Home safety certification question - idea

[Jason830]

Earlier in the week we rented a house (from another service this time), and none of the smoke or CO2 detectors had working batteries. I changed the batteries, and everthing was fine. But this got me thinking, it may be beneficial to have a 3rd party "qualify" or "cetify" a rental as safe, meaning alarms work, outlets are in good shape, no exposed cords, fire extinguisher, etc. Would this be a good idea, something people would be interested in?

Thanks!

[Robin4]

@Jason830 

A good idea Jason but without government regulation it would not work and the framework required to police compliance would be enormous. Councils and local government authorities are having enough issue with short term rentals to get involved in compliance inspections on a monthly basis.

Most of us make every endeavour to make sure everything we provide works as it should but we do get tricked at times!

Four guests ago, a man asked me how to get the hot water working in the shower. I went in to show him and, low and behold there was no hot water. The guest a couple before had turned off the hot water circuit breaker at the cottage distribution board....for what ever reason, I can't even guess and, I hadn't thought to check it before subsequent guests arrived!

Another guest complained the medicine cupboard should be better stocked, they needed a bandaid strip. I checked the medicine cabinet and it was completely empty, no a solitary bit of the $80 worth of medical aids remained in that cabinet. It had been fully stocked no more than 6 guests before but one of those previous 6 had thought it appropriate to take the contents of the box with them when they left....and once again, I did not automatically check it.

Jason, I have a checklist that I cross off and adhere to with every cottage turn around.....

It is laminated and I tick each item with a whiteboard marker and when finish I date it and print a copy which goes into the house rules folder for each guest. I then clean off the laminated checklist ready for the next turn-around. 

Even doing this Jason, things still slip through. One guest told me I should sack my cleaner! His wife dropped an earing and when she got on her hands and knees to retrieve it she found a used childs nappy under the bed.

It doesn't matter how thorough you are, some things are going to slip past you at times and I don't think any amount of regulation is going to solve that!

Cheers.....Rob

[Mark116]

@Jason830  No.  A thousand times no. 

[Jason830]

@Robin82  Thanks for the detailed response and the checklist. That's way more than I have seen at any of my stays. 

[Robin4]

@Jason830 

I guess it's a self preservation thing more than anything else Jason but having a check-list does have some good aspects.

1/.....It keeps me focused! Every time I attend to an item I mark it so that if I get interupted with a phone call or some other issue, when I come back I know where I am up to with the process.

2/.....A copy of the dated time stamped sheet is put into the House Rules folder, so not only can the guest feel confident the preparation has been done properly, it also give them the knowledge that this may not be the best stay to try on for a freebie because of some shortcoming or inacuracy!

This copy is the first insert in the house rules folder and this is the copy for todays guests and on the flip side I have the local weather forecast for the next few days......

Jason, I am a details person....that's what I do...... attend to details, and I find it pays off. I never have any hassles about what is on offer or what has been done. And I guess if I did, I would always have a very good record to support my position in any argument.

It's like making the bed....I just do it!

Cheers.....Rob

[Rebecca181]

@Jason830 I think that Airbnb could provide hosts with more education around this. I know my rental could pass a very thorough safety inspection but I imagine many rentals (short term and long term alike) would not. I imagine one day these sorts of things may become more regulated (particularly if there are enough needless accidents, injuries, and/or deaths) but I don't see it happening anytime soon.

[Mark1412]

Each state and city might be different but in the state I have worked in, when you get your business license, the fire department will occasionally come and inspect the property. When the fire department comes in, you don't really have a choice, you have to give them access to the property.

They will check to make sure the buidling is safe and/or require you to make changes to make it safe.

I'm sure you can contact your local fire department and they will inspect the property for you. It migh help with the cost of your insurance.

[Helen427]

Commonsense prevails!!

Why would you want to add more layers of bureaucrarcy?

[Jason830]

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@Helen427 wrote:

Why would you want to add more layers of bureaucrarcy?

So not looking to add another level of bureaucrarcy. I spent 10 years in the insurance industry and if there was a service that helped reduce claims or large insurance payouts it would reduce the premium. So there could be some ROI to such a service. Again, just researching the idea. 

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[Sarah977]

No. There are already too many absurd rules. Like hosts with no gas sources, no possible CO problem being expected to have CO detectors. Enough, already.

And who would these "3rd parties" be? No one inspects anything where I live. There wasn't even an electrical, building or plumbing inspector when I built my house in Mexico. I did have to get a building permit, but no one checked anything, it was just a money grab.. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jason830 

Croatia has an enormous bureaucracy. You need certificates and approvements and a ton of paperwork for any business including short term rental. (that's why this country is a sinking ship)

So, to be able to rent in Croatia you have to get certificates as any hotel does. No matter if you rent just one studio apartment. It's called " minimal tehical requirements". But it is nothing "minimal" it is an overkill. Everything has to be inspected -  gas installation and all the appliances, electric installation (every single socket )  chimney and water ( yes, we are connected to the city pipeline but water from our faucets has to be taken and sent to the lab for testing).

To get all those certificates ( at around 50 pages) our apartments were inspected and we had to pay around 200€.

Then we had to apply for another inspection which came to inspect if we have everything else required for the STR and get the categorization license. We had to satisfy around 50 requirements, from the exact number of clothes hangers to the fire extinguisher ,first aid kit in every unit and printed escape floorplan.

To do all of the above we needed around 2 months and it costs us around 300€ + 110€ for 2 metal plates which indicates the number of stars we got and the type of the unit ( to be purchased from licenced manufacturer only) which we had to put at the entrance of the building + the entrance of our apartment.

While waiting for those inspections and doing paperwork we lost around 5000€ in revenue.

If you want to experience a real bureaucracy then come to Croatia and try to do any business. Alternatively, you could try Venezuela, I've heard they are the same :)))

See this epic video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKIE3IUkkp8

[Jason830]

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which indicates the number of stars we got and the type of the unit

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That's a crazy amount of regulation, and I thought the US process was significant. The stars you mention was another idea.  At least in the US and some of the vacation sharing sites, my understanding is the property is reviewed before listing then only evaluated via online reviews, the property is never looked at again. If the property ad had something like a three-star safety badge or award or some type of certification that would set the ad apart and also could help with insurance, maybe. So three stars means the property has been visually inspected in the last 6 months or twelve months that meet a certain list of safety items. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jason830 of course its crazy, croatia is one absurd country and thats not all the paperwork we needed. btw, str is the simplest business of all  , you should see whats needed to run a cafe, and any production is a suicide to try , you get different inspection  every day so you dont have time to do anything else of course they always find something to drasticly penalize you. 

[Alon1]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

I heard Venezuela recently simplified matters considerably.... by turning off the electricity!