It’s All OK Until it Isn’t
I’m sure we are all guilty of thinking something doesn’t apply to us or everything is ok as it is, the rules don’t affect us, hasn’t happened yet, is unlikely to happen to us. That is all ok, until it isn’t......

Know your Responsibilities

As soon as you take money from someone staying on your property, you are deemed a business and as such you then have certain legal requirements including under various Acts as follows:

• InnKeepers Act - which applies to any house whose proprietor provides sleeping accommodation for any

  traveller.

• Health & Safety at Work Act - The Act says: A home occupier is a PCBU (Person Conducting a Business

   or Undertaking) if they operate a business from their home.

• Food Safety – Hosts who serve food are required by the Food Act to provide safe and suitable food and to

  meet other requirements contained in the Food Hygiene Regulations. Depending on the size of the

  operation this may or may not include a commercial grade kitchen. If a property hosts less than 10 guests

  then this Act is unlikely to apply to you. To see if your business is covered under The Food Act visit

  http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/index.htm.

• Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act – If hosting less than 10 persons and resident on the property, owners are

  able to supply alcohol to guests. However, you should check with your local council for any local by-laws

  that may apply.

• Fire Safety Act – The level of compliance with the Fire Safety Act and building regulations depends on

  the number of guests and ranges from the bare minimum of evacuation plans and smoke detectors through

  to hard wired smoke alarms and a building warrant of fitness.

  NZ Human Rights Act - (Race Relations / Disabled Persons) – this Act prohibits the discrimination of all

  people based on disability and race.

• GST / Income Tax – all income must be declared. Whether GST is charged depends on the level of

  income.

• ACC Levies - ACC levies are payable by most self-employed persons running businesses which, of

  course, includes accommodation hosts.

• Transport of guests – there are a number of regulations involved in the transportation of guests. These are

  covered further in Section 5.

• Fair Trading Act and Consumer Guarantees Act – ensure what you advertise is what you are providing.

  The Privacy Act - Whether you conduct business online or offline, and regardless of how you collect the

  information, you have access to personal information about your guests. The law makes it clear that it’s

  your responsibility as a business owner to make sure the information you collect is managed with respect.

Insurance

Personal Property, Guest Property & Public Liability Insurance.

You and your guests need to be covered for all eventualities. Hosted accommodation is considered a business activity operated within the home and therefore has specific insurance requirements regardless of the scale of operation (ie. whether a small one room business or three – four - plus rooms). The risks covered by the insurance would include, among other things, theft of possessions and damage to your property and contents caused by guests.

Hosted accommodation is covered under the Innkeepers Act. Under this Act an operator is classed as an “innkeeper” and the Act states:

“Subject to the provisions of this Act, every innkeeper shall be liable as an innkeeper for the loss of or damage to property brought to the inn by any guest, whether or not the loss of damage was caused by the
default or negligence of another guest or of the innkeeper or his service or agent.”

Without going into the specifics of the Act, it is important you are insured against all the risk involved, so to be compliant, your insurance policy will also need to cover you under the Innkeepers Act. Many domestic insurance policies DO NOT cover hosted accommodation providers and if your insurance company advises you are covered - make sure you have this in writing, including the relevant clauses in your insurance policy that relate to the appropriate coverage. 

Public and Statutory liability covers are also important for you and your guests' safety. Many agents will only work with you if you can provide a copy of your Public Liability Certificate so if you are dealing with trade this basically a pre-requisite.

If you are unsure about your current insurance or would like to extend your insurance we suggest you contact David Rush at Vision Insurance. David is more than happy to talk to you and help you with any insurance requirements you might have. Vision Insurance has a bed & breakfast specific policy and they are main Sponsor for the Bed & Breakfast Association and have been for well over 10 years.

David's contact details are:

David Rush david@visioninsurance.co.nzMuch of the above are exerts from Our Guide for Running Successful Accommodation which is available to download from the member’s website and is a valuable resource. If you are just starting out or been running your business for a number of years it still has relevant and valuable information. There is always something more to learn and that is what makes us stand out in the accommodation business – being the best we can be.

Many of the requirements above are noted in the B&B Association Quality Assurance Program Assessment – ensuring our hosts are offering a quality and legal accommodation experience. If you haven’t yet completed our Quality Assurance program, access is available through the members website or contact myself

Assessment Coordinator
Jan stay@breakers.co.nz or our Association Secretary Alison secretary@bandbassociation.co.nz

Remember it’s all ok until it isn’t and you are better to be prepared for the unexpected rather than the unexpected happen and be unprepared.

Author: Jan Roberts, Board Member