Waking Watch case study
Encore Group needed continuous waking watch across Bishop’s Court, a three-block residential development in Spitalfields, after its Fire Risk Assessment identified an interim need for patrols. We have provided one fire-trained officer per shift, 24 hours a day, since December 2025, on a contract planned to run about twelve months.
Encore Group needed continuous waking watch cover across Bishop’s Court, a three-block residential development in Spitalfields. Each block rises to six floors plus a basement, and the development has a 24-hour concierge team on site.
The watch followed the building’s Fire Risk Assessment, which identified an interim need for continuous patrols under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 while permanent fire safety measures are confirmed.
We have provided one fire-trained waking watch officer per shift, 24 hours a day across all three blocks, since 12 December 2025, working alongside the development’s concierge team.
Officer numbers were set by the site’s Fire Risk Assessment rather than a fixed ratio, following National Fire Chiefs Council guidance that waking watch staffing is judged building by building.
Officers are trained in fire awareness and evacuation procedures, uniformed and identifiable on site, and carry two-way radios linking them to each other, the concierge team and the fire and rescue service.
The watch has run continuously since December 2025, on a contract planned to last around twelve months.
The Fire Risk Assessment is kept under regular review as the building’s permanent fire safety measures progress, in line with NFCC guidance that a waking watch stays a short-term measure under active review rather than a standing arrangement.
The service
This engagement was delivered by our waking watch team. Read how the service works, what it covers and how it is staffed on our waking watch and fire safety services page.
The area
We work across London and the surrounding region. See the sites, sectors and services we cover in London.
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