How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 48

closed, especially at night. This is very important in the kitchen. If you leave doors open,
it is less likely you will escape safely, even if the room has a fire detector. Although self-
closing devices are a good way to make sure doors are closed, they can impact on the
appearance and affect how you use the premises. If you decide these would be
unsuitable, ‘in-frame closers’ or rising-butt hinges may be acceptable alternatives. Doors
need to be strong enough to hold back smoke and fire long enough to give you time to
escape. For small premises, a reasonably solid timber door that fits well into its frame is
likely to be good enough. Any internal hollow ‘egg-box’-type door would not offer
adequate protection and should be replaced. Exit doors, such as the front or back door,
should always be easy to unlock and must not need a key to unlock from the inside. A
simple Yale-type latch or thumb turn is usually good enough."
As you may have already concluded from these quotes, the official UK guidance for
small B&Bs is now considerably more sensible and proportionate than the precautions
which many fire officers have been demanding of some B&Bs before this new guidance
was produced with the involvement of the Bed and Breakfast Association.
In 2009 and 2010 since “Do You Have Paying Guests?” was introduced in England and
Wales, there seem to have been far fewer instances of disproportionate enforcement
action on small B&Bs – and indeed some Fire Authorities withdrew Enforcement
Notices they had issued based on the previous guidance. So the signs have been
encouraging that the Bed & Breakfast Association’s campaign has made a real change in
enforcement.
Fire Regulations - Scotland
In Scotland, the RRFSO does not apply. The Scottish equivalent legislation was the Fire
(Scotland) Act 2005. However, a very similar set of problems quickly arose in Scotland
to those in England and Wales - inconsistent, over-zealous and disproportionate
enforcement. The original Scottish guidelines on fire precautions also quickly proved to
be inappropriate and unduly onerous where small B&Bs are conc