Residential building safety continues to form a central part of GFRS's protection activity, with work focused on ensuring compliance with the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and the Building Safety Act 2022. The protection team places strong emphasis on safeguarding residents in high-rise and higher-risk residential buildings, working closely with 'Accountable Persons' and 'Responsible Persons' to understand how buildings are managed and maintained. This includes reviewing building safety case information, supporting external wall assessments that are compliant with the nationally recognise standard - PAS 9980, and facilitating proportionate approaches to identifying and addressing external wall risks. Officers also play an active role in supporting the national Cladding Safety Scheme, helping responsible entities navigate the process and encouraging timely, appropriate remediation.
Reducing unwanted fire signals is an important element of daily protection work. Guided by NFCC principles, officers engage directly with businesses to understand the causes of false alarms and promote effective management arrangements. Call-challenging protocols help prevent unnecessary mobilisations, and operational response policies are continually reviewed to ensure they support efficient and safe working practices. Where persistent false alarms occur, targeted engagement, support and proportionate enforcement help duty holders improve compliance. This approach strengthens business continuity and ensures operational resources remain focused on genuine emergencies.
Business engagement is woven throughout the protection function, with officers working to strengthen building safety culture across Gloucestershire's diverse commercial and public sectors. This includes the delivery of targeted fire safety campaigns, provision of sector-specific guidance for higher-risk industries and occupancies, and close collaboration with business owners and industry partners to improve understanding of fire safety responsibilities. These activities support improved duty holder competence, promote safer workplaces and contribute to wider national priorities around resilient and sustainable economic growth.
National learning and sector developments significantly shape protection practice. The findings and recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 continue to inform local decision-making, assurance activity and approaches to residential building safety. NFCC competency frameworks guide workforce development, while insights from national incidents, themed reviews and emerging risks feed into continuous improvement. This ensures GFRS remains aligned with best practice and evolving national expectations.
Gloucestershire's unique heritage and natural environment play an important role in shaping protection priorities. Work in this area focuses on protecting historic, culturally significant and environmentally sensitive buildings through proportionate interventions and strong partnership working. This approach ensures the county's heritage assets are safeguarded while also supporting efforts to minimise environmental harm arising from poor fire safety management.