Guests asleep in your
building at 3am.
Fire safety that reflects that reality.
Hotels, B&Bs, pubs with rooms, restaurants, and event venues present a fire risk profile that is categorically different from a standard commercial premises. Sleeping guests unfamiliar with the building, commercial kitchens, high staff turnover, and late-night occupancy all demand an assessment that reflects how the building is actually used — not just how it looks on a floor plan. We work with hospitality operators across the North West from £295.
Does your assessment need reviewing?
Any of these mean yes — by law.
You have added bedrooms or changed room layoutsAny change to sleeping accommodation configuration requires reassessment of means of escape.
You have refurbished your kitchen or added cooking equipmentCommercial kitchen fire load changes directly affect the overall assessment.
You have added a function room or event spaceTemporary high-occupancy use requires specific assessment of escape capacity.
Your assessment doesn't mention sleeping risk specificallyA generic commercial assessment is not adequate for any premises with guest bedrooms.
High staff turnover means training records are out of dateTraining must be ongoing and documented — not a one-off from two years ago.
Your last assessment is more than 12 months oldHotels and licensed premises should be reviewed annually as a minimum.
The problems we
hear most often
Fire safety in hospitality is often treated as a tick-box exercise done once and forgotten. These are the gaps that create real exposure for hotels and hospitality businesses.
"We had an assessment done when we opened. That was four years ago and we have refurbished twice since then."
A fire risk assessment is a snapshot of the building at a point in time. Any refurbishment — new bedroom layout, altered corridors, new kitchen equipment, added function space — is a material change that requires review. A four-year-old assessment for a building that has changed significantly is not adequate. We reassess quickly and give you a clear picture of where you stand.
"We have high staff turnover. By the time someone has been trained on fire safety, they have left and been replaced by someone who hasn't."
High staff turnover is one of the most persistent fire safety challenges in hospitality. The fire risk assessment must be backed by a training programme that keeps pace with your actual workforce — not just a record of training delivered once to a team that no longer exists. We advise on training frequency and documentation that keeps you compliant despite turnover.
"We had a licensing visit and fire safety was mentioned. We are not clear on the relationship between our premises licence and our fire risk assessment."
The Licensing Act 2003 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 are separate frameworks but they interact. A licensing authority can attach fire safety conditions to a premises licence, and the fire authority can take enforcement action independently. Both will look at your fire risk assessment. We produce documentation that is coherent across both frameworks.
What makes hotels different
to assess
Hospitality premises combine sleeping risk, commercial cooking, alcohol, high-occupancy events, and high staff turnover into a single building. Each element needs to be specifically addressed.
Guests unfamiliar with the building
A guest asleep at 3am is in a categorically different position from a daytime office worker — they don't know the layout, they can't see in the dark, and may be disorientated when woken by an alarm. The escape route strategy, alarm audibility in bedrooms, and fire doors on bedroom corridors all require specific assessment for any sleeping accommodation.
Cooking fire load & extraction
Commercial kitchens are one of the highest fire-risk environments in any building. Deep fat fryers, high-temperature surfaces, grease accumulation in extraction systems, and proximity to the rest of the building all need specific assessment. Kitchen extraction duct cleaning records and suppression system maintenance are key elements of any hotel fire risk assessment.
Impaired occupant response
Alcohol affects how quickly guests and staff recognise and respond to fire cues. In a hotel bar or restaurant late at night, the occupants most at risk of delayed evacuation are also the ones most likely to have been drinking. The assessment must reflect this reality in the evacuation strategy and alarm system specification.
High-occupancy temporary use
A hotel function room hosting a wedding or conference can hold far more people than the building's normal daytime occupancy. Escape route capacity, assembly point adequacy, and the ability of skeleton night staff to manage a large-scale evacuation all need to be assessed for peak event occupancy.
Knowledge leaving with the person
Hospitality has some of the highest staff turnover rates of any sector. Fire safety training delivered to a team twelve months ago may no longer be held by anyone currently working in the building. The assessment must be backed by an ongoing training regime with records that keeps pace with the actual workforce.
Multi-use under one roof
A hotel typically includes reception, bar, restaurant, kitchen, function room, laundry, and plant room — all with different occupancies, fire loads, and escape routes. The interface between uses, particularly between a busy bar and bedroom corridors, requires specific attention in the assessment.
