Waking Watch case study
Pageant Steps needed waking watch across three riverside blocks on Rotherhithe Street while the fire alarm system was upgraded throughout. One block, Calder Court, is a Higher-Risk Building under the Building Safety Act 2022. We mobilised within four hours and staffed two officers on days and two on nights for the duration.
Pageant Steps needed waking watch cover across a three-block riverside development on Rotherhithe Street while the fire alarm system was upgraded across every residential area.
Codrington Court and Pennington Court each hold 20 apartments over six storeys including garage level. Calder Court holds 26 apartments over seven storeys. That height and unit count place Calder Court in the Higher-Risk Building category under the Building Safety Act 2022, so it is registered with the Building Safety Regulator and its safety case carries statutory oversight on top of the standard Fire Risk Assessment process.
We had a team on site within four hours of the task being confirmed.
We staffed two officers on days and two on nights, on a four-on, four-off rota. Running a fixed rota rather than filling shifts from a casual pool is what keeps the same faces on site, which matters when officers are patrolling residents’ homes every night for six months.
Staffing across the three blocks was set by the site’s Fire Risk Assessment, with Calder Court’s Higher-Risk Building status feeding into that assessment alongside the two standard-risk blocks. NFCC guidance requires waking watch numbers to be assessed building by building rather than applied as a fixed ratio, which matters on a site where the blocks are not equivalent.
We provided full welfare facilities on site, including an eco-friendly solar welfare cabin.
London Fire Brigade visited several times during the upgrade to check the team’s training and compliance, with each visit documented photographically. Every visit passed.
The watch covered the fire alarm upgrade from start to finish across all three blocks, and is scheduled to stand down on 10 September 2026 once the new system is commissioned and confirmed in place across every residential area.
That follows NFCC guidance that cover ends as soon as the permanent measure is operational, rather than running on to the end of a contract term.
Calder Court’s height and unit count place it in the Higher-Risk Building category under the Building Safety Act 2022, so it is registered with the Building Safety Regulator and its safety case carries additional statutory oversight. That status fed into the staffing assessment alongside the two standard-risk blocks, rather than the three buildings being treated as one identical job.
Two officers on days and two on nights, four on four off, across Codrington Court, Pennington Court and Calder Court. Numbers were set by the site’s Fire Risk Assessment in line with NFCC Simultaneous Evacuation Guidance, which requires the assessment to be made building by building rather than applied as a fixed ratio across a development.
Yes. London Fire Brigade visited several times during the alarm upgrade to check the team’s training and compliance, and every visit passed. The visits were documented photographically. LFB attendance is common on waking watch sites, and being able to evidence training and patrol records at short notice is part of what the cover is for.
We provided full welfare facilities on site, including an eco-friendly solar welfare cabin. On a watch running six months across three blocks, welfare is not a comfort question but a performance one: an officer who has somewhere warm to take a break stays alert through a night shift, which is the entire point of the service.
Reviewed by Emma Walker, Group Managing Director. Published · updated .
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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.
Further reading
Working out whether this fits your own site? Our guide to what a waking watch costs, and what the alternative costs covers the numbers and the standards in more detail.
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