Guests are asleep in a building they saw for the first time that afternoon. They do not know where the second staircase is, they will head for the front door they came in through, and a proportion of them will have been drinking. Sleeping accommodation carries the highest risk profile in the Fire Safety Order for exactly these reasons, and fire and rescue authorities inspect it accordingly. We assess hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, inns with letting rooms and serviced apartments.
The whole assessment is built on the assumption that guests do not know the building — because they do not.
What happens between midnight and six, with the staffing you actually have, is the part that decides whether the strategy works.
A dated, recorded assessment with a prioritised action plan, alongside the alarm, lighting and drill records that get asked for on the day.
A hotel at two in the afternoon is a straightforward building. At two in the morning it is a set of sealed rooms containing sleeping strangers, with one or two staff on duty. The assessment has to be written for the second building, not the first.
Escape routes from every bedroom, including the alternative route · Bedroom door condition and closer function throughout · Detection and alarm coverage, and audibility in bedrooms · Emergency lighting on all escape routes and external final exits · Kitchen extraction, cleaning regime and suppression · Laundry and plant rooms · Night staffing against realistic sweep and evacuation time · Arrangements for guests who cannot self-evacuate · Function rooms, bars and any late licence · Staff training, drills and the night-shift briefing · The emergency plan and whether a new starter could follow it.
The visit covers guest floors room by room, then the areas guests never see — which is where the fires start.
Both routes from every bedroom, checked for obstruction, signage visible from the bedroom door, and final exits that actually open.
Condition, gaps, seals, hinges and closer function on every door protecting the escape route.
Coverage in rooms, corridors, voids, kitchen and plant — and whether the alarm would wake a sleeping guest behind a closed door.
Ductwork grease accumulation and cleaning records, fryer protection, interlocks, and separation from accommodation above.
Tumble dryer lint, boiler and plant rooms, electrical intake — the unglamorous rooms where a disproportionate number of these fires begin.
Whether accessible rooms are positioned sensibly, and whether a plan exists before the guest checks in rather than after the alarm sounds.
Consistent across independent hotels, guest houses and pubs with letting rooms alike.
Understandable during a change-over, dangerous if it becomes habit or if the closer is removed to make it permanent.
Linen trolleys, spare furniture and stacked chairs on the protected route, usually on the floor guests use least.
Often years overdue, frequently with no record of when it was last done, and directly beneath the bedrooms.
A daytime drill with full staff tells you very little about a two-person night shift.
Fire and rescue authorities treat premises where people sleep as a priority for inspection, and enforcement in this sector is well documented — prohibition notices restricting the use of bedroom floors are used where escape arrangements are inadequate, and a notice of that kind takes rooms out of service immediately. Non-compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 is a criminal offence carrying unlimited fines and, in serious cases, up to two years’ imprisonment. Booking platforms and insurers increasingly ask for evidence of a current assessment as well.
Property type, rough size, number of storeys and what it is used for is enough for us to quote. Survey within days, and your written report within 48 hours of the visit.