What is a Budget Accommodation Building?

A budget accommodation building provides accommodation to 6 or more unrelated persons who have shared access to bathroom/toilet facilities. This includes backpacker hostels, boarding houses, bed and breakfast, farm-stay, share houses or similar types of accommodation.

Budget accommodation buildings are defined in Queensland Legislation (Building Act 1975* s. 216).

What's the risk?

These types of buildings provide accommodation for many persons throughout Queensland and are particularly common in and around education facilities such as Universities and in regional areas where there is a high demand for a transient manual labour force, like fruit picking areas. Many people living in these Budget Accommodation Buildings are young international travellers helping to support our agricultural economy. Fires in these types of buildings have a greater potential for injury and death of the occupants.

What's the law?

Budget Accommodation Buildings must comply with the fire safety standard to provide the occupants of the building with:

  • early warning
  • emergency lighting
  • exits from the building
  • firefighting equipment (if required)
  • Fire Safety Management Plan.

Our officers can enter these types of building to determine if the Fire Safety Management Plan is being implemented in the building.

What can I do?

If you live in a building that you believe is a Budget Accommodation Building that does not meet the fire safety standard or you know of a building that appears to be operating as a Budget Accommodation Building, please contact your nearest community safety office.

Want more information?

The following guidelines have been formulated to assist budget accommodation building owner with the implementation of a Fire Safety Management Plan (FSMP).

You can find more information by following the links below:

Last updated 05 July 2024