Unwanted Fire Signals Policy

1. Introduction

1.1 Unwanted Fire Signals (UwFS) are a specific type of call. They are either generated by an Automatic Fire Alarm system (AFA) comprising of a fire detector of the smoke, heat, or carbon monoxide types or by persons believing there to be a fire. They are classified as an UwFS when no fire situation exists. The calls can be passed to Fire Control via an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) or via the 999-telephone network.

1.2 A considerable amount of work has been carried out in relation to UwFS in the past few years. The first iteration of this Policy was introduced in October 2017 and has been monitored closely, resulting in an impact assessment being undertaken which presented the impressive improvements made in reducing the number of UwFS which we attend. More recently we have identified an upward trend in the numbers of attendances to UwFS, as a result, the policy has been further refined to address the trend by not attending Industrial/Commercial premises without the confirmation of a fire.

1.3 Definition of an Unwanted Fire Signal: 

An Unwanted Fire Signal (UwFS) is defined by the British Fire Protection System Association as “any alarm signal other than a genuine fire or test signal.” Any false alarm which is subsequently passed to the Fire and Rescue Service is classed as an Unwanted Fire Signal.

2. Scope of Policy

2.1 It is widely recognised that the installation of modern fire safety management systems and the increasing use of Automatic Fire Detection (AFD) systems provide the earliest possible warning of fire. They are a key factor in providing an early warning of fire for the occupants of a building. However, UwFS have a significant impact on Cleveland Fire Brigade’s resources, an issue which is being addressed effectively through procedures associated with this Policy.

2.2 Policy Statement

The purpose of the UwFS Policy is to support Cleveland Fire Authority’s UwFS policy and to:

• Reduce the number of false alarm activations generated by fire detection and alarm systems which results in unnecessary demand on our resources.
• Deliver significant reductions in appliance movements and reduce the disruption to our community and operational crews undertaking other core tasks such as training and community safety activities.
• Reduce the risk to the public and operational staff through unnecessary movement of emergency responses.
• Ensure Responsible Persons manage their fire safety systems appropriately
• Maximise appliance availability through reducing resources committed to non-fire related incidents.

3. Background

3.1 The approach of Cleveland Fire Brigade is to strive to reduce the number of UwFS whilst ensuring that the safety of the community is not compromised. This is done utilising an integrated approach of all our services to achieve such a goal.

3.2 Prior to the introduction of the UwFS Policy Cleveland Fire Brigade (CFB) has responded to automatic fire alarm calls (AFAs) by sending a predetermined response to all activations received. Despite initially seeing reductions in our attendances to UwFS following the Policy’s introduction in 2017, over the past four years we have seen an increase in our attendances as shown in the Table below.

All AFA calls to I&C premises CFB attended since 2020. Source: Risk and Performance Dept. CFB.

3.3 Following a policy of ‘Call Questioning’ the purpose of which is not to instigate an investigation by the caller but to confirm the existence of a fire situation, filter out obvious false alarms and to inform the premises of the CFB policy which is not to respond to false alarms. The policy is for a standard non-attendance to Industrial & Commercial premises, with the exception of premises where people sleep, unless we receive confirmation there is a fire at the premises, or an ARC inform us that more than one device has actuated at the premises. Where either of these conditions are met, the call will be treated as a confirmed fire and the full Pre-Determined Attendance (PDA) will be dispatched.

3.4 The Policy applies to premises subject to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (FSO), although, care homes and hospitals have been omitted as to ensure the safety of our community we incorporated some exceptions where a clear case to support this is

3.5 CFB are committed to improving the service that the public receive and, in-line with the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) Act 2004 will continue to provide advice to the commercial sector regarding how to reduce false alarms and UwFS. CFB will take every opportunity to proactively promote ‘best practice’ during fire safety audits and other visits.

4. Legal Advice and Fire Safety Order

4.1 In researching and developing this approach to reducing unwanted calls from fire alarm systems, consideration has been given to the legality of the process and advice has been received. There is no statutory requirement for a fire and rescue service to respond to a call to a fire alarm sounding. Given the proportion of fire alarm calls that do not result in confirmed fires, it is reasonable for the service to treat any report of a sounding fire alarm as a false alarm, unless there is confirmation of a fire or visible signs of fire provided either during the initial call or through a subsequent call, or more than one detector head has actuated. This approach supports a more efficient allocation of resources while maintaining public safety.

4.2 In addition to the statutory constraints within which the fire service works, there is also legislation which requires those with an overall controlling responsibility for most buildings with the exception of single private dwellings, to effectively manage the precautionary measures within their buildings which includes having effective arrangements for implementing emergency and evacuation procedures and calling the fire service in the event of a fire. Duties are within regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Regulatory Reform (fire safety) Order 2005.

