The fire safety log, kept by tapping.
Tagits keeps the record of your alarm and extinguisher checks. At each changeover you or your cleaner tap the tag on each one and answer one question. The check is saved with the date, the time and who did it.
One changeover, five taps.
A tag sits on each smoke alarm, CO alarm, fire extinguisher and fire blanket. Tapped by a guest, it shows how to use the thing. Tapped by someone signed in to the property, it asks whether it was tested and is working.
- 10:42Smoke alarm, hallTested OK
- 10:43Smoke alarm, bedroomTested OK
- 10:44CO alarm, loungeTested OK
- 10:46Fire extinguisherPin in, gauge green
- 10:47Fire blanketIn place
Sample entries, to show what a changeover log looks like.
How often alarms are tested in a holiday let.
In England, the government’s fire safety guide for small paying-guest accommodation says smoke and heat alarms should be tested monthly. In self-catering premises where no owner or staff are present, it says the weekly and monthly tests should be carried out at each change of occupancy: at every changeover.
The same guide says fire extinguishers and emergency escape lighting should be serviced once a year by a competent contractor. It says a record of testing and maintenance should be kept, as a log book or, in its words, “records can be held electronically”.
In Wales, the Welsh Government’s guide for small guest accommodation asks for the same. It names carbon monoxide alarms alongside smoke and heat alarms for the monthly test, asks for the tests at each change of occupancy in self-catering, and says the record can be a log book or held electronically. It also covers glamping pods, lodges, shepherds’ huts and yurts.
Tagits is that record. It doesn’t test or service anything, and it isn’t a fire risk assessment. The alarms, the servicing and the assessment stay with you.
Sources: A guide to making your small paying-guest-accommodation safe from fire, Home Office, pages 21 and 22, for England. A guide to making your guest accommodation safe from fire, Welsh Government, September 2023, page 19, for Wales.
What each tap records.
- What was checked. The tag is on it.
- The result: working, or a fault, with a note if you add one.
- The date and the time.
- Who did it. Each cleaner signs in as themselves.
A fault emails the owner as soon as it is recorded.
The hot tub’s water log.
HSE’s guidance on hot tubs, HSG282, covers a hot tub used as part of a business, a holiday let included. For a domestic-type hot tub it gives typical frequencies: pH and disinfectant checked at least twice a day depending on the risk assessment and use, and the tub drained, cleaned and refilled between each group of guests or at least weekly. It says records should show who did the work and when, and be kept for at least five years.
The hot tub’s tag carries a water test. Whoever is signed in enters the pH, the chlorine or bromine reading and whether the water is clear, and ticks it if the tub was refilled. A reading outside the typical range in the guidance is marked as a fault, shows what the guidance says to do, and emails you.
Source: HSG282, Control of legionella and other infectious agents in spa-pool systems, HSE, 2017, paragraphs 52 to 54 and 76, Tables 1 and 3. Tagits keeps the record; the monthly laboratory tests the guidance also lists stay with you.
The changeover round.
Your cleaner’s phone lists the safety tags for the property, and each tap ticks one off. You see five of five, or which one was missed.
When a monthly test or a yearly service is overdue, Tagits emails you. Any tag can carry a check, so the log burner and the first-aid kit can have one too.
A log you can print.
The log for each property prints, or saves as a PDF from your browser, for when a fire officer or an insurer asks to see it.
| Time | Check | By |
|---|---|---|
| 10:42 | Smoke alarm, hall. Tested OK | Cleaner |
| 10:43 | Smoke alarm, bedroom. Tested OK | Cleaner |
| 10:44 | CO alarm, lounge. Tested OK | Cleaner |
| 10:46 | Fire extinguisher. Pin in, gauge green | Cleaner |
| 10:47 | Fire blanket. In place | Cleaner |
A sample page, not a real property’s record.
Common questions
How often should smoke alarms be tested in a holiday let?
In England, the government’s fire safety guide for small paying-guest accommodation says smoke and heat alarms should be tested monthly, and at each change of occupancy in self-catering premises where no owner or staff are present. The Welsh Government’s guide for Wales asks for the same and names carbon monoxide alarms too. In both, fire extinguishers are serviced once a year by a competent contractor.
Can the fire safety record be kept electronically?
The England and Wales guides both say a record of testing and maintenance should be kept, as a log book or held electronically. Tagits holds it electronically, and prints it when you need paper.
Can my cleaner record the checks?
Yes. You invite each cleaner to the property and they sign in on their own phone. Every check is saved with the name of the person who made it, the date and the time.
Do I need to test the hot tub water in a holiday let?
HSE’s guidance HSG282 covers hot tubs used as part of a business, including holiday lets. For a domestic-type hot tub it gives typical frequencies of checking pH and disinfectant at least twice a day, depending on the risk assessment and use, and of draining, cleaning and refilling between each group of guests or at least weekly. It says the records should show who did the work and when. Tagits keeps that record when you tap the hot tub’s tag.
Does Tagits do my fire risk assessment?
No. Tagits keeps the record of your checks. It doesn’t carry them out, and a record isn’t a fire risk assessment. The assessment, the alarms and the yearly servicing stay with whoever runs the property.
£99 for the first year, tags included.
Then £49 a year, or £4.99 a month, for each property. To see it working first, set up one object free with a QR sign you print yourself.