Interim Measures Alarm Fund (IMAF) guidance

Aim of the fund

The Interim Measures Alarm Fund (IMAF) is designed to reduce the prolonged use of interim fire safety measures and encourage progress towards more permanent fire safety remediation.

The fund aims to:

• improve resident safety while remediation or long‑term mitigation work is undertaken, enabling residents to remain safely in their homes
• reduce the risk of unnecessary decants, ensuring buildings remain occupied where safe and appropriate to do so
• promote compliance with National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) guidance on simultaneous evacuation by supporting the replacement of waking watch with common fire alarm systems where feasible
• protect leaseholders not covered by statutory protections from the cost of interim measures by funding the installation of common fire alarms

The fund helps:

• support leaseholders, by removing potential exposure to the high ongoing costs of waking watch arrangements, which previously required residents to cover substantial monthly charges

• implement the installation of common fire alarm systems that meet BS 58391 Category L5 standards, providing a more effective and sustainable fire safety system than human fire wardens

Fund objectives

The fund has a number of objectives that guide decisions on funding applications.

Longer-term solutions to address fire safety risks are expected

Interim measures such as waking watch and alarms are a short-term option that mitigate an immediate risk. Receipt of funding and the installation of an alarm is not an alternative to addressing the risks that have required the change in fire safety strategy. It is expected that work to correct any fire safety risks will continue.

Fire alarm installation is incentivised over waking watch measures

The fund is designed to incentivise the installation of a fire alarm in residential buildings and replace and, or, mitigate waking watch measures, delivering a more sustainable interim fire safety system in the buildings pending remediation or mitigation work. 

Quick delivery of solutions is encouraged once funding is agreed

When funding is agreed, an alarm system should be installed as quickly as possible to remove the need for a waking watch.

A proposed alarm must meet the required standard and costs must be reasonable

This will require the provision of a quote from an alarm installation company that is a member of the IMAF approved panel of companies. All quotes provided will be reviewed by Homes England in line with programme benchmarks.

Responsibility for fire safety remains with the Responsible Person

The responsibility for fire safety of a building always remains with the Responsible Person under the duties conferred on them by the Fire Safety Order. The provision of funding does not mean that the IMAF or any other party assumes the responsibility for the fire safety of any building where an alarm is fitted.

The building has not been awarded funds from previous schemes

You can only apply to the IMAF if your building has not already received funds or has a funding application pending with either: 

• the Interim Measures Alarm Fund 

• the Waking Watch Replacement Fund 2022 and 2023

Who can apply

You can apply for funding as a private or a social sector applicant. To apply for the IMAF, you must be:

• a Responsible Entity or Responsible Person 
• an authorised Representative of a Responsible Entity 

Eligibility

The building must:

• be located in England
• be residential or student accommodation
• be currently reliant on a waking watch strategy 
• be currently reliant on a simultaneous evacuation fire safety strategy via fire and rescue service intervention 
• either have technical documentation such as a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) or a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA) identifying the need for an interim measures alarm.

Hotels are not eligible for funding.

What can be funded

The IMAF will fund reasonable capital costs of installing a common fire alarm system.

This includes:  

• fire alarm system components (equipment, wiring, detectors, panels, and similar)
• labour and other associate installation work costs
• commissioning and testing
• the reasonable upfront capital costs of the alarm and alarm installation which may include VAT where it is irrecoverable

Fire detection and fire alarm requirements

The fund may cover the reasonable costs of installing fire detection and fire alarm systems.

The common fire alarm system should be designed to meet the recommendations of BS 5839-1 for a Category L5 system, to satisfy the specific fire safety objectives for the building based on the risks that are present.

Any fire detection and fire alarm system should be designed, installed, and commissioned by an appropriately qualified, third-party accredited competent person or persons. This alarm system should be designed to meet the standards referred to in the Simultaneous Evacuation guidance.

The fund may cover the reasonable costs of an alarm that is capable of being upgraded to the BS 8629 specification.

The Simultaneous Evacuation guidance advises that consideration should be given to installing an alarm specified to allow upgrade to a BS 8629 Emergency Evacuation Alert System once remediation or mitigation work is completed. This is because when the building reverts to a ‘Stay Put’ evacuation strategy, when remediation or other work is complete, a normal common alarm system may have to be removed as it is not compatible with a ‘Stay Put’ strategy.

Where the desired long-term outcome is for the system to be converted, the Responsible Person should discuss future conversion with a competent fire alarm engineer before the initial installation of the common fire alarm system.

It will be necessary to ‘over-engineer’ aspects of the installation in order to achieve the new build standard for an evacuation alert system for use by the Fire and Rescue Service or as a means of giving a remote warning of a fire in a flat.

The Responsible Person should take relevant technical advice and read the NFCC Simultaneous Evacuation guidance. 

What can not be funded

The IMAF will not fund:  

• waking watch costs 
• project management and administration fees
• maintenance, repair, removal, or conversion costs
• the costs of residual fire wardens, or evacuation management personnel, where they are deemed necessary even where an alarm has been installed

What is expected from funding recipients

Grant funding agreement terms mean that applicants must confirm when they enter into the agreement and when funds are paid that:

• they have disclosed all remediation or mitigation measures of which they are aware
• they have ensured these required measures are in place in the the building so the waking watch can be removed following installation of the alarm
• any additional measures that have been disclosed are achievable and propose a timescale for their completion  

If, post installation of an alarm, an applicant receives a Fire Risk Assessment or correspondence from the Fire and Rescue Service or Competent Person, requiring further remediation measures to remove or avoid a waking watch (in addition to those disclosed at the point of the application) the applicant must promptly notify the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS). They must also provide details of plans for addressing those measures within 10 business days (business days are Monday to Friday inclusive).

If additional measures have been disclosed and:

• are not undertaken within the necessary timescales
• mean that the building is subject to a Prohibition Notice within 1 year of the alarm installation

funding may, in some circumstances, need to be repaid.

Apply for funding

What happens after you apply

Applications will be reviewed by Homes England to make sure:

• they meet the legal criteria for access to the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS)
• you are the correct Responsible Entity

When a grant funding agreement is issued this will need to be signed by the Responsible Entity.