Arson Protection: How Intruder Alarms Cut Your Fire Risk
Arson is one of the most damaging causes of fire in commercial and industrial premises, and unlike most fire risks it involves someone deliberately setting out to cause harm, often at night or over a weekend when the building is empty and a fire can take hold long before anyone notices. A deliberately set fire in a warehouse, factory or vacant unit can destroy a business outright, and the losses extend well beyond the building to lost trading, damaged records and ruined production machinery. An intruder alarm is, first and foremost, a security measure rather than a fire safety one, and we should say plainly that Fletcher Risk does not install or advise on intruder alarms, but the reason we so often raise them during a fire risk assessment is that stopping an intruder from reaching your premises is one of the more effective ways of stopping an arson fire before it ever starts.
This article explains why arson matters for commercial and industrial operators, how intruder detection contributes to fire safety, and where it sits within the wider set of measures that reduce the risk of a deliberate fire.
Why arson is a serious risk for commercial premises
Deliberate fire-setting is a recognised and significant cause of fire in non-domestic buildings, and certain premises are more exposed than others. Industrial units with quiet perimeters, sites with external storage of pallets or waste, buildings that stand empty overnight or that are partly or wholly vacant, and premises in isolated or poorly overlooked locations all present an opportunity to someone intent on causing damage. The motive may be theft that escalates, a grudge, vandalism or concealment of another crime, and from a fire safety point of view the motive matters far less than the fact that a person has gained access and started a fire when nobody was present to raise the alarm. The consequences are frequently disproportionate, because a fire that begins unobserved in an empty building has time to develop and spread, which is exactly why the early warning and deterrence that security measures provide carry a genuine fire safety value.
Where an intruder alarm fits into fire safety
The guidance that insurers and the security industry follow recognises that intruder alarm systems protect premises against theft, robbery, malicious damage and arson together, because the same unauthorised access that allows one allows the others. For arson specifically, an intruder alarm contributes in three ways. It deters, since a visible external sounder and the prospect of detection make a premises a less attractive target than an unprotected one nearby. It detects early, because a monitored system can register an intruder at the point of entry, before they have had the chance to set a fire, rather than after. And it raises a response when nobody is there, since a remotely monitored system signals an alarm receiving centre that can alert key holders and, where eligible, the police, at the very time of night or weekend when an arson attack is most likely and your own staff are absent. That combination of deterrence, early detection and out-of-hours response is what turns a security system into a meaningful part of your protection against fire.
- It deters, by making the premises a visibly harder and less attractive target.
- It detects an intruder at the point of entry, ideally before a fire can be set.
- It raises the alarm out of hours, when premises are empty and arson is most likely.
- Where monitored, it brings a response from key holders and, where eligible, the police.
- It protects against theft and malicious damage at the same time, for a single measure.
What we recommend, and what we do not do
It is worth being completely clear about the boundary here. Fletcher Risk is a fire safety consultancy, and we do not sell, install, design or maintain intruder alarms, nor do we advise on security grades, signalling or alarm monitoring, all of which are matters for a specialist security installer. What we do is assess the fire risk to your premises, and where arson is a credible threat, our fire risk assessment will say so and will recommend the measures that reduce it, which may well include intruder detection as one element alongside others. For the alarm system itself, we would point you towards an installer regulated by one of the recognised inspectorates, the National Security Inspectorate or the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board, and we would always suggest speaking to your insurer first, since an intruder alarm is frequently a condition of commercial cover and your insurer may have specific requirements for the system they will accept.
How to choose a competent installer
Because the alarm itself sits outside what we do, the following is a short, practical guide to engaging the right specialist, drawn from the recognised industry guidance so that you can approach the decision with confidence.
- Use a regulated installer. Choose a company registered with one of the police-recognised inspectorates, the National Security Inspectorate (NSI) or the Security Systems and Alarms Inspection Board (SSAIB), since their oversight means systems are designed, installed and maintained by trained, vetted and competent people to the relevant standards, and registration is necessary if you want a police response. Approved installers in your area can be found at nsi.org.uk and ssaib.org.
