Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service (DWFRS) fire prevention activities include working with local businesses and landlords to ensure fire safety law is understood and followed. Our core activities include fire safety inspection programmes that may lead to enforcement actions where fire safety improvement is required.
Type of data
In order to carry out these activities, DWFRS may collect the name and contact details for the following:
- responsible person of a business/commercial premises (on behalf of the business/organisation in question)
- landlord/property owner
- licensee details held under licensing legislation
- members of staff that work on behalf of third party organisations involved in the business fire safety process (such as councils, surveyors, architects, solicitors, law enforcement bodies, contractors and other agencies)
- members of the public who raise business fire safety concerns or contact us for advice
Lawful basis
We collect this information to enable us to carry out our statutory obligations under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, whereby our official duty as a public function is for the delivery of fire safety activities and enforcement actions.
Additionally, we are required to provide fire safety prevention activities under Section 6 of the Fire Services Act 2004.
Our Processing Activities
We use the data collected to carry out the following tasks:
- delivery of inspection programmes on local business/commercial premises
- responding to public concerns about business/commercial premises
- issuing statutory notices
- consultation of building regulations
- consultation on licencing applications
- promotion of fire safety advice and practices
In the event of any investigation of fraud, other criminal activity or civil proceedings, DWFRS may be obliged to disclose personal data to the relevant authorities (such as the police or Crown Prosecution Service) and/or external providers (such as legal representatives).
Collecting this information
Any personal information obtained for this process will be either provided by the individual themselves, a member of the public, from the organisation subject to the business safety activity or from other legitimate sources such as the statutory partners that we work with.
Sharing information
- To support businesses and commercial properties to comply with Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, DWFRS work directly with other organisations that also support fire safety including councils, surveyors, architects, solicitors, licensing bodies, contractors and law enforcement
We have a statutory duty to maintain and publish an Enforcement Register which is accessible on our own website. In some cases, individual names of landlords/sole traders will be published. We are also required to share this information on the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) website.
How long it’s kept
We keep audit inspection data for a maximum of seven years (or until the premises has been demolished or the fire safety order no longer applies). Where we have issued a prohibition or alterations notice, a record will be kept whilst the notice remains in force. We will not keep it for longer than is necessary. For example, if a business ceases trading; we will update our records as soon as we are made aware.
Prohibitions and enforcements will remain on our records and on the NFCC website until they are satisfactorily complied with and thereafter for three years.
If we issue a simple caution, there will be no public record but we will retain a record of it for a period of two years.