Berkshire

Fire Safety Compliance & Maintenance in Wokingham

Fire risk assessments, fire alarm servicing, fire door inspections and security system maintenance for offices, landlords, care providers and retailers in Wokingham, Winnersh and Finchampstead.

Wokingham Borough Council's draft Local Plan Update names Wokingham the borough's only major town centre, and protects Molly Millars, Toutley, Hogwood and Winnersh Triangle as Core Employment Areas. Most of the work here is keeping existing buildings compliant: shops with homes above, business park offices, care homes and shared houses.

IDS Global has traded since 2011 from 27-37 Station Road, Hayes, and is a member of the IFSM and the FPA. We reach RG40 and RG41 along the M4 to junction 10.

Businesses and buildings in Wokingham

The council's draft plan lists Winnersh as a district centre with its own primary shopping area, and its town centre policy asks for prominent shopfronts to be kept, offices and homes to be provided in the centre, upper floors to be developed and the evening offer to grow. Where shops, restaurants and residents share one building, the escape routes, alarm zoning and fire doors have to be assessed together.

Ten Core Employment Areas are listed across the borough. Four sit in this area: Molly Millars and Toutley Industrial Estates in Wokingham, Hogwood Industrial Estate in Finchampstead and Winnersh Triangle Business Park. The plan says recent new employment floorspace has centred on film studio space, at Winnersh Triangle and Shinfield, and that office stock has shrunk partly through permitted conversions to homes. The plan was submitted for examination on 28 February 2025.

Fire Risk Assessments in Wokingham

Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service says in its Wokingham Borough Local Safety Plan that its inspectors work with the council so that office to flat conversions comply with the Fire Safety Order, and that they inspect premises on a risk based programme. Wokingham's regeneration has put homes next to shops, a cinema and a hotel at Elms Field, and apartments at Carnival Place, so mixed occupancy is now ordinary in the centre.

We assess the commercial unit, any residential part and the escape routes they share. You receive a written action plan ranked by priority, so the responsible person has a current record to work from.

Fire risk assessments

Fire Alarm Servicing in Wokingham

The Service attended 1,159 incidents in the borough in 2022. Of those, 526 were false alarms, against 315 fires. Its plan commits to challenging calls from automatic detection before sending crews. Regular servicing of detectors, panels and sounders to BS 5839 is the practical response.

Care homes such as Glebelands on Woolf Drive and Bluebell House on Barkham Road have residents sleeping on site around the clock, which sets a different test schedule and logbook from a Winnersh Triangle office.

Fire alarm servicing

Fire Door Inspections in Wokingham

Glebelands House is a converted Grade II listed building with 42 bedrooms, and the town also has shared houses and flats above shops. In converted or extended buildings, every door on an escape route sits in a compartment line that has to hold.

We inspect leaf, frame, seals, closers, hinges and gaps door by door, log each one with a reference and photograph, and report repairs in priority order. The council's HMO guidance says the fire protection needed varies with each property.

Fire door inspections

CCTV and Intruder Alarm Maintenance in Wokingham

Police.uk data for Wokingham Town records about 165 shoplifting offences and 120 vehicle crimes in twelve months, and the town's industrial estates and business parks sit alongside its shops. A camera out of focus or a recorder that has stopped retaining footage fails when it is needed.

We maintain CCTV, intruder alarms and access control on retail, industrial and office premises: cleaning and aligning cameras, checking recording and retention, testing detectors and signalling, and reporting faults in writing.

CCTV, intruder alarm and access control maintenance

Town centre regeneration and the Market Place

The council's regeneration ran from 2010 to 2025. Peach Place opened in April 2019 on the site of a 1960s arcade, Elms Field added 126 homes, a Premier Inn, an Everyman cinema and an Aldi around a new park, and in late 2025 the last piece, 55 apartments at Carnival Place opposite Carnival Hub, was completed.

Older buildings stand close by. The Grade II* Town Hall on Market Place opened in 1860 and housed the town's fire station until July 1990. The borough has 16 conservation areas. On a listed frontage we agree equipment positions with the owner and check with the council before anything is fixed.

HMO licensing in Wokingham Borough

The council licenses shared houses under the mandatory scheme: five or more occupiers from two or more households sharing amenities, regardless of storeys, since 1 October 2018. Operating a licensable house without a licence is an offence, and the council's 2026 to 2027 fees, from 1 April 2026, are £1,551 for a new licence and £1,038 for a renewal.

An application must include a fire alarm testing certificate or maintenance declaration and an emergency lighting certificate, so a dated service record is part of the paperwork.

Recorded crime in Wokingham Town, Winnersh and Finchampstead

We counted police.uk street-level crimes inside three Thames Valley Police neighbourhood boundaries for August 2025 to July 2026. Police.uk anonymises locations, so the figures are approximate. Wokingham Town recorded about 1,501 crimes, including 165 shoplifting, 120 vehicle crimes and 63 burglaries. Winnersh recorded about 976, with 93 shoplifting, 45 vehicle crimes and 44 burglaries. Finchampstead recorded about 683, with 62 shoplifting, 41 vehicle crimes and 27 burglaries.

Wokingham fire station and local incident figures

Wokingham fire station at 13 Easthampstead Road, RG40, is a wholetime station that opened in September 2011 after a £1.5 million rebuild, replacing a station that only gave daytime cover. It has one fire engine, and the Service's plan describes it as providing 24-hour cover for the borough.

The plan sets a Berkshire-wide aim of a first engine within 10 minutes of the call being answered on 75 per cent of occasions. It also records 92 deliberate primary fires in five years, 14 per cent of them vehicle fires.

Services available in Wokingham

Frequently asked questions

Does a shared house in Wokingham need an HMO licence?

It does if five or more people from two or more households live there and share a kitchen, bathroom or toilet, whatever the number of storeys. From 1 April 2026 the fee is £1,551 for a new licence and £1,038 for a renewal.

What fire safety evidence does Wokingham Borough Council ask for on an HMO application?

The council lists a fire alarm testing certificate or maintenance declaration and an emergency lighting certificate among the items to submit, alongside a floor plan, gas safety certificate and an electrical report. We service and test alarms and emergency lighting and give you dated certificates and logbook entries to attach.

Do you cover Winnersh Triangle and the industrial estates?

Yes. We assess, service and inspect premises across RG40 and RG41, including Winnersh Triangle Business Park, Molly Millars and Toutley Industrial Estates in Wokingham and Hogwood Industrial Estate in Finchampstead. We travel from Hayes along the M4 to junction 10 and the A329(M).

Is Wokingham fire station staffed full time?

Yes. It is a wholetime station on Easthampstead Road with one fire engine, and Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service's plan describes it as giving 24-hour cover. Its 2022 figures show 526 false alarms among 1,159 incidents.

Can you assess a listed or conservation area building in Wokingham?

Yes. A fire risk assessment or door inspection does not alter the building, and we word any recommendation with the fabric in mind. The Town Hall on Market Place is Grade II* listed and the borough has 16 conservation areas, so we advise checking with the council before anything is fixed to a protected frontage.