Automatic Fire Alarms: New Policy from the London Fire Brigade

As of 29th October 2024, London Fire Brigade is changing its policy on automatic fire alarms in commercial buildings, resulting in them no longer responding to automatic calls without verbal verification from the premises.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) will stop attending automatic fire alarms in most commercial buildings between 7am and 8.30pm. This change in policy will take effect from 29th October 2024 and will apply to office blocks and industrial estates during daytime hours seven days a week, unless a call is also made reporting a fire.

During the period 2023-2024, automatic fire alarms made up 40% of all London Fire Brigade incidents attended. That was 52,000 calls. Less than 1% of calls from non-residential automatic fire alarms are ultimately recorded as fires, which means the 99% majority are false alarms.

By reducing the amount of time and resources it spends attending Unwanted Fire Signals, LFB will have more time and resources to focus on other priorities, for example increasing community fire protection, and freeing up fire fighters to attend genuine emergencies.

What buildings will the new policy apply to?

The new policy will not apply to all buildings. The following will be exempt and LFB will continue to attend automatic fire alarms at these premises types without the need for a verification call via 999:

• Private dwellings including flats and high rises
• Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs)
• Mobile/park homes
• Houseboats
• Hospitals
• Residential care homes / nursing homes / hospices
• Children’s homes
• Specialised housing premises (e.g., sheltered housing, extra care sheltered housing, supporting living)
• Student accommodation / halls of residence
• Residential boarding schools
• Hotels, motels, bed & breakfasts and other guest accommodation
• Hostels (e.g., homeless, rehabilitation, youth hostels)
• Prisons / young offenders’ institutions and other secure establishments
• Grade 1, Grade 2 & Grade 2S Listed heritage buildings
• Schools
• Nurseries
• Buildings of substantial public significance identified as exempt by LFB

Responsible person for a non-exempt commercial building? Here’s what you need to know.

If you are responsible for a building which is not on the exemption list, you need to know the following:

• If an Automatic Fire Alarm (AFA) is triggered during daytime hours, you will need to confirm by calling 999 that there is a fire on your premises.
• LFB will only send a response to confirmed fires in commercial buildings during daytime hours if a fire is confirmed, or the premises are exempt from this new policy.

Now is a good time to review your fire risk assessment and ensure it is up to date, and that everyone who needs to know them is aware of the new rules.

It is very important that you have an emergency plan and process in place to safely investigate all AFAs that activate on your premises, and to be able to differentiate them from false alarms. LFB will only send a response to commercial buildings during daytime hours if a fire is confirmed or the premises are exempt from the new policy.

In the event of a confirmed fire, you will need a process in place to safely evacuate eh building and for someone to call LFB via 999 to confirm a fire has broken out.

If there are multiple sensors actuating on your premises, then the person responsible for calling LFB will need to relay that information during the call.

Because all responses to fires in non-exempt commercial buildings during daytime hours will be subject to consideration, it is important that the person making the confirmation call is equipped with the necessary information to convey to the call operator.

Where a fire alarm is connected to an alarm receiving centre (ARC), duty holders will need to make arrangements to ensure the ARC is able to differentiate between AFAs that are false alarms, and those that are confirmed fires.

Tailored Advice on Fire Alarm Systems from Barry Bros Security

At Barry Bros Security, we have been providing businesses with safety and security systems for almost eight decades.

If you are reviewing your fire safety needs, and are looking at installing a new fire alarm system, why not talk to one of our helpful experts? We will attend your premises and provide you with individually tailored guidance on the best system to suit your unique needs and meet your legal obligations.

As an NSI Gold accredited company, you can rely on our expertise and take advantage of guaranteed standards compliance.

To get in touch, visit at our London showroom where our security specialists will be able to attend to you personally, or give us a call. We look forward to being of assistance.