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What Florida lodging inspectors refer to the fire marshal: three weeks of the DBPR fire list
A Florida lodging inspector is not a fire inspector, but the statute makes the inspector report what is in plain sight. Every Saturday the Division of Hotels and Restaurants posts the week's list. We tallied three consecutive lists, 146 observations at 133 licensed establishments. More than a third were the same thing: a trouble or alarm light lit on the fire alarm control panel. A quarter were a boiler certificate expired, missing or not posted.
What the weekly list is
Section 509.032(2)(d), Florida Statutes, requires the Division, "or its agent," to "notify the local firesafety authority or the State Fire Marshal of any readily observable violation" of a rule adopted under chapter 633 that relates to a public lodging or public food service establishment, and says that identifying such a violation does not require firesafety inspection certification. Each row in the extract carries that paragraph and the words "For reporting purposes only." The Division's own code list files these items under headings marked "FOR REPORTING PURPOSES ONLY": they are observations handed to the fire authority, not fire-code citations by the Division, and whether a fire inspection follows is the local fire marshal's decision. The extract is posted every Saturday as an Excel file and a PDF and "includes fire violations data entered during the previous week." It names each establishment, its license number, the inspection type, the disposition of the Division's own inspection and the code observed.
Section 509.032 (Florida Senate)Chapter 633 (Florida Senate)Decoder: s. 509.211, lodging safetyFlorida lodging record
Three weeks, 146 observations
| Weekly list | Inspected | Rows | Licenses |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 22, 2026 | Aug. 14 to 21 | 44 | 38 |
| August 29, 2026 | Aug. 21 to 28 | 60 | 55 |
| September 5, 2026 | Aug. 28 to Sept. 4 | 42 | 40 |
| Three lists | Aug. 14 to Sept. 4 | 146 | 133 |
The most frequent code each week was the same one, 04-01-4, a trouble or alarm light on the fire alarm control panel: 15, 23 and 19 rows, 57 of 146 in all, or 39%. "Licenses" is the number of distinct license numbers on the list. An establishment with two observations in one week is one row per observation; the same property can appear in more than one week. The Division's annual report (Table 10, "Fire Violations - For Reporting Purposes Only") prints 2,497 reporting-only fire violations for all of fiscal year 2025-26, about 48 a week, which is the order of these three lists.
The codes, ranked
The code is the Division's lodging violation code; the wording is the Division's. Codes 01 through 08 are the fire-reporting groups: fire extinguishers, fire hazards, sprinkler system, smoke detectors and fire alarm, hearing-impaired smoke detectors, exits, electrical wiring, and boilers. Nothing from the sprinkler group (03) appeared in these three weeks.
| Code | Violation as the Division words it | Rows | Who confirms the fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 04-01-4 | Trouble/alarm light illuminated on the fire alarm control panel | 57 | The fire alarm service contractor; the local fire marshal on any impairment |
| 08-01-4 | Boiler certificate or insurance inspector's boiler report expired | 23 | The boiler insurer's inspector or the Boiler Safety Program in the State Fire Marshal's office |
| 01-02-4 | Portable fire extinguisher pressure gauge indicates the extinguisher is in need of recharge | 12 | A licensed extinguisher contractor |
| 08-03-4 | No boiler certificate or insurance inspector's boiler report available | 11 | As for 08-01-4 |
| 05-02-5 | Hearing-impaired smoke detector is not functioning when tested | 7 | The fire alarm contractor; housekeeping checks the room units |
| 01-01-4 | Portable fire extinguisher pressure gauge indicates the extinguisher is overcharged | 6 | A licensed extinguisher contractor |
| 01-03-4 | Portable fire extinguisher missing from its designated location | 4 | Engineering; the extinguisher contractor replaces it |
| 07-01-4 | Damaged electrical wire(s) | 4 | A licensed electrical contractor |
| 04-02-4 | No smoke detector provided in guest room/unit (transient) | 3 | The fire alarm contractor; the local fire marshal on the detector type s. 509.215 requires |
| 15 other codes | Exits blocked or inaccessible (3 codes, 4 rows); propane tank under a stairwell or inside the building, flammables near ignition (3 codes, 5 rows); extinguisher locked in its box, obstructed, or none on the premises (3 codes, 4 rows); panel with no power, panel sounding, smoke-detector panel trouble light, guest unit smoke detector not functioning (4 codes, 4 rows); frayed wire (1); boiler certificate not posted (1) | 19 | The contractor for that system; the local fire marshal |
By group: smoke detectors and fire alarm, 64 rows (44%); boiler, 35 (24%); fire extinguishers, 26 (18%); hearing-impaired smoke detectors, 7; fire hazards, 5; electrical wiring, 5; exits, 4.
