Short Term Rental Fire Safety Explained | Is your AIRBnB fire safe?

Is your holiday rental accommodation fire safe?

Renting your property via Airbnb, booking.com, Stayz or any other online holiday rental platform is easy and effective, but it comes with some fire safety risks as well.

A fire can happen anywhere and it’s important to always be prepared for what your guests would do if they had one in your short-term rental property.

Of course, having the right safety equipment to protect your Short-term Rental Accommodation (STRA) against fire, such as smoke alarms, fire extinguishers*, fire blankets* and having clearly displayed safety information like an Emergency Advice Sheet and Evacuation diagrams is essential and now required to protect your guests and your rental income.

What fire safety equipment should I have in my rental accommodation?

Required fire and overall safety products for your short term rental accommodation include:

• Fire Extinguishers*.
• smoke alarms - as of March 2022: Smoke alarms in Short Term Rental Accommodations must be powered by either the mains electricity supply or a non-removable battery with a 10-year life expectancy (compliant with AS3786). They need to be located in hallways outside bedrooms on each story and on the ceiling.
• fire blankets*.
• heat alarm** - as of March 2022: in any private garage attached to the dwelling (Class 1A: detached house, or town house), or that is not associated with the dwelling (Class 2 & 4).
• carbon monoxide alarms (not a legal requirement but recommended if you have fuel-burning appliances or fireplaces).

* required for Class 2 (residential apartment buildings) and Class 4 (Short Term Rentals that are part of a commercial complex).

** Heat Alarms must be installed on or near the ceiling, be interconnected with all alarms, including smoke, and have a visible sign stating, “Heat Alarm installed and interconnected with smoke alarms”. All heat alarms must possess the same power options as the smoke alarms.

A simple holiday rental fire safety checklist!

Here is a simple safety checklist to assist in keeping your short term rental fire safe:

• Display clear Emergency Advice Sheet for your guests.
• Have a written evacuation diagram in case of fire.
• Install an adequate number of suitable Fire Extinguishers* and test them regularly.
• Install a fire blanket* in your kitchen and barbeque area.
• Install an adequate number of suitable smoke alarms and test them regularly.
• Make sure keys to all locked doors are readily accessible in case guests need to escape.
• Don’t overload power points and switch off appliances when not in use.
• If you have a garage or a shed, install a heat alarm and remember to take extra care with any stored chemicals and fuels.
• If you have a gas, electric or wood BBQ always check that it is in safe working order before guests arrive.

Specific requirements for Class 2 and 4 dwelling types:

• The entrance door to the dwelling must be capable of being opened from the inside without needing a key.
• A 2.5kg ABE Fire Extinguisher must be installed in a visible and accessible location in the kitchen. An extinguisher location sign must be installed above the extinguisher.
• A fire blanket of minimum 1m x 1m is required to be installed in an accessible location in the kitchen. A Fire Blanket location sign must be installed adjacent to or above the fire blanket .

Free Short Term Rental Emergency Advice Sheet

In all short-term rentals, Emergency Advice Sheets need to be installed behind the main entry door. We also recommend to install them in bedrooms.

They should include:

• Location and contact details of the nearest hospital, fire station, and police station.
• Contact numbers for Emergency Services.
• Building management details (if applicable).
• Site map directing them to the emergency assembly area or meeting place. You can use the evacuation diagram for this.

Here is a Free Short Term Rental Emergency Advice Sheet PDF print out for you, you can edit and type your local emergency services on it:

Free EVACUATION DIAGRAM

Having short term rental evacuation diagrams in conjunction with working smoke alarms is a legal requirement in Australia and will greatly increase chances of getting out safely. Every second counts.

Evacuation diagrams are required in each bedroom and behind the main entry door.

You can use a free tool like Google Drawing to draw your rental plan:

• Go to: https://docs.google.com/drawings/
• Download our free blank Evacuation diagram image
• Import it in Google Drawing and draw your plan
• Print your new Evacuation diagram

Short Term Rental & Airbnb Evacuation diagram requirements:

They must be affixed within the dwelling, on the front entrance door and all bedroom doors. This is best on placed on the back of these doors, or adjacent to.

• be located no less than 1200mm and not more than 1600mm above the finished floor level
• be clear, legible and durable
• include the date of issue
• be at least A4 in size
• include the title ‘EVACUATION DIAGRAM
• be orientated to the direction of egress
• include a legend of symbols
• exhibit a “YOU ARE HERE” indicator
• identify the property address
• include a pictorial representation of the layout of the dwelling and common areas on the storey
• identify the location of the exit door from the dwelling
• identify the designated exits from the storey of the building on which the dwelling is located (shown in green)
• identify the path of travel to the exit (shown in green)
• identify the location of any fire hose reels* If applicable (shown in red)
• identify the location of the portable fire extinguisher(s) in the dwelling and any common areas on the same storey (shown in red)
• identify the location of the fire blanket(s) within the dwelling (shown in red)
• identify the location of the evacuation assembly area for the building
• identify the national emergency services number (000)
• advise guests to download the Emergency+ app, developed by the Australian Government and State and Territory Emergency Services

Short-term Rental Accommodation Dwelling types:

Here are the different STRA dwelling types in Australia:

• Class 1a: single dwelling like a house or granny flat, detached/town house
• Class 2: apartment buildings
• Class 4: sole dwelling or residence within a building of non-residential nature (eg: apartment above a shop or restaurant). There can only be one Class 4 part in a building.

Here is a a very informative video about fire safety in your rental property which explained what fire equipment you need and how to check & maintain them: