We are alerted to thousands of false alarms every year. Responding to all these alarms is a huge waste of resources. From 1 April 2023 our response to automatic fire alarms (AFAs) changed to reduce the number of false alarms we attend.

How will we respond to AFAs from 1 April 2023:

• We will not attend automatic fire alarms between 7am and 7pm at premises where people do not sleep – unless a fire has been confirmed (we will continue to attend AFAs at these premises outside of these hours).
• We will attend AFAs at certain high-risk premises between 7am and 7pm this will be based on service intelligence about that building.
• We will continue to attend all AFAs at premises where people sleep.
• We will continue to attend all AFAs at domestic properties.
• In some circumstances we may charge (details on our charging policy are set out below)

We will continue to attend all incidents where a fire has been confirmed.

Position Statement: Charging for attending False Alarms & Unwanted Fire Signals

To reduce the burden caused of  attending False alarms and Unwanted Fire Signals (UwFS), received from commercial premises, we use a  combination of engagement activities by both our operational fire crews and latterly by our Protection (Business Safety) specialist staff. Where we deem it appropriate a charge may be made to the Responsible Person for persistent false alarms originating from Automatic Fire Detection Systems (AFAS) to recover costs incurred.

A charge will be made for the fourth and subsequent calls received within a 12-month period, from premises where the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to either all, or part of the premises. The charge will be based on the current scale of service call charges for each fire appliance for up to one hour plus an administrative fee.

The ability to recover costs through charging for persistent false alarms is done through the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (FRSA) as amended by the Localism Act 2011. As a result, fire and rescue services may now, under Section 18C of the FRSA, charge for reports of fire where:

• The report is of fire at premises that are not domestic premises.
• The report is false.
• The report is made as a direct or indirect result of warning equipment having malfunctioned or been mis-installed; and
• There is a persistent problem with false reports of fire at the premises that are made as a direct or indirect result of warning equipment under common control having malfunctioned or been mis-installed.

Premises producing persistent numbers of chargeable false alarm calls will receive an invoice of £417.07 for the fourth call and subsequent calls in a rolling 12-month period. For the purposes of this position statement, buildings within a site will be considered individually based on their Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN).

Should the level of chargeable calls drop below four in a rolling 12-month period, a charge will not be issued. Each individual call will be assessed on its own merit to determine if it is considered chargeable within the parameters of this policy.

Chargeable incidents will be based on the numbers of appliances attending a single incident. A single charge will apply for each chargeable incident. A separate invoice will be raised against each incident.

The invoice will be issued to the Responsible Person (RP) as defined under the Fire Safety Order. If this person cannot be readily identified, the invoice may be issued to the owner/operator of the business. We will keep a record of sites that have been charged and will provide a monthly report detailing sites that have been issued with an invoice. Invoices are to be raised and issued within 30 days from the date we are aware that an attendance is chargeable.

Grounds for Appeals

All applications to appeal any charges raised in relation to Unwanted Fire Signals must define which aspect from the criteria of Section 18(c) of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (as amended) is the foundation of the appeal.

The appeal must also clearly state the reason(s) why it is believed the incident(s) do not meet the chargeable criteria detailed in Section 18(c) of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (as amended).

If the appeal does not include this information, it cannot be considered and will be rejected.  However, if the appeal contains information that demonstrates the incident was not chargeable, the charge will be cancelled.

All applications to appeal any charges raised in relation to Unwanted Fire Signals must be made in writing within 28 days of the date of receipt to: –

Email: capabilities@northyorksfire.gov.uk

or by writing to

Head of Protection & Risk
Unwanted Fire Signals Appeal
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service
Alverton Court
Northallerton
North Yorkshire
DL6 1BF

All appeals will be investigated and responded to within 21 days.  A letter of acknowledgement will be sent to all those who raise an appeal detailing the time periods involved in the appeals process.

Appeals not upheld will result in a written response to advise the charge remains payable.

Supporting Information

We recognise the value of AFAs in protecting people from fire and reducing the numbers of fire deaths and injuries. Our objective through recovering costs associated with attending false alarms is to encourage those responsible for AFAs to manage them appropriately and to ensure they have adequate management systems in place, to reduce the number of false alarms caused by these systems. Additionally, where persistent false alarms do occur and where it is appropriate to do so, that filtering is applied to prevent unnecessary calls being made.

The purpose of applying a charge is to stimulate an improvement in the local management of AFAs. This is expected to have the following impact:

• Improvements in local alarm management practices.
• An increase in the general standard of fire safety at the premises.
• Improvements in the local response to potential emergency situations.
• Reduction in the unnecessary burden on our resources.
• Increase in the availability of appliances & staff for real emergencies and training.
• Improvement in efficiency resulting in better value  service provision to the people of North Yorkshire and York.

To support the implementation of the position statement, the following supporting information is available:

• Common causes of false alarms- North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service
• Reduction of False Alarms and Unwanted Fire Signals Policy