5. Cost Recovery

5.1 The Localism Act 2011 brings into force changes to the Fire & Rescue Services Act 2004. Three sections have been added, Sections 18A, 18B and 18C. These allow Fire and Rescue Authorities to charge for responding to a report of a fire where the call is made within the following circumstances:

• • There is a report of a
  • The premises are not domestic
  • The report is
  • The report is made as a direct or indirect result of warning equipment having malfunctioned or been mis-installed.
  • There is a persistent

5.2 The levy issued for the attendance to a false alarm will be as per the Special Service Cost recovery 2025/26, (which is updated annually and available on our website) and will be charged per actuation.

5.3 For the purposes of the Policy a persistent problem is defined within Cleveland Fire Authority as having more than four actuations within a rolling twelve months.

6. Planned Procedure

Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004

Cleveland Fire Brigade, following public consultation, has further amended its response to Automatic Fire Alarms (AFA), as detailed below:

1. Premises that do not provide sleeping accommodation – No response will be made by Cleveland Fire Brigade to an AFA unless.

a. A 999 call is received confirming there is a fire, or indicators of a fire.

b. More than one Fire Detection and Warning System device has actuated (For example, a Smoke alarm and a manual call point)

2. AFA’s from Alarm Receiving Centres (ARCs) for premises that do not provide sleeping accommodation – No response will be made by Cleveland Fire Brigade to an AFA unless they can confirm:

a. That there is a fire, or indicators of a fire.

b. More than one Fire Detection and Warning System device has actuated (For example, a Smoke alarm and a manual call point).

3. A full response will still be made by Cleveland Fire Brigade to:

a. Domestic Premises (includes flats).

b. Hospitals.

c. Care Homes.

Premises may apply for an exemption to policy where they can demonstrate that exceptional circumstances exist. Each case will be assessed on its own merits prior to being granted.

Cleveland Fire Authority can, and may, recover costs where it responds to an Unwanted Fire Signals (UwFS’s) in accordance with the Fire & Rescue Services Act 2004 (18c) where:

· There is a report of a fire.

· The premises 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.

· There is a persistent problem.

Cleveland Fire Brigade define the persistent problem threshold as:

· More than four occurrences in a rolling twelve month period.

Any cost recovery will be applied on the fifth and any subsequent attendances until the UwFS’s reduce below the persistent problem threshold (four or less)

There is no requirement for any Fire & Rescue Service to respond to calls originating from an AFA system. It is the responsibility of the organisation to ensure they have a robust management system in place to deal with the actuation of a fire warning system.

7. Increase in Productivity

7.1 Information contained with the Home Office Fire Productivity Plan directs Fire and Rescue Services to demonstrate that they are increasing their productive outcome based

7.2 The Home Plan states that ‘As an emergency service that resources to risk rather than demand, there will always be a degree of latent capacity; however, it is important to understand what capacity is gainfully used during working hours and to identify where a significant number of hours can be freed up for utilisation by Fire and Rescue Services (FRSs) to deliver outcome-based activities for the public benefit.

Outcome-based activities are those under Operational activities and include prevention, protection and incident response/post-incident activities (including national and community resilience response). It is important for FRSs to demonstrate that they are increasing these productive outcome-based activities directly aligned to their Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP).

If services demonstrate an increase in capacity, it is of fundamental importance that the activities that the released hours are spent on are also evidenced. For example, if instigating the NFCC Non-attendance at Unwanted Fire Signals guidelines has increased workforce capacity due to the time freed by not attending such incidents, then the service should evidence which productive activities the released hours are spent on’.

7.3 These changes will help feed directly into our Productivity and Capacity return, generating approximately additional productive time for operational crews.

8. Exceptional Circumstances (Exemptions)

8.1 Where the responsible person can demonstrate that there are exceptional circumstances with regards to the premises and require the full PDA then an exception may be granted.

8.2 Any request for an exemption due to significant risk will be considered by CFA, the onus is on the responsible person to submit the case to the The case must be based upon, that our Policy exposes relevant persons, critical infrastructure, or premises/items of historical or scientific interest at high risk. The responsible person must demonstrate good management of their general fire precautions and specifically their fire detection and warning system.

8.3 The exception can be removed if the number of UwFS triggers further action stage 2 as detailed below:-

Stage 1 – Initial Unwanted call attended

First occasion of an AFA at the premise, the Incident Commander is to liaise with the responsible person to identify and discuss the cause and any remedial action required. The Responsible Person will be notified that further activations may lead to Stage 2 action.

Stage 2 – A premise reaches the poor performance thresholds

Poor performance threshold.

• Two or more UwFS in any period of 4
• Three or more UwFS in any period of 26
• The Head of Protection will determine if any further action is necessary, the premises has the potential to have the exception revoked.

9. Next Steps

We will continue to review our Policy in line with the recommendations outlined within the impact assessment of the previous Policy. We will publish our findings through a further assessment to be presented to the Executive Leadership Team in 2026.

10. Equality Impact Assessment

To ensure this Policy meets the needs of equality and diversity legislation an Impact Assessment has been carried out and is available via the Brigade’s Directory, held by the Human Resources Department.

No significant issues were identified and therefore a full assessment has not been completed.

This policy was approved and updated in July 2025. Next Review date is June 2026.

If you require the document in an alternative format or language, please email communications@clevelandfire.gov.uk