A hall that holds 200 or more people for a dance, a quiz or the Christmas fair is in scope. hailo writes your four plans with you, briefs your committee and keyholders, and sends every hirer a briefing for the building.
Download Martyn's Law on one page for your noticeboard or committee (PDF, free).
Count staff and volunteers too. Not sure? Check your venue.
A worked example
Get everyone out planUp to 240 people at once ยท standard tier
At a Saturday night dance, the hirer is told to clear the building.
Count everyone who could be in the hall at the same time at your busiest event: guests, the hirer and their helpers, caterers, the band or the DJ, stallholders, and your own committee members or keyholders if they're there. The Home Office counts volunteers and contractors as staff.
What doesn't add up is different bookings on the same day. A toddler group in the morning, a craft fair in the afternoon and a dance at night are three separate counts. Your number is the biggest of them.
Your fire risk assessment's safe occupancy figure is one accepted way to count, and your booking records are another. If the hall can hold 250 but you've never had more than 150 in at once, your records may give the fairer answer. Write down how you got your number.
The Home Office's own example is a village hall. Its fire figure is 250, but five years of records show no more than 150 people at once, so it's out of scope. A local band's sell-out concert for 250 doesn't change that, because nobody expected it and it won't be repeated. If the band keeps coming back, the hall comes into scope.
So look across your year for the events that come round again and fill the hall:
The law looks at what the building is mainly used for. In another Home Office example, a community centre's hall is hired for amateur dramatics, craft markets and as overflow space for the local mosque on Fridays and in Ramadan. It's assessed as a community centre, and because it can expect 200 or more at once, it's in the standard tier.
When you hire out your building, you stay the responsible person. The Home Office's guidance says to explain to each hirer what's expected of them, and to be able to show the SIA that you did.
In practice that means three things: put what you expect in your hire terms, give each hirer a short briefing for the building, and keep a note of who you briefed and when. The person in charge on the night needs to know the ways out, where to bring people in, and how to lock the doors.
A big public event of 800 or more, needing a ticket, a pass or membership to get in, is the exception. It can be a qualifying event, and a company that takes control of the hall for it becomes responsible for the event, working with your committee. That's rare for a village hall, but ask about numbers when people book.
Here's part of a made-up hall's plan for locking down (lockdown), written so a hirer can follow it on a busy night.
The Home Office's guidance gives a similar example: a hall whose volunteers learn the lockdown plan when they join, with a copy on the wall where everyone can see it.
From a made-up plan
Lock down planA made-up hall with a main hall, a stage, a kitchen and a meeting room, hired most weekends.
The responsible person is usually the management committee or trust that runs the hall. It can ask one member to lead the work, but the responsibility stays with the committee.
Agree it at a meeting, count your busiest event, write your four plans and brief your keyholders. On your own, the Home Office estimates about 9 hours of a manager's time to plan the procedures. Nothing is required by law yet: the duties are expected to start in spring 2027.
Most nights, the person in charge is a hirer, not the committee, but you stay the responsible person. The Home Office's guidance says to tell each hirer what's expected and be able to show you did. hailo briefs each hirer and keeps the record.
Plain English, nothing to install, and a one-page summary you can take to the next committee meeting.
When a keyholder leaves or a door changes, hailo reminds you to update the plan and re-brief the people it affects.
Evacuation
How you move people out of the building, or part of it, quickly and safely.
Invacuation
How you bring people inside, or to a safer room, when outside is the danger.
Lockdown
How you stop people getting in or out, for example by locking doors.
Communication
How you tell people what's happening and what to do: stay put, or move away.
No hardware, no guards, no course. It's about plans and people knowing them.Home Office factsheet
Other organisations' guidance, for information. We don't endorse it and it isn't legal advice.
Probably, if 200 or more people can reasonably be expected at your busiest events. The test is what you'd reasonably expect at the same time, not your licence or fire limit. The free scope check walks you through it.
The duty sits with the responsible person for the premises, usually the committee or trust. Hirers need to know the plans for the building on their night, which is why hailo briefs them.
No. The standard tier doesn't require security staff, CCTV, bag searches or any equipment. It's about plans and people knowing them.
No. Count the most people in the hall at the same time. A morning group of 30 and an evening dance of 180 give you 180, not 210.
Yes. Your safe occupancy figure is one of the ways the Home Office accepts. If your records show you never get near it, they may give a fairer number, so note down how you worked it out.
Not because of that alone. The Home Office's own village hall example says an unexpected one-off doesn't bring a hall into scope. If events like it start to happen again, count again.
There's no course to sit. The people with a part in the plans need to know them and what to do, and the Home Office's guidance says a briefing or an induction can do that.
Only for a qualifying event: open to the public, needing a ticket, a pass or membership to get in, with 800 or more people at once. Then whoever takes control of the hall for it is responsible for the event, and you work together. For ordinary hires, you stay responsible.