Hotels have sprinkler systems… Right?

Many of you will no doubt be somewhat surprised to learn that there’s a hotel fire somewhere in the UK nearly every day. Over the past six years, England has witnessed no fewer than 260 hotel fires on average per year, while the UK as a whole has been privy to 351 episodes in the same period.

In the wake of recent regulatory guidance changes relating to buildings where people sleep, many of you will also be surprised to hear that sprinkler system installations are not the norm in hotels, and in particular when it comes to those older buildings converted into hotels.

Several major hotel fires have made the headlines of late. We are only one year on from the tragic fire that took hold in the New County Hotel in Perth and claimed three lives. The investigation into this fire continued throughout 2023. The findings have yet to me made public.

The Perth fire happened just before the publication of the report produced as a result of the Public Inquiry into the devastating 2017 fire at Cameron House Hotel near Loch Lomond, which resulted in two fatalities and three individuals requiring hospital treatment. The report compiled by Sheriff Thomas McCartney advocated for the mandatory installation of active fire suppression systems – and, specifically, sprinkler systems – in historic building conversions intended for hotel use.

The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland endorsed this recommendation, urging its application in relation to all public-access buildings. In October last year, the presiding Scottish Government announced that an Expert Working Group would be established to consider historic hotel conversions and fire safety requirements.

String of incidents

These two hotel fires represent the spectrum of hotel accommodations. The Cameron House Hotel has since reopened complete with enhanced fire safety measures, including a sprinkler system.

In recent times, the pattern of hotel susceptibility to fires has been punctuated by a string of incidents, with major fires ranging from those occurring in Sussex and Ayr through to Suffolk to Blackpool.

Sadly, most of these incidents did not capture the media attention in the same way. Last summer, the extensive blaze at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton gained attention for its scale and destruction. It wasn’t the first major fire at the hotel, either, with the same Grade II-listed structure suffering a major fire back in 1998. Last July’s fire engulfed the historic hotel, leaving behind extensive debris and posing a formidable challenge to firefighting efforts brought in from across three counties. Thankfully, no-one was injured.

Due to concerns about structural integrity, sections of the hotel had to be demolished. After two days of disruption, normal services in this busy area of Brighton began to resume.

Building standards and regulations

Surprisingly, building standards and regulations lack clear guidance on the provision of sprinkler systems in hotels, irrespective of their height. If such guidance had been in place, sprinkler systems would likely have contained these fires by activating automatically.

Beyond their primary function in terms of fire containment, evidence underscores the truism that sprinkler systems can play a vital role in safeguarding lives.

It’s clear that not all hotels have fire sprinkler systems installed. In fact, you often have to search carefully to find accommodation with sprinklers, as this is not the sort of information you would locate on the typical hotel search engine. With hotel fires happening regularly across the country, we believe that fire sprinklers need to become a standard consideration in such properties in order to protect the large number of people sleeping there.

That brings us neatly back to the planning of this year’s trips. Do think about booking a sprinklered hotel. Wherever you choose to stay, do read the fire safety information on the door to the room. It’s very important.

Take those extra few moments to check your path out of the building as your safety during your hotel stay may well depend on it.

Tom Roche is Secretary of the Business Sprinkler Alliance (www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org)