What sleeping risk changes.
Asleep, guests receive no cues from smoke or noise until detection wakes them; disoriented, they head for the lift or the entrance they arrived by. The assessment therefore front-loads three things:
- Detection everywhere it matters: BS 5839-1 L2 as the working benchmark — bedrooms, escape routes and high-risk rooms — with L1 expected as size, height and layout complexity rise.
- Protected escape: 30-minute protected corridors and stairs, FD30S bedroom doors with functioning self-closers, travel distances within sleeping-risk limits, alternative routes from upper floors, and emergency lighting throughout — guests escape at 2am or not at all.
- Information guests actually see: fire action notices behind bedroom doors with the route from that room, signage readable in smoke-logged low light.
The night-time test.
Every hotel assessment turns on the same scenario: alarm actuation at 3am with minimum staffing. The assessor examines who is on duty and awake, how the alarm panel is interrogated and the fire service called, how a roll call works against the guest register, and how assistance reaches guests with PEEP needs — accessibility bookings must trigger evacuation planning at check-in, not improvisation at the stairhead. Night porter procedures, not daytime paperwork, are where hotel assessments pass or fail.
| Premises | Typical detection benchmark | Escape expectation |
|---|---|---|
| Small B&B (1–2 storeys, few rooms) | Grade A or high-spec Grade D interlinked, LD1-leaning coverage per the guide's small-premises provisions | Protected stair; FD30 doors; simple single-direction escape acceptable within distance limits |
| Guest house (3 storeys) | BS 5839-1 L2 | Fully protected route; emergency lighting; alternative from top floor considered |
| Hotel (larger/multi-storey) | L2 minimum, commonly L1; addressable panel; phased strategies only with the engineering to support them | Two-direction escape; refuges and evac lifts where relevant; night procedures drilled |
Short lets, Airbnb and serviced apartments
Paying sleeping guests bring the premises within the Order regardless of scale — a self-catering cottage or an Airbnb whole-property let requires a fire risk assessment, and the government's small-premises sleeping guidance applies. Booking platforms and insurers increasingly demand the document; the responsible person is the host or operator.
Enforcement posture
Hotels attract prohibition action faster than any other premises class: locked final exits, absent detection or storage in protected stairs can close bedrooms the same day, and the sector features constantly in the largest fines. Conversely, the sleeping accommodation guide is explicit and achievable — a hotel run to it audits well.