Does it apply to your cinema?
The Act covers premises that are a building, or a building and other land, mainly used for a Schedule 1 use, where it is reasonable to expect 200 or more people may be present at the same time, from time to time (s.2(2)).
Showing films to the public falls under "entertainment, leisure or recreation activities of any description" where the activity is principally for visiting members of the public (Sch 1 para 3). Selling tickets or running a members' scheme doesn't stop your audience counting as members of the public (Sch 1 para 18).
Count everyone who might be in the building at the busiest regular time, across all screens at once, plus the foyer, bar or café and staff: a Saturday evening, a big release, school holidays. Seat counts are a good starting point, but people waiting in the foyer for the next showing can add to the peak.
- 200–799 people: Standard Tier. Many single-screen and small independent cinemas will be here.
- 800 or more: Enhanced Tier (s.2(3)). Many multiplexes will be here. Enhanced Tier brings extra duties, so take professional advice and read the SIA and ProtectUK guidance. This guide covers Standard Tier.
If your cinema is inside a shopping centre or leisure complex, both the cinema and the wider site may be premises with their own duties. How that works depends on the layout and who controls which parts, and the Act doesn't settle every case simply. Record your reasoning and talk to the centre's management.
Check your cinema in two minutes with our free scope checker.
Who is responsible?
Whoever has control of the premises in connection with that use (s.4(1)). For a chain that is usually the operator. For a community or independent cinema it may be a trust, a charity committee or a council. If control is shared, for example with a landlord or a centre manager, each may be responsible and can act jointly (s.4(4)).
What you have to do (Standard Tier)
So far as is reasonably practicable, have appropriate procedures for evacuation, invacuation (moving people to a safer place inside), lockdown and communication if there is reason to suspect an act of terrorism is happening or about to happen nearby (s.5). Make sure the people who would carry them out are informed and, where appropriate, trained, and notify the SIA within three months of the duties starting, using its free service (Notification Requirements Regulations 2026). The notification asks for the most people you expect at once and how you worked that out, so keep a note of your counting. No physical alterations are required at Standard Tier.
What the four procedures might look like in a cinema
Examples to help you think, not legal requirements:
- Evacuation: your fire evacuation from each screen is the base, but plan for leaving by exits away from the foyer if the threat is at the front of the building.
- Invacuation: screens have closing doors and few windows, so holding people inside a screen can be safer than sending them into the street or a busy mall. Decide who makes that call.
- Lockdown: who closes the main doors and any entrance from a shopping centre, and how the box office, kiosk and bar are secured.
- Communication: how you stop a film and bring the house lights up in every screen at once, a short announcement script, staff radios, and who calls 999. If you're in a centre, agree how you'd hear from and tell centre security.
Briefing staff
Many cinema teams are young, part-time and change often, and late shifts may have only two or three people on. Add a two-minute briefing to shift handover, make sure every duty manager knows how to stop all screens, and keep a simple record of who has had it.
Checklist
- Check whether your cinema is in scope and which tier, and keep a dated note of your reasoning
- Agree who is responsible: operator, landlord, centre management, or more than one
- Write short procedures for the four areas
- Make sure every duty manager can stop all screens and make an announcement
- Brief front-of-house and projection staff, and record it
- Practise before opening and note what you'd change
- Write down how you worked out your maximum number of people (for example seats plus standing room, staff and volunteers)
- Notify the SIA within three months of the duties starting (it is free)
- Review once a year, or when screens or layout change