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Add your rooms and your people and the calculator works out your peak capacity and which Martyn's Law tier it puts you in. The rest of this guide explains how it gets there.
Under Martyn's Law, capacity is the most people who may reasonably be expected to be present at once, staff included. 200 or more puts you in scope; 800 or more puts you in the enhanced tier.
It is not your fire certificate number, not the number of seats, and not an average day. It is your busiest realistic moment, counted across the whole premises.
The Act says a premises qualifies where 200 or more individuals may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time. That sentence does a lot of work, and three phrases in it are where venues go wrong.
The two thresholds: 200 and 800
| Most people at once | Tier | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Under 200 | Not in scope | No duties under the Act. Keep a note of the figure and how you worked it out. |
| 200 to 799 | Standard tier | Four public protection procedures, the people who run the premises know them, and you notify the SIA once the law is in force. No equipment, no assessment to send. |
| 800 or more | Enhanced tier | Everything in the standard tier plus protective measures, a written assessment sent to the regulator, and a designated senior individual. |
Places of worship, schools and nurseries stay at the standard tier however many people they hold. Everything else crosses into the enhanced tier at 800.
What counts as 800+ capacity premises
The 800 figure is counted the same way as the 200: everyone reasonably expected at once, across the whole premises, on the busiest realistic day. Premises that commonly reach it include larger theatres and concert halls, nightclubs, arenas and stadiums, exhibition halls, large hotels with function suites, shopping centres, major visitor attractions, bus and rail stations, and large hospitals and universities. A village hall, church hall or clubhouse almost never does; a sports ground with a stand and a clubhouse might on match day.
If your figure is near 800, the counting rules below decide which side of the line you are on, and the difference in duties is large. Work it carefully, write down the method, and keep the workings.
A worked example
A village hall with a main hall of 150 m² and no fixed seating, a committee room of 30 m², a kitchen, and a car park. The main hall's fire risk assessment states a maximum of 220. The hall holds a Christmas fair each year with stalls in the main hall, the committee room in use, and a marquee on the car park.
- Main hall: the fire risk assessment figure, 220. (Floor area at 0.5 m² per person would give 300, but the assessed figure is better evidence, and lower.)
- Committee room: 30 m² at 1.0 m² per person, 30.
- Marquee on the car park: the hirer's own figure for the fair, 60.
- People working: fourteen volunteers, four stallholders' helpers, two in the kitchen, 20.
- Total at the busiest moment: 220 + 30 + 60 + 20 = 330. Standard tier.
On an ordinary Tuesday the same building holds a yoga class of fifteen. That is irrelevant: capacity is judged on the fair.
"Present", not "customers"
The test counts everyone at the premises, not only members of the public. Staff, volunteers, contractors, performers, caterers, bar staff and anyone else on site all count. For a volunteer-run venue this can add twenty or thirty people to a figure that was otherwise under the line.
"At the same time", across the whole premises
If several spaces can be in use simultaneously, add them together. A main hall at 180 and a committee room at 30 is a premises capacity of 210. The busiest moment of the week is often a changeover, when one group is leaving and the next is setting up.
"May reasonably be expected"
This is peak use, not average use. A regular annual event that brings 300 people is reasonably expected, even if 51 weeks of the year the building holds forty. A one-off that has happened once in a decade is a different matter.
Methods for estimating
The statutory guidance recognises several approaches, and you should use whichever gives the most reliable figure for your building:
- Existing fire safety figures. If your fire risk assessment states an occupancy figure for a room, that is usually the best number you have.
- Ticketing or booking data. For venues that sell tickets, historic peak attendance is strong evidence.
- Headcount. If you have counted at busy events, use it.
- Floor area. Where you have none of the above, floor space factors give a reasonable estimate.
Floor space factors
These are the occupancy factors used routinely in fire safety assessment. They are a starting point rather than a legal answer, and a stated figure from your own fire risk assessment is always better.
| Type of space | Floor area per person |
|---|---|
| Standing area, bar, dance floor | 0.3 m² |
| Hall with no fixed seating | 0.5 m² |
| Seated dining, café, function room | 1.0 m² |
| Meeting or committee room | 1.0 m² |
| Exhibition or display space | 1.5 m² |
| Shop or retail floor | 2.0 m² |
| Office | 6.0 m² |
Use net usable floor area. Exclude the stage, the bar servery, the kitchen, storage and corridors.
Six things venues forget
- Staff and volunteers, especially at the events where there are most of them.
- Rooms in use at the same time as each other.
- Contractors, caterers, performers and their crew.
- Outdoor areas under your control: marquees, car parks used for events, churchyards during a fair.
- The once-a-year day. The village show, the Christmas fair, the wedding that pays for the roof.
- Changeovers, when one group overlaps with the next.
Common questions
- What is the capacity threshold for Martyn's Law?
- 200 people. A premises is in scope if 200 or more people may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time, including staff and volunteers. At 800 or more it moves to the enhanced tier, except places of worship, schools and nurseries, which stay at the standard tier.
- Does capacity under Martyn's Law include staff?
- Yes. The test counts everyone present: staff, volunteers, contractors, performers, caterers and anyone else on site, not only members of the public.
- Is Martyn's Law capacity the same as fire capacity?
- Not necessarily. A fire risk assessment's occupancy figure for a room is good evidence and often the best figure you have, but Martyn's Law capacity is counted across the whole premises at the busiest realistic moment, including outdoor areas you control. Several rooms in use at once are added together.
- Does capacity mean seats?
- No. It means people. A hall with 120 chairs can hold far more people standing, and the figure is the most who could reasonably be present, however they are accommodated.
- How do I calculate the capacity of a venue?
- For each space, use the figure from your fire risk assessment or licence if there is one; otherwise divide the net floor area by the floor space factor for that use (0.5 square metres per person for a hall with no fixed seating, 1.0 for seated dining or a meeting room, 0.3 for standing). Add the spaces that can be in use at once, add the people working, and take the busiest realistic day, including one-off events.
- What is 800+ capacity premises?
- Premises where 800 or more people may reasonably be expected at once, which puts them in the enhanced tier. Typically larger theatres, nightclubs, arenas, exhibition halls, big hotels, shopping centres and stations. The figure is counted the same way as the 200 threshold.
- Can we set a lower capacity limit to stay out of scope?
- Only if it is real. If you cap bookings and enforce the cap, the capacity you can reasonably expect is the cap. A number written in a policy but not applied on the busiest day will not survive a look at what actually happens.
Work it out
The capacity calculator takes your spaces one at a time, applies the factors above where you do not have a figure, adds your people, and tells you which tier the result puts you in.
Not sure whether Martyn's Law applies to you at all? Here's the plain answer, written for committees.