- Speak to your insurer before you commit. Ask what they require, because cover is often conditional on the alarm, and insurers commonly specify the type of installer, the system and signalling, the monitoring and the response. Passing those requirements to prospective installers means they all quote against a common specification, which makes the proposals easier to compare.
- Decide on the type of response. An audible-only system relies on sounders to draw a local response, whereas a remotely monitored system signals an alarm receiving centre that can alert key holders and, where eligible, the police. For arson protection, where the value lies in a response while the premises are empty, monitoring is usually what makes the difference.
- Insist on a documented assessment and specification. A regulated installer will carry out a security risk assessment and provide a written system design proposal, and an as-fitted document once the work is complete. Ask for a layout and detection plan with it, and keep these, since your insurer may want to see them.
- Put a maintenance contract in place. Insurers normally require an emergency and routine maintenance contract to be kept in force, so agree this at the outset rather than treating it as an afterthought.
- Arrange key holding and response carefully. Appoint trained key holders who can attend within a reasonable time, or use a regulated commercial response company, and avoid leaving keys in a key box at the premises, which is a recognised security weakness and is often a breach of insurer conditions.
- Get training and keep it up. Make sure those who use the system are trained in it, since most false alarms come from user error, and repeated false alarms can lead to the loss of police response and can in turn affect your insurance.
The wider arson-reduction picture
An intruder alarm is one layer, and it works best as part of a broader approach to arson reduction that a fire risk assessment is designed to set out. Much of the risk is removed by straightforward housekeeping and design, such as keeping waste, bins, pallets and other combustible materials well away from the building rather than stacked against external walls where they offer ready fuel and a point of ignition, securing external storage, maintaining a sound perimeter with fencing and gates, providing good external lighting that removes the cover of darkness, and considering closed-circuit television where the risk justifies it. The management side matters as much as the physical, including controlling who has access, dealing promptly with accumulations of rubbish, and being alert to the heightened risk that comes with a building standing empty during refurbishment or between tenants. Intruder detection sits within that picture as the measure that addresses the person who gets past everything else, which is why we treat it as complementary to, rather than a replacement for, the rest.
The legal and insurance angle
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the responsible person must carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment, and the risk of deliberate fire-setting is a part of that assessment rather than something outside it, so arson reduction is properly within the scope of the duty you already hold. Insurers, for their part, frequently make intruder alarm provision a condition of commercial property cover, with detailed expectations about the installer, the system and the response, and failing to meet or maintain those conditions can put cover at risk. Taken together, the legal duty to assess and reduce fire risk and the commercial pressure from insurers point in the same direction, towards treating security against intruders as part of how a business protects itself from fire rather than as an unrelated concern.
What to do now
If arson is a realistic risk for your premises, whether because the building stands empty out of hours, sits in an exposed location, or is vacant between uses, the sensible first step is a fire risk assessment that takes deliberate ignition seriously and sets out the measures that would reduce it, after which you can instruct a registered security installer for any alarm and speak to your insurer about their requirements. We carry out fire risk assessments for warehouses and industrial units, commercial premises, schools and places of worship, all of which can be exposed to arson, across industrial areas and town centres in places such as Merseyside and Greater Manchester, and because we have nothing to sell beyond the assessment itself, our advice on what your premises needs is given on its merits.
Worried about arson at your premises?
Fletcher Risk carries out fire risk assessments for commercial and industrial businesses across the North West, North Wales and the West Midlands. Where arson is a risk, we will identify it plainly and set out the measures that reduce it, including where intruder detection fits, independently of any security or alarm company. If we can help, please get in touch.
We cover Cheshire West, Cheshire East, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Flintshire & Wrexham, the North Wales Coast, Gwynedd, Shropshire and Staffordshire.
Contact Fletcher Risk Why choose us