About
The Residential Care and Lodging Team conducts fire safety inspections of:
- Hotels, motels
- Child care homes and child foster care homes
- Child care centers
- Day training and rehabilitation facilities
- Treatment facilities
- Adult day services centers
- Special requests and fire hazard complaints submitted by fire departments or other agencies
The Residential Care and Lodging team was established by the MInnesota Legislature in 1978 following several
tragic losses of life in Minnesota lodging buildings. Comprehensive
fire safety inspections now help make Minnesota a safer travel,
vacation, conference destination.
Minnesota hotels,
motels and buildings used for lodging, with six or more guest rooms for
short-term rentals, are inspected for fire safety once every three
years, with follow-up inspections occurring until fire-safety violations
are corrected. Some municipal fire departments conduct fire
inspections within their jurisdictions under agreements with the State
Fire Marshal Division.
Find out which hotels and motels in Minnesota are fully outfitted with sprinkler systems by using our
interactive map.
What We Do
The mission of the Residential Care and Lodging Team is to prevent
fire deaths and property loss in hotels, motels and residential care homes.
People are most vulnerable when they are sleeping in unfamiliar
buildings with no one awake to notice a developing fire. As the number
of people and the size of a building increase, the potential for loss of
life increases, too.
The Residential Care and Lodging Team
mitigates this hazard through fire safety inspections of all hotels in
Minnesota every three years, as required by law, with follow-up
inspections as needed to gain compliance with the Minnesota State Fire
Code. Training and consultation on fire safety requirements and fire
prevention is provided to municipalities who conduct fire safety
inspections of hotels and residential care homes, and to building
owners, licensors and managers.
Residential care homes (day care,
foster care, rehab) are inspected for fire safety when first licensed
by the Department of Human Services.
Fire code safety requirements depend on the use of the building,
age of construction, size of the building, and other occupancies within
the building (such as places of assembly, retail, garages and hazardous
areas.) Fire safety may include fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm
systems, fire protected exit corridors and stairways, employee safety
training, identifying exit routes, emergency lighting, fire resistive
construction and other requirements, depending on the size and use of
the building.
Important information for hotel management and employees
The following information sheets provide useful information on a variety of hotel and motel issues.
Logging and recording forms
Use these fillable logging and recording forms to keep track of emergency light testing, portable fire extinguisher testing, emergency generator monthly tests and staff training.
- Document emergency light testing in this log.
- Document portable fire extinguisher testing in this log.
- Document emergency generator monthly testing in this log.
- Document staff training in this log.
Contact Us
We have nine inspectors who work in different parts of the state.
This map shows which inspector covers your area.
