Hotel Fire Risk Assessments

Legal responsibilities for fire safety in hotels

Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which applies in England and Wales, the responsible person for a hotel is legally required to ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is in place and kept up to date. The responsible person is typically the owner, operator, or general manager.

Hotels fall within the category of premises providing sleeping accommodation, which carries a higher expected standard of fire precautions than premises without overnight guests. The assessment must be carried out by a competent person with relevant experience.

Premises in Scotland and Northern Ireland are subject to separate but equivalent legislation. For a full overview of what the law requires, see our fire risk assessment legal requirements page.

Our fire risk assessment process for hotels

Our assessors follow a structured process tailored to the specific demands of guest accommodation:

• Identifying fire hazards: Locating potential sources of fire across bedrooms, kitchens, plant rooms, laundry facilities, and public areas.
• Risk evaluation: Determining the likelihood and potential impact of a fire, with particular focus on the sleeping risk to guests and the adequacy of the evacuation strategy.
• Reviewing existing provisions: Assessing current fire detection, compartmentation, escape routes, signage, and emergency lighting against the required standard for sleeping accommodation, and advising where they fall short.
• Emergency planning: Providing an emergency plan template for you to adapt to your premises.
• Checking staff training and drills: Confirming that fire safety training is being undertaken and logged, and that drills are taking place at an appropriate frequency, including arrangements for night staff.

What we review in a hotel fire risk assessment

Following the assessment, we review existing provisions and make recommendations based on current guidance to ensure the hotel meets the required standard for sleeping accommodation. This typically covers:

• Fire detection and warning: Reviewing the alarm and detection system to confirm it provides adequate coverage for sleeping risk, including detection within bedrooms.
• Compartmentation: Checking that fire-resisting construction between bedrooms, corridors, and other areas is intact, including the condition of fire doors and their intumescent strips and smoke seals.
• Escape routes: Confirming that escape routes are protected, clearly signed, and suitable for guests who do not know the building.
• Emergency lighting and signage: Reviewing emergency lighting coverage and the presence and positioning of fire safety signage throughout guest and public areas.
• Guest information: Confirming that clear fire action notices are provided in bedrooms and that the information matches the building’s actual evacuation arrangements.
• Staff training and drills: Ensuring fire safety training is being undertaken and logged, and that drills are being conducted and recorded.
• Fire safety equipment: Reviewing the type, location, and condition of firefighting equipment across the premises.

Guest safety and staff preparedness

Hotels carry a specific legal duty to provide guests with clear information about what to do in the event of a fire. This usually takes the form of a fire action notice in each bedroom, setting out the action to take on hearing the alarm and the assembly point. For buildings with a complex layout, a plan showing the escape routes is also good practice. We review whether this information is present, accurate, and consistent with the emergency plan for the building.

Staff preparedness is equally important. Hotel staff are often the people who will raise the alarm, assist guests, and check rooms during an evacuation, and overnight this may fall to a very small team. As part of the assessment, we review whether fire safety training is being carried out and properly recorded, and whether evacuation drills account for reduced night-time staffing. Where gaps are identified, our report will include specific recommendations. If your hotel requires formal fire warden training, we can help with that separately.

How often should a hotel fire risk assessment be renewed?

There is no fixed statutory interval, but the responsible person must ensure the assessment remains valid and reflects the current state of the premises.

In a hotel, a new fire risk assessment is likely to be needed following:

• A refurbishment or change to the layout of bedrooms, public areas, or escape routes.
• A change in the use of any part of the building, such as adding a function suite, spa, or additional bedrooms.
• A change in occupancy levels or the introduction of new facilities.
• A fire incident or near miss on the premises.
• A change in the responsible person or management structure.

Given the sleeping risk involved, our assessor will typically recommend a new fire risk assessment annually for most hotels. Where a hotel is very well managed and risks are well controlled, the assessor may advise a biennial fire risk assessment alongside an internal review carried out by management in the intervening year.

Hotel fire risk assessment FAQs