You'll have to pass a fire safety inspection test before a newly-constructed hotel can open its doors to the public. Reducing the potential fire hazard within the new establishment is perhaps the best way to ensure that you have an incident-free inspection. This is best done during the construction phase of the hotel.

Here are a few ways to reduce the fire hazard rating in your new hotel.

Cast Iron Over PVC Drainage Pipes 

The drainage system is probably the last thing that would come to mind when thinking of potential fire hazards within a hotel, but the material you choose does make a difference for your fire hazard rating.

Cast iron and PVC are among the most commonly used piping materials. Many prospective hoteliers choose PVC pipes because they're often cheaper than those made of cast iron.

However, comparing the two materials in terms of fire safety will reveal that cast iron pipes are less of a fire hazard. For one, PVC pipes will readily catch fire in the event of an outbreak and they'll produce harmful emissions as they burn. The reverse is true for cast iron pipes. If all other factors remain constant, you're likely to get a lower fire hazard rating with cast iron drainage pipes.

Cast iron pipes can come pre-insulated just like their PVC counterparts. You have no reason not to install cast iron pipes.

Chilled Water Systems Over Traditional Air Conditioning

A traditional air conditioning system will use refrigerant gases to transfer heat to your hotel rooms. Fluorocarbons have low flammability and they were commonly used as refrigerant gases. However, they've been found to encourage the depletion of the ozone layer and they're increasingly being replaced with more eco-friendly alternatives. Some of these alternatives (e.g. Difluoromethane) will save the ozone layer but they're flammable.

Chilled water systems use water for heat transfer. Chilled water is not a fire hazard. It's therefore safer to have chilled water pipes running through the hotel rooms as opposed to pipes full of Difluoromethane. That's good for the fire hazard safety rating.

Fire Suppression Systems Plus Fire Extinguishers

In many jurisdictions, the law requires hotel operators to have a minimum number of fire extinguishers in order to pass a fire safety inspection.

Fire suppression systems detect the presence of smoke in a room and they release water, an inert gas or a chemical agent (depending on the type of system) that suppresses a potential fire before it becomes full-blown.

Reducing the fire hazard in your hotel is more about the safety of your potential clients than it is about fire safety inspections. That's why you should strive to reduce the fire hazard rating in your establishment further than the minimum rating dictated by the fire safety codes for your locality.

Share