Does it apply to your pub?
The Act covers a building 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)).
Pubs and bars usually fall under "food and drink": selling food or drink where it is principally for consumption on the premises by visiting members of the public (Sch 1 para 2). Live music, quiz nights and functions may also count as entertainment (Sch 1 para 3).
Count everyone who might be there at your busiest regular time, including staff: a match on the big screen, New Year's Eve, a beer festival in the garden. Your fire risk assessment's maximum occupancy is a useful starting point, but the test is how many people you can reasonably expect, not the theoretical maximum.
200–799 people means Standard Tier. 800 or more means Enhanced Tier, which brings extra duties and is worth professional advice (s.2(3)).
Check your pub in two minutes with our free scope checker.
Who is responsible: the tenant or the pub company?
The duty sits with whoever has control of the premises in connection with that use (s.4(1)). In a tenanted or leased pub that is often the tenant, but it depends on your agreement. If control is shared, each person is responsible and you can act jointly (s.4(4)). Talk to your pub company or landlord now and agree in writing who does what.
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 staff 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 pub
Examples to help you think, not legal requirements:
- Evacuation: routes that take people away from the front of the pub if the threat is in the street, including through the garden or a back gate.
- Invacuation: a function room, cellar or back area that can be closed, and how you'd move people there.
- Lockdown: who closes and locks the front doors, and how you stop people wandering back in from the smoking area.
- Communication: cutting the music, using the PA or a raised voice, and who calls 999.
Briefing bar staff
High staff turnover is the main challenge. Make the briefing short and part of every new starter's first shift:
- the signal that means "something's wrong"
- their job: doors, garden, or moving customers
- who is in charge on each shift
Record who has been briefed and when, and refresh it when rotas change.
Checklist
- Check whether you are in scope and keep a dated note of your reasoning
- Agree with your pub company or landlord who is responsible
- Write short procedures for the four areas
- Add a two-minute briefing to new-starter training, and record it
- Practise at a quiet time 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, and after any refit or change of use