Peak Season Prep: 20+ Essential Safety Checks for Vacation Rentals

Justin Ford
3/3/2026

At Breezeway, we believe there are almost 100 possible safety points to address in a short-term rental and inspect often. We cover all those points with supporting education in the Breezeway Short-Term Rental Safety Course, which is free for all VRMA members.

Some of the key points of safety that should be addressed to prepare before peak season include:

Rental Property Exterior

Address Markers: Check to make sure that the growth of bushes and trees won’t prevent an address from being easily observed from the street. Ensure that even if there is a drive full of tall vans or SUVs, the address markers can be seen. Address markers should be considered life-saving items. A life may depend on critical seconds for a first responder to locate the property, and having a missing, blocked, or difficult-to-read address marker could be the difference in saving their life or not.

Walkway: Walkways, driveways, and paths on the property should be free of trip hazards. With this colder-than-normal winter, concrete and stone steps may have shifted or cracked, creating trip hazards. It only takes the thickness of a nickel to create a trip hazard, so be sure to address any areas between where the guests park and where they enter the rental.

Exterior Light: Exterior lighting offers ample visibility for renters to access the dwelling from their vehicles at night and around other common travel paths on the property. As with address markers, trees and bushes may be blocking lights that weren’t blacked out before. Motion light sensors may have been damaged by ice or over time. Be sure to visit all your properties at night to ensure that lighting works as it is intended. A guest shouldn’t have to supply their own lighting to see from the car into the rental.

Elevated Decks and Stairs: About 50% of decks in America need replacement or significant repairs, according to the North American Deck and Railing Association (NADRA). This statistic highlights the importance of regular maintenance and inspection to ensure the safety and longevity of outdoor structures. If an elevated deck at a rental property hasn’t been inspected by a home inspector or licensed contractor in the past five years, it is time to do it.

Outdoor Furniture: Outdoor furniture wears out over time. Even a fall from 6 inches on a broken chair can cause a guest to dislocate their hip or worse. Be sure to inspect all of it for cracks, rot, or repair/replacement needs. Hammocks and porch swings have been assessed for load capacity.

Grill: Gas grills used in the vacation rental industry don’t last long. Some brands are better than others, but generally, they need to be replaced every three years, depending on the quality of the grill and how well it has been maintained. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) suggests that regular maintenance can extend the life of a grill, but if you notice significant rust, damage, or degraded performance, it may be time to replace it sooner. If the grill no longer operates as the manufacturer intended, it is time to be replaced.

Pool: Electrical systems at pools should be inspected within the last five years. All receptacles within 20 feet of the water’s edge of the pool or spa are supposed to be GFCI protected, and these GFI outlets should be tested. Pool gates should be checked to make sure they close and latch automatically, as they may have shifted over the winter. Alarms are the best prevention for drowning. Water watcher cards are the least expensive tool you can provide guests to prevent drowning. Create and provide them at all your rentals with a pool. Finally, a safety hook is one of the most important life-saving devices at a pool. Be sure all your pools have one easily accessible.

Hot Tub: Like a pool, hot tub electrical systems should have been inspected within the last five years. All receptacles within 20 feet of the water’s edge of the spa must be GFCI protected, so test them. Make sure the spa cover can be securely fastened to prevent children from accessing it.

Rental Interior

Fire Extinguisher: A 5lb ABC type fire extinguisher should be mounted, as per the manufacturer’s instructions and the International Residential Code (IRC), within 30 feet of all cooking appliances, including grills, or as local laws require.

Smoke Alarms: Smoke alarms are the most important devices in any rental property. All smoke alarms in the rental dwelling should be checked to see that they are installed as per their manufacturer’s instructions and local laws. They should be less than 10 years old, present in each bedroom/sleeping area and the hall outside, and be in good working order, or as local laws require. Note that new types of smoke alarms are hitting the market that are supposed to be immune to false alarms from cooking errors. Now is a good time to sit down with your team and do a thorough study on those new smoke alarms, how they work, and if you want to replace older ones in your properties with them. The new smoke alarm section of the Breezeway Safety Course covers this material. If there are commercial alarms at the property, they should be cleaned annually by the alarm company. Now is a good time to schedule that.

Carbon Monoxide Detector: All required carbon monoxide (CO) detectors in the rental dwelling should be checked to ensure they are less than seven years old and they are installed according to manufacturer instructions and comply with state/local requirements. If you have some downtime to do it, I recommend upgrading any outlet-plugged CO detectors to digital wall-mounted ones. Outlet-mounted detectors often fall out of outlets or are easily removed by guests, versus wall-mounted ones.

First Aid Kit: First aid kits should be restocked. If you can, it is recommended that you have a program where you give away small first aid kits to your guests so you don’t have to worry about checking and re-stocking them after each guest. Giveaway first aid kits can cost less than $5 each.

Emergency Information Card: Make sure the safety information (or document/sign) containing, at a minimum, the property’s address and emergency contact information, is prominently posted in the rental with the most up-to-date and accurate information.

Propane and Natural Gas Lines: An annual inspection for leaks in gas lines at lanterns, stoves, grills, and heating appliances should be completed.

Bedrooms/Sleeping Area Egress: Unless sprinklered, all bedrooms and sleeping areas must have two legal means of egress that meet IRC building codes. Move any furniture or items that are blocking egress to a better location. As part of this process, open and close windows to ensure they will do the same in an emergency. Bedrooms more than 20 feet above ground should have an escape ladder.

Bunk beds: Bunk beds must meet US federal legal requirements, including safety signage, guardrails, and an affixed ladder. Slats to support top bunks, as well as the rest of the bed, should be checked for cracks and looseness. If a bunk bed is loosely connected and unable to be tightened, it should be replaced. Ceiling fans that haven’t been removed from areas where impact could be made with the bed occupant(s) should be removed.

Kitchen: All appliances, from the hand mixer to the can opener, should be inspected annually for issues. Plug each appliance in, checking their power cords, and looking for any potential issues. Knives, if they haven’t been sharpened recently, should be replaced or resharpened. Lacerations from dull knives are one of the top injuries that vacation renters encounter. Ensure all GFI outlets are tested and work as they should. Pull refrigerators out and make sure they are cleaned well in the back to remove dust that can become a fire hazard.

Hot Water Heater: Check that all domestic water heaters are set to a maximum temperature of 125 degrees Fahrenheit for safety. A meat thermometer at the closest faucet to the water heater is a good gauge to test with. If occupancy has increased and necessitated a higher temperature, it may be time to install additional hot water heaters. A standard hot water heater should provide 20 to 30 gallons per person per day. For an average vacation rental, a 40- to 50-gallon heater is adequate for up to four guests. However, homes with higher demands—such as a three-bedroom house now accommodating 12 guests—should have a heater with at least an 80- to 100-gallon capacity. Alternatively, consider multiple smaller units or tankless systems to ensure a continuous hot water supply during peak usage times

Laundry Room: The dryer vent needs annual cleaning and inspection. Pull the dryer out and do a thoughtful inspection.

Attached Garages: They should have heat detectors installed that tie into the smoke alarm system in the rental. The pre-season is a great time to get these installed if they are not there already.

Lithium and Car Charging: Given the rise in fire incidents caused by lithium batteries from devices such as electric bikes, drones, and electric cars, the off-season is an ideal time to establish designated charging stations for guests. It’s important to provide clear notices about the safe charging process.

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