Kitchen extraction and suppression systems
Grease accumulation in commercial kitchen extraction ducting is one of the most common causes of serious fire in hospitality premises. Ducting should be professionally cleaned at intervals determined by usage — and records retained. Where a suppression system is fitted above cooking equipment, it must be serviced and tested in line with the manufacturer's specification. We check both during our assessment and flag where records are absent or overdue.
Three services.
One point of contact.
Fire risk assessments, fire door inspections, and fire safety training — delivered by consultants who understand the specific demands of a hospitality environment.
Fire risk assessments
From £295 per assessmentA hospitality-specific assessment covering sleeping risk, kitchen fire load, event occupancy, and staff training adequacy. Clear written report suitable for your licensing authority, insurer, and fire authority.
- Sleeping accommodation escape route assessment
- Commercial kitchen and extraction risk
- Event and function room occupancy assessment
- Bar and late-night use considered
- Staff training adequacy review
- Written report suitable for licensing authority & insurers
Fire door inspections
From £14 per doorBedroom corridor fire doors are critical in any hotel. A failed self-closer or compromised seal on a bedroom door is a direct risk to sleeping guests. We inspect every component with photographic evidence.
- Bedroom, corridor, and kitchen fire doors
- Frame, leaf, intumescent seals, hinges & hardware
- Self-closing devices and cold smoke seals
- Photographic evidence per door
- Prioritised remedial recommendations
Fire safety training
From £395 per sessionPractical, hospitality-specific training for your team. We cover the specific challenges of hotel evacuation — waking and assisting sleeping guests, managing intoxicated occupants, and night-shift procedures.
- Fire marshal training for front-of-house and management
- Hands-on extinguisher use on a live fire
- Guest evacuation including sleeping guests
- Night-shift and skeleton-crew scenarios
- Certificates issued — suitable for staff records
The framework hospitality
operators work within
Hotels and licensed premises answer to multiple regulators simultaneously. Fire safety sits at the intersection of several frameworks.
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to all non-domestic premises including hotels, pubs, restaurants, and event venues. For premises with sleeping accommodation, the standard of "suitable and sufficient" is higher than for daytime-only commercial use. The fire authority inspects hospitality premises more frequently than most other sectors.
Under the Licensing Act 2003, fire safety is one of the four licensing objectives. A licensing authority can attach fire safety conditions to a premises licence, and evidence of a current fire risk assessment is frequently requested at licence review hearings. The fire authority is a responsible authority under the Licensing Act and can make representations at licence hearings on fire safety grounds.
From an insurance perspective, most hospitality property and business interruption policies require a current fire risk assessment and may specify additional requirements for kitchen suppression systems and staff training records. A fire in a hotel or restaurant is one of the most costly and most scrutinised insurance events — the adequacy of your fire safety documentation will be examined in detail by the loss adjuster.
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
Always appliesThe core legislation. Applies to all hospitality premises. Higher standard required for sleeping accommodation. Failure can result in unlimited fines, prohibition notices, or imprisonment.
Licensing Act 2003
Licensed premisesFire safety is a licensing objective. The fire authority is a responsible authority and can make representations at licence hearings. A current fire risk assessment supports your licensing position.
BS 9999
Best practiceBS 9999 provides specific guidance on fire safety management for complex buildings including hotels. Alignment with BS 9999 carries additional credibility with the fire authority for premises with sleeping accommodation.
Hospitality insurer requirements
Check your policyMost hospitality policies require current fire risk assessment documentation, kitchen suppression system maintenance records, and staff training evidence as conditions of cover.
Fire safety for hotels &
hospitality — your questions answered
Yes. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, any non-domestic premises — including hotels, B&Bs, guesthouses, pubs with rooms, and serviced apartments — must have a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment carried out by a competent person. For premises with sleeping accommodation, the standard required is higher than for daytime-only commercial use, because guests are unfamiliar with the building and cannot self-evacuate as effectively.
Hotels should review their fire risk assessment at least annually, and immediately following any material change — such as a refurbishment, a change to bedroom layout, new kitchen equipment, or a change in staff numbers. In practice, most active hospitality businesses will have at least one material change per year that triggers a review.
