The document discusses site managers' challenges with maintaining and renovating school buildings during the summer holidays. It notes that the mythical "6 weeks holiday" for students is no longer accurate, as schools now offer extracurricular activities and community groups rent space that infringe on renovation time. Site managers have an extremely condensed period to coordinate contractors while maintaining operations. Recent technology innovations allow fire alarm installations to be completed in a couple weeks, leaving time for other summer activities. The document also provides information on legal responsibilities for fire safety systems and penalties for noncompliance.

1. • September 2015
“Be like a duck.
Calm on the surface,
but always paddling
like the dickens
underneath.”
Michael Caine
WIRE FREE
NEWS
The SIX week myth
When my kids finished their end
of term exams, we had activities
prepared for the summer holiday and
some R&R in the sun for a couple of
weeks. Yet to the site managers, the
‘6 weeks’ holiday is a mythical beast!
Mythical six weeks
There was a time when the site would actually
look like a ghost town, but those days are long
gone. Every educational establishment seeks
opportunities to subsidise the schools income; extra
curricular activities, summer camps and rented uses
of the building by community groups, infringing
on the time available to fit-out or refit the building.
Site managers or extreme jugglers?
You have to spare a thought for the facilities
managers and their team of site staff. These are
the guys who, for an extremely condensed
period of time, have to open up, make space,
manage and co-ordinate the activities of all
the contractors on site, who want doors
unlocked and to get into cupboards and under
floors or into loft spaces. All done whilst
maintaining a happy demeanour.
Trends
What has happened in recent years is that
innovation in radio technology has sped up the
installation time (i.e. no wires to run) and its
now possible to install a radio fire alarm in a
couple of weeks. That allows plenty of time for
the ‘Crochet League Cup’ event in the main
assembly hall and time for some Morris dancing
practice in the sports hall!
What is Morris dancing?
A traditional English folk dance, dating back to the
1700’s, which was originally Moorish dancing,
revived in the 1900’s and with over 150 mens ‘teams’
in the UK. Not considered ‘cool’ but typically English
in character in a ‘Monty Python’ kind of way!
Call us on: 01277 724779
www.w-fp.co.uk
Edition 9

2. Call us on: 01277 724779
www.w-fp.co.uk
What does the Law say
The Health and Safety at Work act 1974 says that
“All safety systems fitted for the safety of users
and staff within a building have to be maintained
to the appropriate standard and therefore kept
in working order”. Therefore there is a legal
obligation to maintain and repair it.
Who is responsible?
In 2005, the law was changed to make the
person responsible for the building, and/or its
users, legally responsible. To that end they have
to not only maintain what they have but also
to carry out appropriate risk assessments to
ascertain what is needed. Until that time this
was mainly the domain of the Fire Brigade.
Now this is enforced by the Fire Brigade.
You tell us!
What is NPS and why is it important to you? NPS stands for ‘Net Promoter Score’ and it’s
important as it’s the way that a company such as us measures itself. It’s really simple and
revolves around one question: “Would you recommend us to someone else?”
on a scale of 1-10, with a short space to explain why.
The key thing is that we learn from mistakes and criticism and it’s important
to you because as we learn, we improve the service we deliver to you.
Score us today: www.jw154.infusionsoft.com/app/form/tell-us-what-you-think
What is illegal?
Last week I took a call from a client of ours, concerned about
the legal implications of a customer ignoring advice we’d
provided about repairing emergency lights.
WIRE FREE NEWS
Evidence
We are getting more and more calls from
people who have been inspected by the fire
brigade and have been caught without
appropriate systems. Prosecutions appear to
be increasing monthly.
Penalties
Minor penalties can be up to £5,000 (plus the
impact on a business). Major penalties can have
unlimited fines and up to 2 years in prison.
If you have any questions about what is
legal, or any other queries, then please
call us and we’ll help you.
www.gov.uk/workplace-fire-
safety-your-responsibilities
The WFP referral program:
Simply refer a friend to WFP and you will BOTH
receive a £25 Amazon gift certificate*
Visit www.w-fp.co.uk/referral
for more details and full T&C’s:
* T&C’s apply

