Note for Guidance

The Fire Safety Advice Centre

Small Premises Providing Sleeping Accommodation

Introduction

Small premises providing sleeping accommodation including small Bed Breakfasts and Guest Houses have not since the introduction of the Fire Precautions Act been required to have the same standards, of those premises that required to have a Fire Certificate. When the "Regulatory Reform Fire Safety Order" came into force on 1 October 2006 this changed and all premises were subject to the same requirements and all premises providing sleeping accommodation with the onus on every owner to assess his/her own risk and responsibility, by carrying out a Fire Risk Assessment (FRA).

It has become clear that different Fire and Rescue Services throughout the country have different interpretations, and very different ideas about standards and enforcement. As the explicit purpose of the RRFSO is to make the law easier to understand and comply with and reduces the burden of regulations on business, it was clearly not intended that the results would be more onerous for small businesses and householders than the previous regime - but in fact this is not proving to be the case in practice.

Many owners are being told by their local Fire Authority that they must install fire precautions of the sort that would have been required for much larger premises consequently many owners are finding that:

• the precautions demanded by fire inspectors in many areas are disproportionate to the risks posed by the premises and their use
• the financial cost of compliance is disproportionate to their turnover and profits
• the changes required by their fire department would compromise the character of their premises
• the changes may be difficult to obtain planning/listed building consent for,
• they are told that the less costly precautions their own FRA indicated are not sufficient
• the precautions required by their fire department are those designed for large commercial premises such as hotels

As a consequence the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Have produced a guidance document called Do you have paying Guests. It provides information how small premises providing sleeping accommodation on complying with the fire safety law. Another Guidance document may be of use you will find on the LACoRS website and is called Housing Fire Safety: Guidance on fire safety provisions for certain types of existing housing.

This handout provides a general overview and basic information on this topic. It may not apply to everyone, consequently to find out if this guide applies to you and to get more information on this subject, study all the relevant legislation, guides and British/European Standards. Also you should seek advice from an expert on the subject or your local Fire Safety Officer or Fire Safety Professional.

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Merseyside Fire Liaison Panel. Permission is granted to print and photocopy this material for nonprofit educational uses.

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This page was last checked and modified on Thursday, 8 July, 2010 22:26