About
The Residential Care and Lodging Team conducts fire safety inspections of:
- Hotels, motels
- Child care homes and child foster care homes
- Day care centers
- Day training and rehabilitation facilities
- Treatment facilities
- Adult day care centers
- Special requests and fire hazard complaints submitted by fire departments or other agencies
The Residential Care and Lodging team was created 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 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.
LIST of local inspectors for all DHS licensed facilites
Questions should be directed to Tony Clafton, supervisor for our Residential Care and Lodging Team, at
tony.clafton@state.mn.us, or by phone at 218-206-1864.
- This link is to the new spreadsheet with a complete list of all approved local inspectors for DHS licensed facilites.
Contact Us
We have seven inspectors who work in different parts of the state.
This map shows which inspector covers your area.
