Short answer: every UK hotel, guest house and pub with rooms needs a hotel fire risk assessment under the Fire Safety Order 2005 and a legionella risk assessment under HSWA, COSHH and ACoP L8. Both are the operator’s duty, both must be kept under review (in practice at least annually for sleeping accommodation), and neither is a “certificate”. Typical fees through our network: hotel FRA £350–£750; hotel legionella from £250. Get a hotel fire and legionella quote.
If you run a hotel, pub with rooms, B&B or guest house in England or Wales, fire safety and water hygiene are not optional side jobs. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Responsible Person must complete a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and keep general fire precautions under review. Separately, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, COSHH and HSE’s Approved Code of Practice L8 require you to assess and control legionella in water systems that can create aerosols — showers, spa baths, cooling plant and little-used outlets included.
This guide is for hospitality operators who need both documents to stay inspection-ready, insurer-friendly and practical for night teams. It is not a “fire safety certificate” product: fire certificates were abolished when the Fire Safety Order came into force in 2006. What you need is a current assessment and evidence that actions are closed out.
Who the Responsible Person is in hospitality
In a hotel or guest house, the Responsible Person is usually the employer in control of the workplace, or the person who has control of the premises in connection with a trade, business or other undertaking — often the owner, operator or managing company. Pubs with letting rooms and staff sleeping-in arrangements sit in the same legal frame.
You can instruct a competent assessor. You cannot hand the legal duty over with the invoice. Since 1 October 2023, section 156 of the Building Safety Act has also tightened recording: fire risk assessments must be recorded in full, and fire safety arrangements and the identity of anyone appointed to assist must be recorded. Multi-RP sites (for example a freeholder plus a hotel operator in a mixed-use block) must co-operate under Article 22.
GOV.UK’s collection of fire safety guidance for people with legal duties is the official starting map. For sleeping risk, use the dedicated sector guide rather than an offices-and-shops template.
What the fire risk assessment must cover
Home Office guidance published under Article 50 of the Fire Safety Order — Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation — is aimed at hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, holiday parks and similar premises where guests or staff sleep. Smaller B&Bs and self-catering stock can also use GOV.UK’s shorter guide on making small paying guest accommodation safe from fire.
A suitable hospitality FRA typically addresses:
- ignition sources and fuel loads in kitchens, bars, plant rooms, laundry and guest bedrooms
- people at risk, including overnight guests who do not know the building, agency staff and anyone who may need assistance
- means of detection and warning appropriate to sleeping risk
- escape routes, emergency lighting, fire doors and compartmentation
- firefighting equipment, staff training, drills and night-cover arrangements
- an action plan with owners and timescales
There is no fixed statutory “renew every 12 months” date under Article 9, but the assessment must stay valid and be reviewed when the building, occupancy or risk changes. Industry practice for sleeping accommodation is at least annual review, sooner after refurbishment, a near-miss, a change of use or a significant staffing model change. We cover the legal wording in How Often Must a Fire Risk Assessment Be Reviewed?.
What an assessor checks in a hotel
Expect the assessor to walk every floor, including back-of-house, with the duty manager. In a hotel the questions that usually decide the findings are:
- Bedroom corridors and stairs: travel distances, protected routes, self-closing fire doors on bedrooms and stair enclosures, and nothing stored on routes.
- Fire alarm and detection: whether the system category suits sleeping risk, whether it reaches every bedroom, and whether test and service records are kept.
- Night-time staffing: who responds to an alarm at 3am, how a fire is confirmed, and how guests who need help are evacuated.
- Kitchens, laundries and plant rooms: extract ductwork cleaning, linen storage, electrical intakes and boiler rooms.
- Guest information: fire action notices in bedrooms and a procedure for guests who declare they need assistance.
- Records: drills, training, emergency lighting and alarm tests, and closed-out actions from the last FRA.
| Hotel FRA question | Typical answer |
|---|---|
| Who is responsible? | The operator or employer in control (the Responsible Person), with co-operation from any freeholder |
| Which guidance? | GOV.UK sleeping accommodation guide; small paying guest accommodation guide for small B&Bs |
| How often reviewed? | When anything significant changes, and in practice at least annually for sleeping risk |
| Typical fee (our network) | £350–£750; very small B&Bs from £180–£350 |
Sources: Fire Safety Order article 9; GOV.UK sleeping accommodation guide; GOV.UK small paying guest accommodation guide.
Holiday lets differ — see fire risk assessments for holiday lets. Care homes use residential care guidance, not the sleeping accommodation guide — do not mix the packs. Book a professional fire risk assessment when the last report is thin, unsigned, or silent on sleeping risk and night procedures.
Why legionella sits beside fire in hotels and pubs
Hospitality water systems create aerosols. Guest showers, spa and plunge pools, decorative fountains, evaporative cooling and little-used en-suites after quiet midweek nights all sit in HSE’s risk picture. Duty holders must assess and manage those sources: see HSE’s Legionella and Legionnaires’ disease hub and ACoP L8, with technical detail in HSG274.
There is still no legal “legionella certificate”. What inspectors and courts look for is a suitable and sufficient risk assessment, a written scheme of control where needed, monitoring records, and competent people named for the system. Sampling is not a substitute for temperature control, flushing and design hygiene.
