Hertfordshire & Buckinghamshire

Fire Safety Compliance & Maintenance in Borehamwood

Fire risk assessments, fire alarm servicing, extinguisher servicing and security system maintenance for Borehamwood and Elstree premises, from Elstree Way offices to Shenley Road shops and studio sites.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service challenges automatic fire alarm calls, the town holds three film and television production sites, and a Hertsmere evidence paper counts 105 confirmed and suspected HMOs across four Borehamwood wards.

Our engineers and assessors work from our Hayes head office and reach Borehamwood by the M25, which passes about two miles north of the town. IDS Global was established in 2011 and is a member of the IFSM and the FPA.

Businesses and buildings in Borehamwood

Hertsmere Borough Council records that Borehamwood grew after Elstree Station opened in 1868, gained manufacturing from 1914 and expanded again in the 1950s with London overspill housing. The town centre now supports shops, offices and light industry. Its main employment land runs along Elstree Way and Stirling Way, and Hertsmere's Article 4 directions, effective in modified form from 25 May 2023, require planning permission before commercial buildings there are converted to homes. The same protection covers Wrotham Business Park, Borehamwood Enterprise Centre and Theobald Court, and in Elstree, Centennial Park and Lismirrane Industrial Park.

Screen production sets Borehamwood apart. Elstree Studios on Shenley Road has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Hertsmere Borough Council since 1996, with nine stages totalling over 90,000 sq ft, a backlot, and a BBC Studioworks television facility on the same site. Sky Studios Elstree on Rowley Lane has 13 sound stages of 10,000 to 30,000 sq ft, with its final stage opened in March 2023. The BBC Elstree Centre, between Eldon Avenue and Clarendon Road, was sold to the BBC in 1984 to produce EastEnders.

Fire Risk Assessments in Borehamwood

A studio site combining sound stages, workshops, dressing rooms and production offices raises different questions from a unit on Stirling Way or a flat above a Shenley Road shop. Where set construction and storage share a building with offices, the assessment has to cover changing layouts and fire loading. Where several companies occupy one building, Article 22 of the Fire Safety Order requires every responsible person to cooperate and coordinate.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service says every business must have a fire risk assessment and keep a full written copy on the premises, and recommends a competent assessor for complicated layouts or processes. We carry out assessments under the Fire Safety Order and provide a written action plan ranked by priority.

Fire risk assessments

Fire Alarm Servicing in Borehamwood

Because HFRS control staff challenge automatic alarm calls (see below), a building's fire alarm and its on-site response procedure need to work reliably. HMICFRS lists premises generating unwanted fire signals among the medium-risk buildings crews check every five years.

We service and test existing fire alarm systems to BS 5839, including device testing, cause and effect checks, fault finding and log book entries. Where false alarms recur, we review detector types and locations against activity such as dust, haze or steam.

Fire alarm servicing

Fire Extinguisher Servicing in Borehamwood

HFRS guidance says fire extinguishers should be tested annually by a competent service engineer and that a test certificate helps a business show compliance. Workshops, storage units and studio support buildings along Elstree Way may need different extinguisher types for different hazards.

We carry out annual extinguisher servicing, check that each extinguisher suits the risk where it stands, and issue a certificate for your records.

Fire extinguisher servicing

CCTV and Intruder Alarm Maintenance in Borehamwood

The police.uk figures below record shoplifting, vehicle crime and burglary in and around the town centre. Existing CCTV and intruder alarms at Shenley Road shops and estate units only help if cameras are focused, recordings are retained and detectors respond.

We maintain and repair existing CCTV, intruder alarms, access control and gates: checking image quality and recording, testing detectors and batteries, and servicing door controllers and gate safety devices. Existing systems can also be connected to alarm monitoring for an out-of-hours response.

CCTV, intruder alarm and access control maintenance

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and automatic fire alarms

Borehamwood Fire Station on Elstree Way is a full-time station crewed 24 hours a day. HMICFRS's inspection report on the service, published on 11 February 2025, found that control staff had improved call challenging of automatic fire alarms: in the year ending 31 March 2024, HFRS did not attend 52.6% of automatic alarm calls (2,166 of 4,120), up from 42.8% the year before. The report says a trial of non-response to offices and retail premises cut mobilisations by 59% for offices and 35% for shops, and that the service was taking further measures to achieve a 20-minute delayed response, estimated to remove around 650 calls a year. An activation may be questioned before an engine is sent, so staff need to know who checks the cause and who calls 999.

HMO licensing and HMO growth in Hertsmere

Hertsmere Borough Council licenses HMOs occupied by five or more people forming two or more households, including flats and maisonettes above shops. It checks that the landlord is fit and proper and that the property suits the number of occupiers. 2026 fees start at £1,306 for up to five people. A consultation draft evidence paper dated 23 April 2026 counts 105 confirmed and suspected HMOs in Borehamwood across Brookmeadow, Cowley Hill, Hillside and Kenilworth wards, and identifies clustering in Brookmeadow and Hillside. The Article 4 direction it describes applies to four Potters Bar wards, not Borehamwood.

Elstree Village and conservation controls

Hertsmere has 15 conservation areas. Within them, demolishing a substantial building needs consent, and some works that are normally permitted development need planning permission. Elstree Village is one of these areas, and the council has confirmed an Article 4 direction there, so certain minor external changes that would elsewhere be permitted now need an application. Owners planning visible external changes there should check with the council's planning team first.

Crime in and around Borehamwood town centre

For Hertfordshire Constabulary's Borehamwood and Elstree neighbourhood, within about a mile of the Shenley Road area, police.uk street-level data records approximately 3,785 crimes and anti-social behaviour incidents between August 2025 and July 2026, including 279 shoplifting offences, 164 vehicle crimes and 144 burglaries. Monthly shoplifting varied between 8 and 37 offences over the period. Locations in police.uk data are approximate.

Services available in Borehamwood

Frequently asked questions

Will Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service attend an automatic alarm at my Borehamwood premises?

Not necessarily. HMICFRS reported in February 2025 that HFRS control staff challenge automatic fire alarm calls, and in the year to March 2024 the service did not attend 52.6% of them. Your fire risk assessment should set out who investigates an activation, how quickly, and who calls 999 if there is any sign of fire.

Does my Borehamwood HMO need a licence from Hertsmere?

If five or more people forming two or more households live there and share facilities, yes. Mandatory licensing applies to houses, flats and parts of buildings of any size, including maisonettes over shops, and the council's page lists no additional or selective scheme. It also notes that an HMO with more than six occupants may need planning permission as well as a licence.

Can offices on Elstree Way be converted to flats without planning permission?

No. Hertsmere's Article 4 directions for employment areas, in modified form effective from 25 May 2023, remove the permitted development rights for converting commercial buildings to homes on Elstree Way and Stirling Way and several other named sites. A change of use needs a planning application, and a building converted to flats should have its fire risk assessment reviewed for the new use.

How often should fire extinguishers be serviced in a Borehamwood business?

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service advises that extinguishers are tested annually by a competent service engineer, with a test certificate as evidence of compliance. The same guidance says HFRS cannot dispose of defective or unwanted extinguishers and points owners to the manufacturer or supplier, some of which run take-back schemes.