The letter looks worse than it usually is. Most notices are a list of specific fixes with a deadline. The ones to worry about say ‘prohibition’. Ring us and read us the wording.
The fire service thinks the premises are, or could become, a serious risk if things change. It obliges you to tell them before you alter the building or its use. It does not usually demand immediate work.
The common one. It says you have failed to comply with the Fire Safety Order, lists what is wrong — often the absence of a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment — and gives a deadline, normally at least 28 days. Missing the deadline is an offence.
The serious one. The risk to people is judged so grave that use of all or part of the premises is prohibited or restricted, with immediate effect if the notice says so. Sleeping accommodation with no working alarm or a blocked escape is the typical trigger.
We read the notice with you, visit quickly, and write the assessment so that its action plan maps one-to-one onto the items in the notice. That gives you a document to send back to Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service that shows each point addressed or programmed. Where the notice is about the assessment being missing or inadequate, that is usually the whole job. Where building work is needed, the assessment sets out what is required so contractors quote for the right thing and not for the most expensive thing.
MAWWFRS runs a risk-based audit programme and keeps a public register of notices. Sleeping accommodation, premises with a history, and complaints are how most audits arise. A notice is not a criminal conviction; a prosecution is what follows if a notice is ignored. The businesses that get prosecuted are almost always the ones that did nothing.
Related: What happens in a fire service audit · Fire safety law in Wales · What happens when we visit
The notice states the period, which must be at least 28 days. You can ask the fire service for longer if you can show a credible programme, particularly for building work. Do not let the deadline pass silently.
Yes, to the magistrates' court within 21 days of the notice being served. An appeal suspends an enforcement notice but not a prohibition notice. In practice most notices list things that are wrong and are better complied with than argued.
Not for receiving a notice. Prosecution follows failure to comply, or a serious breach that put people at risk. Prompt, documented compliance is the best protection there is.
Either there was no recorded assessment, or the one you have does not properly identify the hazards and people at risk or does not show what has been done about them. A fresh assessment from a competent person, with a clear action plan, is the fix.
Tell us the building and we will give you a fixed price on the phone. Most assessments are booked within the week.