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Just updating a compiler could break workflows for historical versions of the code. It is unavoidable. But it is easier with build flags if you use VCS: these flags could be different for different versions.

If you store the compiler version in source control, then you don't have this problem.

Old code built with a different compiler isn't something that should be just dropped into production.

If you want to do this, you should version the build infrastructure as well as the code.

Otherwise, it's important to look at the new warnings: they might reflect changes in the generated code. Putting -Werror in your default build settings makes sure this happens before something blows up in prod.