Fighting fire with a framework in 2026

With CPC offering a wide variety of compliant purchasing frameworks, there are plenty of beneficial buying categories for members to pursue, but also a number providing goods/services *essential* to the health and safety of students and staff.

One of these is the Fire Safety Equipment, Fire Alarms, Suppression Systems and Associated Services framework, presented by the North East Universities Purchasing Consortium (NEUPC), which all CPC member institutions are able to access through their free membership. Launched in 2024, the framework is managed by Anthony Warner and divided into the following lots:

Lot 1: Fire Equipment Supply and Maintenance

Lot 2: Fire Safety Inspections, Fire Risk Assessment & Consultation and Fire Safety Training

Lot 3: Fire Safety Prevention Detection, Alarms and Suppression Systems

Lot 4: Fire Safety, Fire Alarms, Suppression Systems and Associated Services Complete Solution

Each lot is serviced by six approved suppliers, ensuring institutions can benefit from choice and value-stimulating competition.

By employing this easy-to-use framework, institutions are expected to save money, time and effort alike, while enhancing their provision of potentially life-saving equipment and resources. In an environment where the stakes are high, it is truly a win-win.

While on-site fire might be a nightmare scenario, the threat of such instances is too serious and indeed too frequent to ignore.

However, with an apparent lack of clarity from policymakers fuelling some uncertainty, we implore all institutions to err on the side of extreme caution and ensure they take every step to protect those on their premises, as well as the buildings themselves.

In a March 2025 investigation by Schools Week, the school buildings expert Tim Warneford lamented how fire compliance was a "difficult issue to define", which had led to institutions wrongly assuming themselves to be appropriately compliant. Tim also described fire safety itself as “a very sticky subject no body, party or agency is particularly willing to stick their heads above the parapet for”, with reforms to public policy having been left on the backburner. A study by insulation manufacturers Rockwool had previously noted how more than 70 new schools had been built using combustible insulation, in between the banning of such materials on high-rise apartments (in wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster) and this study's publication, in 2021. By 2023, Rockwool estimated 1,000+ education buildings had been built using combustible façade materials in the space of a decade.

Underlining the very real dangers posed across the sector, Home Office figures have recounted approximately 1,500 instances each year of fire and rescue services attending on site at UK education buildings. In that period, there has been criticism of the lack of sprinkler systems installed in new builds, with insurance heavyweights Zurich Municipal analysing the risks posed to no fewer than 26,866 English primary and secondary schools. Finding the average school to pose a fire risk 1.7 greater than a non-residential building, they also determined that schools were three times more likely to fall within the 'high risk' bracket. In total, Zurich Municipal have suggested as many as 90,000 pupils every year have their education disrupted by fire-related incidents.

Much like life, fire can be considerably difficult to predict and can affect institutions (and their people) in a variety of ways. In November 2024, a 16-year-old wheelchair user from Greater Manchester was left "petrified" when a fire broke out upstairs, in spite of their school having followed the outlined legislation. This story would drive the creation of #NoStudentLeftBehind, a campaign to make evacuation chairs compulsory, with these chairs falling within the remit of our procurement framework of focus. In July, an incident on the roof of a primary school in Norfolk led to crews from four different fire stations being called out, highlighting the range of potential locations at risk. Meanwhile, a "small" fire at an Essex primary left the school without electricity this January, forcing an expected two-week closure, urgent repairs and children needing to be educated elsewhere.

Moving forward, the implications of any potential fires at UK education establishments remain both serious and multifaceted, with a January feature in Government Business sharing the thoughts of Dr. Gavin Dunn, Chief Executive of the Fire Protection Association. From the arson risks posed to unoccupied school sites in holiday periods to the "direct embodied carbon impact" from the loss of a building and its subsequent replacement, institutions have a large number of possible scenarios to consider. CPC therefore advises all members to evaluate their fire prevention abilities - and equip themselves with life-saving provisions.

Whether your institution is in need of extinguishers, fire alarms, detectors, or a range of other related equipment, NEUPC's Fire Safety Equipment, Fire Alarms, Suppression Systems and Associated Services framework can support important procurement action, with consultation, assessment, inspection and training options among the adjacent measures available via this resource.

Don't take any risks, where fire safety is involved. Ensure your provisions are up-to-date and your students and staff, protected.

For more information on the framework covered in this article, contact Anthony Warner at Crescent Purchasing Consortium or visit the dedicated page of our website here for more on this framework, connected resources and support materials. 🖱️