Fire risk assessments for short-term lets, holiday cottages and serviced accommodation, now a legal requirement for paying-guest premises. Kevin or Jon on-site, written to the government's guidance for small paying-guest accommodation.
The moment you take paying guests, your property is treated as a business premises under the Fire Safety Order, even if you only let a few weekends a year. And since 1 October 2023, the law is explicit: short-term and holiday-let operators in England must have a written fire risk assessment.
The risk is real, not just paperwork. Guests sleep in a building they don't know, in the dark, having possibly had a drink, they can't find the exit or the alarm the way they would at home. That is a genuine sleeping-risk scenario.
Clear Fire assesses short-let and serviced accommodation on-site, written to the government guide "Making your small paying-guest accommodation safe from fire", so you are demonstrably compliant and your guests are genuinely safe.
Drawn from Kevin and Jon's combined assessment experience. Short-let findings centre on what happens when an unfamiliar guest has to escape in the dark.
A paying-guest property with no recorded fire risk assessment, a legal requirement for short-term lets in England since 1 October 2023.
No interlinked smoke detection across every storey and the escape route, so an alarm in the kitchen doesn't wake a guest asleep upstairs.
A single escape route past the kitchen, or upper-floor rooms without adequate means of escape or openable egress windows.
No fire-resisting separation to the kitchen or to the rooms a fire is most likely to start in, on a route guests must use.
Guests given no clear, displayed instructions on the alarm, the exits and the assembly point, essential for someone who has never been in the building before.
No fire blanket in the kitchen or appropriate extinguisher where the guidance expects one.
Wood burners, open fires, hot tubs, BBQs and candles provided for guests with no controls, guarding or instructions.
No portable-appliance checks, overloaded sockets, and no in-date electrical installation report for the property.
Your assessment arrives as a signed PDF with a one-page management summary at the front, photographic evidence stitched to every finding, and a separately downloadable evidence appendix.
Findings are prioritised against the PAS 79-1 likelihood-and-consequence matrix into four bands, each with an indicative remediation window.
Kevin was superb in responding quickly when asked to step in and replace an inadequate fire risk assessment delivered by another firm.
Tell us about the property and we'll confirm scope and availability within one working hour. Kevin or Jon on-site, signed report within 24 hours of invoice paid.
Kevin and Jon are happy to give you a straight answer before you book, no sales pitch, just plain advice.
Speak to an owner →Tell us about your building and we'll come back to you within one working hour.
Tell us about your site. We'll respond within one working hour during business hours.