By Robert Matthews, Head of Housing – South at Hispec
Housing providers are being asked to achieve a lot with their fire-safety budgets. For those responsible for hundreds or thousands of homes, even relatively small decisions can have a significant impact when applied across an entire portfolio.
For me, making a fire-safety budget work harder starts with looking at where savings can be made across the whole programme.
That means considering not only a competitive product price, but the time and labour involved in installation, how efficiently the system can be managed and whether those savings can help providers achieve a higher level of protection across their housing stock.
That shift in thinking can open up opportunities to make budgets work harder without compromising on resident safety.
Small efficiencies matter at scale
Installation is a good example.
The time taken to fit, interlink and commission alarms might not seem particularly significant when you’re looking at one property. Multiply that across hundreds or thousands of homes and it becomes a very different calculation.
Wireless interlinking can reduce the need for interlink cabling in appropriate applications, while simpler fitting and pairing processes can help reduce time spent in each property.
This was one of the considerations behind Hispec’s Pulse range, which has been developed specifically with large-scale housing programmes in mind.
Pulse’s RF-PRO Wireless Module, for example, uses a 2.5-minute pairing window in which multiple units can be paired. Reducing unnecessary waiting time during installation can contribute to labour efficiencies when repeated across a large programme.
For occupied properties, there is another consideration too: resident disruption. Anything that can make an installation more straightforward and reduce time spent in people’s homes is worth considering.
Could the same budget deliver greater protection?
This is where I think the conversation becomes particularly interesting.
Cost efficiency is not about reducing the number of homes covered. Mandatory fire-safety requirements must be met across every property. Instead, it is about considering whether the same investment could support a higher level of protection across the portfolio.
Take the difference between LD3 and LD2 protection. LD3 focuses detection on escape routes, while LD2 extends detection into higher-risk rooms such as kitchens and living rooms.
For a housing provider managing a large portfolio, meeting the relevant requirements across every property is non-negotiable. However, product and installation costs can influence how far the available budget stretches, including whether more homes can be upgraded from LD3 to LD2 protection.
We’ve already seen what’s possible when those economics change. Hispec’s Pulse catalogue references a housing association that moved thousands of homes from LD3 to LD2 while working within the same budget that had previously provided LD3 coverage.
That’s the kind of outcome I think matters: making the available investment work harder to improve protection across more homes.
The calculation shouldn’t stop at installation
There’s also a longer-term question.
Once alarms have been installed across hundreds or thousands of properties, they need to be inspected, maintained and managed.
Technology can make that easier. Pulse includes SafeSpec™ data extraction technology, providing access to alarm data, maintenance reporting and compliance information.
That means the specification process shouldn’t only consider what happens on installation day. Housing providers should also be asking how practical the system will be to manage throughout its lifetime.
Value means looking at the whole programme
Every housing portfolio is different and there isn’t a single solution that’s right for every programme.
But I think there is a simple principle worth applying: with Pulse, value goes beyond a competitive product price.
Alongside the initial product cost, consider installation time, labour, resident disruption, ongoing management and, most importantly, the level of protection the available budget can achieve.
Making a fire-safety budget work harder shouldn’t mean compromising on safety. It should mean getting the greatest possible value and protection from the investment available.
Planning a fire-detection upgrade?
Hispec’s Pulse range has been developed around the practical requirements of large-scale housing programmes, from installation and wireless interlinking through to ongoing alarm management.