3. You can help by letting us know what you
like or don’t like too - we really are listening,
just email us: feedback@w-fp.co.uk
or complete our feedback form online:
www.w-fp.co.uk/contacts
@WORK
Barry Leeds joined
our team in 2008 as our
Service and Projects manager.
He has been instrumental in
transforming our customer
management software ‘Clik
Service’ so that the whole team
can answer customer queries
quickly from one central system.
Barry stepped up to the General Manager
position in 2014 and as well as delivering
our in-house engineer training has been
supporting the newly integrated service
team since the beginning of 2015. Barry’s
defining attribute is that there is ‘always
a way’ to solve a problem,
either technical or
service related.
Q&A (New and improved)
Q1. If you were stuck on a desert island
and could only bring three things
with you what would they be?
1 My wife. Being a desert island there are
probably no rocks there, so I'll take my own.
2 My dog. Someone to agree with me!
3 A lighter. Never did get my fire starting
badge at Boy Scouts.
Q2. If you could have a superpower what
would it be and why?
The power to read minds. To keep happy
the people who already think I can.
Q3. If there were a movie about your life,
who would play you and why?
John Savident, he wouldn't need much of
a make over.
Q4. What was the last gift you gave?
Laughter, the best gift you can give anyone.
Q5. Who do you follow on Twitter and why?
Paul Field. Because he told me to; and
because I can't follow the one person I
would have; Michael Faraday.
WFP’s culture: As a business we believe in
doing things properly; for our customers
and also for our colleagues. We really want
all our people to be happy in what they
do. To support this, we promote continual,
individual, development and promote
honest debate on how to improve our
services to our customers.
Edition 9 • September 2015
John
Savident

4. Call us on: 01277 724779
www.w-fp.co.uk
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Top Tips - Cut out & keep guide:
‘Testing Essentials’...
WFP love giving our clients guidance and tips. It’s not about ‘we are the experts
and you should pay for our knowledge’. Our focus is to ensure our clients are
compliant and safe; so here’s our freebie this month:
Please note that our advice is not legal advice, but general in nature and subject to change without notice, if you
would like specific advice on your system or practices please ask. We’re here to help.
Wire-Free Protection Limited, t/a WFP Fire & Security, Unit 8 Oaklands Farm Estate, Goatsmoor Lane, Stock, Essex CM4 9RS
Office open hours: 8am-5pm Mon-Fri (Excluding Bank Holidays). Call Outs 24/7
FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS
• Daily inspection of the fire alarm control panel
and taking action on any faults displayed.
• Weekly fire alarm test; ensuring that each
week a different call point is tested in turn.
• Logging all tests, faults, alarms in a fire log book.
• Ensuring the system is serviced by an
accredited company at least twice a year.
• Ensuring that you have the ability to call upon
a competent engineer 24/7.
FIREFIGHTING EQUIPMENT
• Portable fire extinguishers should be visually
inspected at least every month.
• Ensuring an accredited company is employed
for annual maintenance of each extinguisher.
INTRUDER SYSTEMS
• Daily inspection to ensure no faults or tampers
are present.
• Recording any false alarms and taking action
to ensure they do not re-occur. This is critical if
you have a police calling system.
• Ensuring the system is serviced by an
accredited company at least twice a year.
STAFF TRAINING
• Nominated staff trained to deal with a fire
emergency and a record kept of their training.
FIRE DRILLS
• A timed evacuation should be carried out at
least once a year, preferably twice.
It’s good practice to also simulate an unusual
condition such as a blocked fire escape. Most
importantly, keep it to yourself, don’t let
everyone know in advance. Remember the drill is
not just to be compliant, but to discover possible
issues that may arise in a real emergency.
EMERGENCY LIGHTING
• Daily inspection of lights to ensure the healthy
indicator LED is illuminated.
• Monthly inspection and test to ensure the
lights operate, normally via a test key switch.
• Ensure lights are maintained once a year.
CCTV
• Daily inspection to ensure all cameras have a
clear image and if applicable the DVR is
working and fault free.
• Ensuring staff have the training to use the
system and authorisation to view the images
and are aware of the Data Protection Act.
• Ensuring the system is serviced by an
accredited company at least once a year. If a
system is not maintained correctly, you could
find the images inadmissible in court.