Sleeping risk refers to the heightened danger faced by occupants who are asleep when a fire occurs. Hotel guests are particularly vulnerable because they are unfamiliar with the building layout, cannot see escape routes in the dark, and may be disorientated when woken by an alarm. A fire risk assessment for any premises with sleeping accommodation must specifically address means of escape from bedrooms, alarm audibility in sleeping areas, the adequacy of fire doors on bedroom corridors, and the ability of staff to assist guests at any time of day or night.
Yes. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 applies to all non-domestic premises to which members of the public have access — including all pubs, restaurants, cafes, and licensed venues. Under the Licensing Act 2003, fire safety is also one of the four licensing objectives, and the fire authority is a responsible authority that can make representations at licence hearings. A current fire risk assessment is both a legal requirement and a licensing consideration.
Yes. The legal obligation applies to any premises where paying guests sleep, regardless of size. A two-bedroom B&B has the same legal obligation as a 200-bedroom hotel — the scope of the assessment will be proportionately smaller, but a fire risk assessment is still legally required. We assess B&Bs and small guesthouses across the North West and North Wales from £295.
We carry out fire risk assessments for hotels and hospitality venues from £295. The exact cost depends on the size and complexity of the premises, the number of bedrooms, and whether the assessment is being carried out alongside a fire door inspection. Call us on 01244 394 244 for a no-obligation quote specific to your venue.
We cover hotels, hospitality venues, pubs, restaurants, and B&Bs across Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington, Wirral, Wrexham, and the wider North West and North Wales. Our base is in Chester at 4 Sovereign Way, CH1 4QN. Call us on 01244 394 244 to confirm coverage for your specific location.
The fire safety order requires the assessment to be carried out by a competent person — someone with sufficient training, experience, and knowledge to produce a suitable and sufficient assessment. For a hotel, this means an assessor who specifically understands sleeping risk, commercial kitchen fire loads, licensing framework requirements, and high staff turnover environments. Tim Fletcher holds the ABBE Level 4 Diploma in Fire Risk Assessment with over 30 years of fire industry experience. Sam Fletcher has over 10 years of hands-on hospitality fire safety experience alongside his fire safety qualifications.
We know hospitality
from the inside.
Sam brings over ten years of hands-on hospitality fire safety experience to Fletcher Risk Management — working across hotels, restaurants, bars, and event venues before joining the consultancy. He understands the operational realities of a hospitality environment: the pressure of service, the challenge of staff turnover, and the complexity of a building that is simultaneously a kitchen, a bar, a bedroom corridor, and a function suite. His fire safety qualifications are built on that foundation.
- ABBE Level 4 Certificate in Fire Risk Assessment
- Bachelor of Laws (LLB)
- Master of Business Administration (MBA)
- 10+ years hospitality fire safety experience
Tim founded Fletcher Risk Management with more than 30 years in the fire industry. Alongside Sam's hospitality-specific background, Tim's broader fire industry expertise means our hospitality assessments are grounded in both operational understanding and deep technical knowledge of how fires behave in complex, multi-use buildings.
- ABBE Level 4 Diploma in Fire Risk Assessment
- NEBOSH National General Certificate
- FPA Fire Safety Management Certificate
- Member — Institute of Fire Safety Managers
- Member — Fire Protection Association
"Without doubt one of the best and most professional businesses I have used for our Fire Risk Assessment. Tim Fletcher is a highly regarded professional in his field. The advice he gives is worth every penny." — Chris H. · Google Review ★★★★★
"Without doubt one of the best and most professional businesses I have used for our Fire Risk Assessment. Tim Fletcher is a highly regarded professional in his field. Don't take a chance — protect your staff, protect your building."
"We have engaged Fletcher Risk Management to carry out surveys on a number of our sites. I would never hesitate to send Tim — always professional, friendly and accommodating. The work exceeded our expectations."
"Thorough, professional, and excellent value. The report was clear and the action points prioritised in a way that made it easy to know exactly what to tackle first. Would recommend without hesitation."
An assessment that reflects
how your venue actually works.
We understand hospitality from the inside — the operational pressures, the staff turnover, the complexity of a building that never really closes. Call us for an honest conversation about what your premises needs.