HospitalityRounds: the smoke detector in every guest room
On your rounds you check the fire protection each guest room must have under the federal hotel fire safety guidelines: a hard-wired, single-station smoke detector in every guest room, never covered, and an automatic sprinkler system in buildings over three stories. It follows the federal fire prevention guidelines for places of public accommodation, from the Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act.
Free to startScenarios
- A hotel of three stories or lower: the guidelines call for the smoke detector in each guest room; the sprinkler requirement does not apply.
- A hotel of four or more stories: a smoke detector in each guest room and an automatic sprinkler system.
- A sprinkler system installed before October 25, 1992 that already put a sprinkler head in the sleeping area of each guest room, under the standard in force then: the sprinkler requirement does not apply to it.
The steps
- Check that the guest room has its hard-wired, single-station smoke detector.
- Check that nothing covers the detector: it must sense the visible and invisible particles of combustion.
- In a building over three stories, check that the automatic sprinkler system protects the room.
- Know what the sprinklers do: activated by the heat of a fire, they discharge water over the fire area and give warning through the building's fire alarm system.
- Report any detector that is missing or covered, following your hotel's procedure.
Safety rules that stop the station
- Never cover a smoke detector in a guest room.
To pass
- Every guest room has a hard-wired, single-station smoke detector installed under NFPA Standard 74 or its successor.
- Buildings over three stories have an automatic sprinkler system under NFPA 13 or 13-R, or their successors.
- States and cities may enforce their own fire prevention laws on top of these guidelines.
Official source
15 U.S.C. 2225, Fire prevention and control guidelines for places of public accommodation
GovInfo publishes 15 U.S.C. 2225 free: the federal fire prevention guidelines for hotels and motels, with smoke detectors and sprinklers.
Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by OSHA, FEMA, the U.S. Fire Administration, NFPA or any hotel brand or training provider. Agency, law and standard names are named only to describe the content.