Where, how found, and what the Division did
| Measure | Three lists |
|---|---|
| Inspection type | Routine lodging inspection 102; complaint inspection 30; licensing inspection 14 |
| Marked "Repeat Violation" | 27 of 146 |
| Disposition of the Division's own inspection | Inspection completed, no further action 90; warning issued 36; administrative complaint recommended 13 (7 at the inspection, 6 at a call-back); call-back complied 5; call-back extension pending 2 |
| Marked "Corrected On-Site" | 3 |
| County (the page label in the extract) | Miami-Dade 47; Orange 18; Volusia 12; Broward, Palm Beach, Seminole and St. Lucie 8 each; Marion and Pinellas 6; Polk 5; Brevard 4; Alachua, Collier and Duval 3; Hillsborough, Lee and Sarasota 2; Walton 1 |
The disposition is what the Division did about its own inspection, which may have included other, non-fire violations; it does not say what the fire authority did with the referral. The boiler rows cite Rule 61C-1.004(10), Florida Administrative Code, which requires the insurance inspector's boiler report annually for power boilers and high-pressure, high-temperature boilers and, in the rule's word, "biannually" for low-pressure steam or vapor heating boilers, posted in the boiler room; the certificate itself is issued under chapter 554 by the Boiler Safety Program of the State Fire Marshal.
Rule 61C-1.004 (flrules.org)Chapter 554, boilers (Florida Senate)Section 509.215, firesafety (Florida Senate)
What this means for a hotel or a condominium
| What the lists show | What a building team can do, and who confirms it |
|---|---|
| The single most reported item is a lit trouble or alarm light on the fire alarm control panel: 57 rows, and the inspector writes it even when the property says a service call is open. | Make the panel a line on the daily walk: any yellow trouble light or active alarm indication is logged, the alarm contractor is called the same day, and the work order is kept at the desk. The contractor confirms the repair; the local fire marshal decides whether an impairment needs a fire watch under the Florida Fire Prevention Code. |
| A boiler certificate or insurer's report expired or not available: 34 rows, with expiration dates from 2022 and 2024 written into some of them. | Put the expiration date of each boiler's certificate and insurer's report on the compliance calendar, and keep the current copy posted in the boiler room where the inspector looks. The insurer's inspector or the State Fire Marshal's Boiler Safety Program confirms the certificate; a licensed contractor does the repair. |
| Extinguisher gauges in the recharge or overcharge zone, extinguishers missing, locked or obstructed: 26 rows. | The monthly extinguisher check (gauge in the green, seal intact, in its marked location, reachable) is the whole fix; a licensed extinguisher contractor confirms the annual service and any recharge. |
| The list is public, names the establishment, and goes to the fire authority with a one-week lag. | Expect the local fire marshal to see the referral; a property that already has the repair invoice and the contractor's report when the fire inspector calls is in a different position from one that does not. Whether a referral results in a fire inspection or a citation is the fire authority's decision. |
| A condominium that rents units as transient lodging holds a Division license and appears on this list; one that does not is outside the Division's inspections. | The same four items (panel lights, boiler certificates, extinguishers, exits) are what a fire inspector checks under the Florida Fire Prevention Code in any condominium; the association's engineer and the local fire marshal confirm what applies. |
What is not on this page, and why
The extracts name each establishment and its address; this page does not, by our rule. The lists dated October 31 and November 7, 2026 are posted but could not be opened by our reader today; the list dated August 15 opened but the text we received appeared to end early, so it is left out of the tally rather than counted short. The three lists tallied are the newest consecutive ones we could read in full. The county is the page label in the extract; a few rows sit under a label that does not match the address printed, so county counts are approximate by one or two. The totals are our row counts, not a figure the Division prints; the Division's only published total is the fiscal-year count of fire-reporting violations in its annual report. The companion Food Fire Report (restaurants and hotel food service) is left off. A referral is an observation by a lodging inspector; it is not a finding by a fire inspector, and nothing here says any property is or is not in compliance with chapter 633 or the Florida Fire Prevention Code.
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