Fire safety for hotels and leisure
Effective fire safety assessments and measures are an essential part of managing hotels and leisure businesses – with the safety of guests and staff of paramount importance.
Our years of experience, and data-driven approach which harnesses new technologies, ensures that a building’s fire safety infrastructure is fit for purpose, complies with UK regulations and is regularly assessed for maintenance needs.
Such measures are vital in preventing fires from spreading, threatening lives and causing widespread damage to high-value sites containing expensive equipment and state-of-the-art facilities. The compilation of accurate floor plans for each building can also allow for swift access by emergency services, saving crucial time.
Our hotels and leisure fire safety services
From major hotels to gym and leisure complexes across the country, our specialists carry out detailed surveys and inspections and provide pre-planned maintenance solutions to keep these destinations safe.
Property owners and facilities managers will have the peace of mind that all elements such as fire doors and dampers are in efficient working order to prevent fire and smoke spreading in the event of an emergency.
Key to this is the rigorous assessments of a building’s compartmentation elements, ensuring they will withstand a fire and give crucial time to evacuate people to safety.
Our complete range of services and solutions includes:
- Compartmentation surveys – we check the compliance with the building regulations’ Approved Document B and with the chosen manufacturers’ installation details
- Fire door surveys – we use a data-driven approach to assess and monitor each fire door – and can complete the necessary work to ensure its safe operation. Clusters of multiple hotel bedrooms will be contained in a 60-minute box; there are 30-minute boxes in the hotel’s corridors
- Fire damper testing services – these safety devices must be properly maintained and tested annually to ensure they fulfill their role in creating a barrier that contains a fire in a room to prevent it from spreading
- Fire door installations: As members of the accredited certification body BM Trada, we use the UKAS-accredited scheme to complete our fire door installation and maintenance work to the highest standard.
- Fire strategy reports: We produce a strategic overview of the approach taken to demonstrate compliance with Approved Document B for retrospective and new build premises.
Call us today to find out how our experts can help ensure your hotel or leisure facility is fire safety compliant.
Fire safety regulations for hotels and leisure
The more guests a facility has, the bigger the challenge that staff face in ensuring that the guests enjoy their stay without worrying that the premises are fully fire safe – and ensure their prompt evacuation in the event of a fire.
Fire alarms and extinguishers should be regularly serviced and maintained and emergency lighting must be checked to ensure people have automatic lighting to help them to safely leave the premises.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 says a property’s ‘responsible person’ should maintain their building’s fire safety systems.
In the case of some hotels, they must also take charge of important documentation that forms part of the ‘golden thread’ – the digital record of information required to evidence compliance for higher-risk buildings under the 2022 Building Safety Act.
Fire safety challenges in hotels and leisure
Hotel and leisure buildings can face several risks, particularly as there could be a large number of people on the premises at any given time. The use of hazardous materials, including cooking oil and fats and electrical equipment can put hospitality venues at risk.
Gym or leisure centre users may be unfamiliar with the premise’s layout and guests in hotel rooms could be easily disorientated if woken by a fire alarm in the middle of the night.
To avoid potentially disastrous events like a major fire, these structures must be equipped with advanced implements to avoid such emergencies – or be fully capable of containing them.
Fire safety training for hotel staff
Fire safety and compliance with HSE regulations and guidance are essential elements of running a successful hotel or leisure facility.
Staff should be regularly trained in fire safety practices – and this training should form an important part of a new staff member’s induction. In larger premises, fire wardens should be appointed for each area – taking into account shift patterns – and fire drills should be regularly carried out.
Fire safety signage, indicating the route to the nearest fire exit and assembly point, should be clearly displayed in prominent positions and potentially vulnerable people, such as the elderly and children, should have been identified.
Frequently asked questions
Why is fire safety important in the hotel industry?
All hotel guests – whether staying for business or pleasure – should feel they are in a safe haven where they can rest assured that the building’s infrastructure is fire safety compliant.
Safety features such as fire doors can undergo a great deal of wear and tear – with many guests coming and going, potentially knocking into them and causing damage that compromises their safe functioning.
Other elements such as lighting and electrical equipment in hotel rooms should be regularly tested. Suitable bins and ashtrays should also be provided in outdoor areas for smokers to safely stub out and dispose of their cigarettes.
Hotel owners and managers know their guests’ safety is paramount and must be confident that their fire safety processes have been regularly tested and can be trusted.
How often should fire inspections take place in the hotel and leisure industry?
It is vitally important that the building’s owners and the designated ‘responsible person’ arrange regular inspections by qualified, competent professionals to ensure features such as fire doors and dampers are fully compliant with fire safety regulations.
Fire dampers - safety devices that create a barrier to contain a fire in a room – must be properly maintained and tested annually to ensure they work in an emergency.
Meanwhile, the regular testing of fire doors depends on where they are situated. Those in busy, communal areas must be checked quarterly, while entrance doors for buildings over 11m must be inspected at least annually. Fire doors in hotel and leisure facilities must never be blocked or wedged open.
Why choose us for your hotels and leisure fire safety requirements?
Here at Fire Consultancy Specialists, we are passionate about providing solutions to clients that recognise the importance of keeping buildings and people safe from fire.
From fire stopping and fire doors surveys and fire-rated glazing to inspecting a building during the construction stages, we ensure compliance at the very start.
Having worked on hotel and leisure buildings across the country, our data-driven approach improves efficiencies and provides the detailed analytics that keeps a building’s fire infrastructure safe and secure and adhering to the highest regulatory standards.
Our accreditations
Affiliation Of Fire Door Inspectors:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is also a proud member of the AFDI, a not-for-profit organisation that exists to promote best practices among professional fire door inspectors. Constructionline Gold / CHAS & SafeContractor highlights FCS’s dedication to H&S.
BM Trada fire door maintenance and installations:
Fire Consultancy Specialists is approved under the BM Trada Q Mark scheme which is UKAS 3rd party accredited to complete fire door condition surveys under the BM Trada certification scheme. This involves an assessment of the company’s processes and procedures, as well as the skills and qualifications of its personnel. The assessment covers areas such as fire door inspections, repair and maintenance, installations and documentation and record-keeping.
Contact us today to discuss our hotels and leisure fire safety services:
We strive to be in constant communication with our clients. To discuss, just drop us a line. We look forward to working with your business.