Hosting standards

Keeping guests safe: a safety checklist for your rental

A smooth welcome is about more than keys and Wi-Fi. Guests sleep in your place, cook on your hob and step out onto your balcony, trusting that it's safe. Safety is the part of hosting guests rarely see but always count on.

Most of the work is done once, then checked between stays. This guide covers the equipment to fit, the checks to make, and what to tell guests if something goes wrong.

The short answer

Fit working smoke alarms, and a carbon monoxide alarm wherever there's a gas or other fuel-burning appliance, and test them regularly. Keep a fire extinguisher and a fire blanket near the kitchen and a stocked first-aid kit where guests can find it. Have gas, heating and electrics checked by qualified people, and look at balconies, windows and stairs as a child would. Put the emergency numbers and your full address in your welcome guide, and keep the safety devices on your listings accurate.

Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

Alarms cost little and protect guests while they sleep, in a place they don't know.

1. Fit a smoke alarm on every floor, including one near the bedrooms. Booking.com's safety tips for partners suggest smoke and carbon monoxide detectors on all floors.
2. Fit a carbon monoxide alarm in any room with a gas boiler, gas cooker, fireplace or other fuel-burning heater. Carbon monoxide has no smell, so the alarm is the only warning guests get.
3. Test them regularly. Add "press the test button on every alarm" to your cleaner's turnover checklist.
4. Replace batteries and alarms when the manufacturer says, and never leave an alarm off the ceiling after a false alarm.

Fire equipment and first aid

Fire blanket

• Fixed to the wall near the cooker
• For small pan fires
• How to use it, in the welcome guide

Fire extinguisher

• Where guests can see and reach it
• Gauge and expiry date checked
• Serviced as the label says

First-aid kit

• Plasters, dressings, bandages and tape
• Antiseptic wipes, scissors, tweezers, gloves
• Refilled whenever something is used

Booking.com's safety tips for partners suggest keeping a fire extinguisher somewhere easy to reach and checking it regularly, and keeping emergency exits visible and unobstructed. Keep the route to the front door clear, and keys for any locked doors easy to find. Our suggestion: leave medicines out of the kit and tell guests where the nearest pharmacy is instead.

Gas, heating and electrics

1. Have gas appliances checked by a qualified person. Boilers, cookers and heaters, and the flues that carry fumes away. Our suggestion: once a year, before the heating season.
2. Show guests where the gas tap is, and tell them what to do if they smell gas: don't switch lights or appliances on or off, open the windows, close the gas tap, leave and call for help.
3. Keep portable gas and fuel heaters out of bedrooms (our suggestion), or better, out of the rental altogether.
4. Look after the electrics. No overloaded or chained extension leads, damaged cables or loose sockets. If the wiring is old, have a qualified electrician check it.
5. Label the fuse box so you can talk a guest through resetting it by phone, and make sure they can reach it.

Balconies, stairs and windows

Look at your place through the eyes of a small child, and then through the eyes of a guest arriving tired in the dark.

Balconies

• Railings firm, with no gaps a child could slip through
• No chairs or plants by the rail that a child can climb
• A door that locks, if you welcome families

Windows

• Window restrictors or guards on upper floors
• Blind cords tied up out of reach
• Furniture kept away from low windows

Stairs and floors

• Handrails secure and steps well lit
• A non-slip mat in the shower or bath
• Rugs that don't slide

If something can't be fixed, say so in your listing. Booking.com's community guidelines give not disclosing risks, such as the absence of window guards in high-rises, as an example of behaviour that puts guests at risk. Airbnb's safety requirements ask hosts to disclose built-in hazards such as high places, pools and nearby water.

Emergency information and what to do

In Armenia, 112 is the emergency number for the police and rescue services. The Ministry of Internal Affairs' Rescue Service lists 112 as its contact number, and the Prime Minister's office says the 112 centre was set up to bring together the police and rescue emergency lines. Ambulance calls are on 103. The same report says the government plans to bring ambulance calls into the 112 centre in a second phase, at the beginning of 2027. Check the Rescue Service website before you print your guide, in case this changes.

Add these to your welcome guide, in the flat and in a message:

• 112 for police, fire and rescue, and 103 for an ambulance
• Your phone number for urgent problems, and a backup contact
• The full address in Armenian and Latin letters, with the floor, entrance and flat number
• Where the fire extinguisher, fire blanket, first-aid kit, gas tap, water tap and fuse box are

Then agree what happens if something goes wrong:

1. Guests call for help first, then you. Say this plainly in the guide.
2. You answer. Be reachable during every stay, or name a backup who is.
3. Help with language. If guests struggle to explain where they are, call the emergency service yourself with the address.
4. Afterwards, write it down. Note what happened, take photos, report it to the booking platform through its own channels, and fix the cause before the next guest arrives.

What Airbnb and Booking.com say

Airbnb's safety requirements for homes say hosts should clearly state whether smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are present, that detectors need to be in working order, and that hosts should test them regularly. Airbnb asks hosts to add their alarms in the safety devices section under guest safety, shows them with the listing's safety information, and lets guests filter for places with a carbon monoxide alarm.

Booking.com's community guidelines list a property that lacks functional smoke alarms, carbon monoxide detectors or fire safety equipment as a safety hazard. Its safety tips for partners also suggest giving guests local emergency numbers.

Whatever you use, describe the same devices on every listing, and only the ones that work. This guide doesn't cover what Armenian law requires of rentals; check with the relevant authority.

Safety mistakes to avoid

• Alarms with flat batteries, or taken down after a false alarm
• Gas appliances with no carbon monoxide alarm nearby
• A fire extinguisher hidden in a cupboard or out of date
• Extension leads plugged into extension leads
• Climbable furniture next to a balcony rail
• A welcome guide with no address or emergency numbers
• A listing that claims safety devices you don't have

Your checklist

Equipment

• Smoke alarm on every floor, carbon monoxide alarm near gas
• Fire extinguisher and fire blanket near the kitchen
• Stocked first-aid kit

Checks

• Alarms tested at every turnover
• Gas and heating checked each year
• Balconies, windows and stairs made child-safe

Information

• 112 and 103 in the welcome guide
• Address in Armenian and Latin letters
• Safety devices accurate on every listing

Questions hosts ask

Does Armenian law require smoke alarms in rentals?
This guide doesn't give legal advice, so check with the relevant authority. Platforms ask you to say whether you have alarms, and guests look for them, so fit them anyway.

Do I need a carbon monoxide alarm if everything is electric?
Airbnb lets hosts confirm that a carbon monoxide alarm isn't needed when the place runs only on electric appliances and has no attached garage. If you have any gas or fuel-burning appliance, fit one.

How often should I check everything?
Our suggestion: alarms at every turnover, the extinguisher gauge monthly, gas and heating once a year, and a full walk-through each season.

What if a guest is hurt in my place?
Make sure they get help first: 112, or 103 for an ambulance. Then stay in touch, report it through the booking platform, and talk to your insurer.