Practical hospitality weak points we see repeatedly:
- closed floors or winter-season wings left stagnant without a flushing regime
- spa and leisure plant treated as a contractor mystery rather than a managed risk system
- shower heads and TMVs never cleaned or serviced on a documented cycle
- dead legs after bathroom refurbishments
- staff accommodation and back-of-house WCs ignored because “guests don’t use them”
Legionella risk assessment for hotels: what is checked
The employer or operator is the dutyholder. ACoP L8 expects them to appoint a competent person to manage day-to-day control, often the general manager or head of maintenance, and to name that person in the written scheme. For a hotel, the assessor normally looks at:
- Hot and cold water temperatures: stored hot water at 60°C or above, outlets reaching 50°C within a minute, and cold water below 20°C, as set out in L8 and HSG274 Part 2.
- Tanks and calorifiers: cold water storage tank condition, lids and insulation; calorifier temperatures and draining.
- Little-used outlets: unlet rooms, closed wings and staff areas. HSE guidance is to flush infrequently used outlets at least weekly.
- Showers: showerheads and hoses cleaned and descaled on a set cycle (typically quarterly under HSG274), plus TMV servicing.
- Spa pools and hot tubs: these are higher-risk systems with their own HSE guidance, HSG282, and need daily checks and treatment records.
- Records and scheme: a written scheme of control, monitoring logs, and who acts when temperatures fail.
Review the legionella assessment whenever the system, use or responsible staff change, after a seasonal closure, or if monitoring shows the controls are not working. Typical fee through our network: from £250 for hotel and commercial premises.
Review the legionella assessment when the system or occupancy pattern changes, and periodically so it stays valid — not on a mythical fixed two-year legal expiry. Detail on review triggers is in How Often Should a Legionella Risk Assessment Be Reviewed?. For the assessment itself, use our legionella risk assessment service page.
Combined visits: when one site day covers both
Fire and legionella rest on different statutes, but the logistics overlap. The same Responsible Person, the same keys, the same night manager, and often the same quiet midweek window for access. A combined instruction can cut disruption and give you one co-ordinated action list — useful before peak season, a brand audit, or an insurer revisit.
Keep them separate when the water system is highly complex (cooling towers, large leisure plant) or when a specialist FRA is needed for external walls or unusual construction. Otherwise, ask for a combined quote and let the assessors agree the sequence on site.
What “good” looks like before the next busy weekend
Hand-over ready packs beat wall certificates: a current FRA covering sleeping risk, detection, escape and night cover; closed-out actions; a legionella assessment and written scheme that match the plant you run; temperature, flushing and spa logs a duty manager can find in five minutes; and basic training records. If either assessment is stale, fix it before peak occupancy. Fire Safety Order enforcement can mean unlimited fines and, in serious cases, imprisonment. Legionella failures sit under HSWA and COSHH with the same seriousness for guests and staff.
Next step
Safety Certificates UK matches hotels, pubs and guest houses with vetted assessors for fire and legionella work nationwide. We are a matching network, not an in-house inspection company — the assessor produces the report; you keep the legal duty as Responsible Person.
Get a hotel fire and legionella quote · Fire risk assessments · Legionella risk assessments
Frequently asked questions
Do hotels need a fire risk assessment in the UK?
Yes. Premises used as sleeping accommodation for guests fall under the Fire Safety Order. The Responsible Person must ensure a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment is carried out and kept up to date, and that general fire precautions are in place.
Which fire safety guide should hotels and guest houses use?
Use the Home Office Fire safety risk assessment: sleeping accommodation guide (Article 50). Smaller paying guest accommodation can also use GOV.UK’s shorter small-premises guidance. Do not use the residential care guide unless you are a care home.
Is a legionella risk assessment mandatory for hotels and pubs?
You must assess and control legionella risk under HSWA, COSHH and ACoP L8 wherever water systems can create a foreseeable risk. Hotels and many pubs with showers, spa facilities or complex plant will normally need a documented assessment and control scheme. There is no separate legal “legionella certificate”.
How often should hospitality fire and legionella assessments be reviewed?
Neither regime sets a single calendar “expiry date” in statute. Review when the building, plant, occupancy or monitoring results change, and regularly enough that the documents stay suitable and sufficient. Sleeping accommodation and aerosol-generating leisure systems usually justify at least annual professional attention.
Can I combine fire and legionella assessments on one visit?
Often yes. Many sites benefit from a co-ordinated visit that reduces disruption and produces one action list. Complex cooling or leisure plant, or specialised fire work, may still need separate specialists.
How much does a hotel fire or legionella risk assessment cost?
Through our matching network, a fire risk assessment for a hotel, guest house or pub with rooms normally sits in the medium/sleeping-risk band of £350–£750; a very small B&B may fall in the £180–£350 band. A legionella risk assessment for hotel or commercial premises is typically from £250, depending on the number of rooms, stored hot water and any spa plant. The matched assessor confirms the price after scoping.
Who is responsible for legionella control in a hotel?
The employer or person in control of the premises is the dutyholder under HSWA and COSHH. ACoP L8 expects them to appoint a competent ‘responsible person’ to manage day-to-day control — often the general manager or head of maintenance — and to name them in the written scheme. Contractors can carry out tasks, but the duty stays with the operator.
What about pubs with no letting rooms?
A wet-led pub without sleeping accommodation still needs a fire risk assessment suitable for a place of assembly / licensed premises, and legionella controls for its water systems. If you add guest rooms or staff sleeping-in, treat that as a significant change and review both assessments.