay-Put Evacuation System to evacuate any properties they need to based on the situation, without evacuating the entire building because, for example, an alarm is falsely triggered by a faulty toaster.
WAKING WATCH
RELIEF FUND
The Government’s January 2022 addition of £27 million to the existing £35 million Waking Watch Relief Fund makes £62 million of financial support available for the installation of common fire alarms. Read more and find out the current state of the fund here.
CHARITY
DONATIONS
We will donate £5 for every residence fitted with a V-Fire alarm to a charity or cladding action group of your choice.
FREE PEEPS
EQUIPMENT
We will provide any and all specialist equipment as recommended in the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans of any vulnerable residents, absolutely free.