David Simpson, Group Product Director of Drax Technology, explains how digital monitoring provides the real time assurance now expected in the UK build to rent sector
Across the UK’s rapidly growing build-to-rent (BTR) sector, fire safety compliance is undergoing a shift driven by scale, regulation and data.
The UK’s BTR stock now exceeds 147,000 completed homes, with a further 50,000 under construction and 100,000 in planning (Savills).
As portfolios expand across dozens of buildings and thousands of units, maintaining oversight and demonstrating fire safety compliance becomes increasingly complex.
Traditional methods such as paper logs, spreadsheets and periodic inspections are increasingly fragmented and struggle to deliver the transparency regulators, investors and residents demand at portfolio scale.
Fire safety in residential portfolios has become a data problem.
Digital systems provide the only realistic means of delivering real-time visibility, verifiable records and portfolio-wide assurance at scale.
Digital tools replace manual inspection records, reduce risk, improve efficiency and ensure compliance can be demonstrated continuously.
Regulation driving continuous oversight
The Building Safety Act has reframed fire safety management as a continuous process supported by reliable data.
For large BTR operators, this means maintaining consistent, auditable oversight of fire detection systems, inspection regimes, fault rectification and contractor activity across entire portfolios rather than relying on periodic inspection alone.
For those responsible for the safety performance of thousands of homes, the hardest risk to manage is often the one hidden between inspections.
If you cannot answer in real time whether a system is working as intended, there is no assurance.
That exposure is regulatory and commercial.
In a post-Grenfell regulatory landscape, transparency has become the baseline expectation.
BTR operators unable to provide auditable evidence of compliance face increasing regulatory and commercial scrutiny.
Investors in BTR assets are scrutinising the quality of fire safety data, treating it as an indicator of asset value, operational resilience and the reliability of long-term income.
Properties unable to provide verifiable safety assurance risk attracting closer inspection and losing investor confidence.
Gaps in records introduce uncertainty that can delay transactions, complicate due diligence and increase legal exposure.
Limits of paper-based compliance
For decades, the fire safety industry has relied on paper-based systems with logs stored across spreadsheets, PDFs and siloed platforms.
These create blind spots that make it difficult to maintain an accurate picture across multiple buildings.
Human error compounds the problem, meaning inspections can be missed, entries left incomplete and faults going unaddressed.
A tick in a spreadsheet may show that a test was recorded, yet it provides little assurance that it was completed correctly or that the device functioned as intended.
This disconnect between recorded compliance and actual system performance is where unmanaged risk accumulates.
From a boardroom perspective, the most uncomfortable conversations are about questions leadership teams cannot answer with evidence.
With digital systems, every alarm test can be logged automatically, giving the Accountable Person auditable proof of what has been done, when and by whom.
Governance-grade reporting allows asset managers, boards and investment committees to move from anecdotal reassurance to measurable oversight.
Data revealing compliance gaps
Audit data shows that only a fraction of buildings have completed all fire safety checks in line with legislation.
In some cases, sites had no verifiable record of testing.
In many organisations there is limited awareness of the risks created by manual record-keeping or how digital monitoring systems can address them.
In most cases, non-compliance reflects a lack of visibility.
Effective intervention becomes possible once risk is clearly identified.
Integrated fire alarm management platforms centralise alarm data, automate reporting and create audit-ready records that scale from single buildings to complex portfolios.
Analysis of official fire and rescue service data identified nearly 500 fires in tall buildings where smoke alarms failed to activate.
In 17 incidents alarms had missing or defective batteries, while 21 incidents involved alarms that were faulty or incorrectly installed.
Without centralised visibility of alarm performance, these deficiencies remain hidden.
Platforms such as SafeVue are designed for continuous fire alarm monitoring, tracking alarm activity, fault conditions and device status so issues can be identified and addressed before they escalate.
False alarms and operational strain
Research indicates around 22,000 unnecessary emergency callouts each year in medium and high-rise buildings.
These incidents place strain on emergency services, disrupt residents and generate unplanned costs.
In many cases, the cause is fragmented documentation that makes it difficult to diagnose recurring issues or demonstrate remedial action.
Digital oversight enables genuine incidents to be distinguished from repeat false activations, allowing earlier intervention and reduced callouts.
This prevents minor issues escalating from a £1,000 fix into a £10,000 operational problem.
Digital oversight as governance requirement
Digital fire safety solutions shift compliance from a reactive process into a portfolio-wide management practice, providing the visibility modern operators and regulators expect.
Digital tools have become a core requirement because the absence of reliable information creates risk.
Digital fire safety is now a governance responsibility.
In a post-Grenfell environment, senior leaders are judged on the evidence they can provide.
Visibility has become a measure of accountability.
Operators who adopt technology to demonstrate compliance, operational resilience and reliable oversight are setting the benchmark for the UK’s expanding BTR sector.