Waking Watch Relief Fund

(asked on 12th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether applicants for the installation of sounders to silent alarm systems that were installed in buildings prior to 17 December 2020 will be eligible to apply to the Waking Watch Fund for support.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 18th January 2021

The Waking Watch Relief Fund is designed to incentivise the installation of a common alarm system in high rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding and reduce the dependency on expensive Waking Watch measures. The fund will cover the upfront capital costs of installing a common fire alarm system designed in accordance with the recommendations of BS 5839-1 for a Category L5 system, which is referred to in the National Fire Chief Council’s revised guidance on Simultaneous Evacuation. The installation of sounders to silent alarm systems which were installed prior to 17 December 2020 to facilitate a move from a ‘Stay Put’ to ‘Simultaneous Evacuation’ Fire Safety Strategy would not be eligible for funding. We expect to publish the Waking Watch Relief Fund Prospectus, which will set out the full eligibility criteria for the fund, later this month.

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