Purpose

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources for the full budget requirement for the Civic Centre Fire Alarm upgrade project.

Decision

(i)  To approve the addition and spend of £2.96M (£0.20M 2026/27, £1.75M 2027/28 and £1.01M 2028/29) to the Growth & Prosperity programme for the Civic Centre Fire Alarm. To be funded by Council Resources.

Reasons for the decision

1.  The Civic Centre is the Council's most valuable asset with an estimated

reinstatement value of £250M. An upgraded fire alarm system would prioritise the provision of the earliest possible fire detection and warning for users of the building providing overarching mitigation. 

2.  An upgraded fire alarm system will further deliver a functional L1 fire alarm system, compliant with BS 5839:2025.  The existing fire alarm system is an L2 fire alarm system.

3.  An upgraded fire alarm system delivers other benefits including:

a)  Reduction in maintenance costs and reactive callouts associated with the existing system; and

b)  A new open protocol system will allow a range of suppliers to maintain the new system which will be more cost effective and provides more competitive pricing as compared to managed protocol systems (this is the current system at Civic Centre) and where limited accredited suppliers are available.

Alternative options considered

Main Alternative Options Considered:

• Extending the hard-wired fire detection coverage to areas of Civic Centre

that are currently not covered to attain the coverage needed to reach L1

standards and assess wiring condition and replace as needed: Rejected

due to various reasons, including software compatibility issues with the

existing system, limited capacity on existing fire alarm loops and attempting to

extend the existing system was considered likely to result in greater cost,

programme delays and operational disruption, with no certainty that full L1

certification and BS 5839:2025 compliance could be achieved. 

• Do Nothing: Rejected due to the project’s health and safety implications.

Failure to progress the upgrade works would leave the Council operating

contrary to its adopted Fire Strategy and Fire Risk Assessments (FRA’s).