Of the four Martyn's Law procedures, evacuation is the one every venue already has a version of, and communication follows from the other three. Invacuation and lockdown are the two that are new to most committees, and the two most often written badly, because people write what they would like the building to do rather than what it can. This page explains each, how to write them for the building you have, and the decisions that have to be in them.
The three movements
| Procedure | The question it answers | Typical trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Evacuation | How do we get everyone out, and to where? | A threat inside the building |
| Invacuation | How do we get everyone in, and to the safest part? | A threat outside: in the street, the car park, the next building |
| Lockdown | How do we stop someone getting in? | A threat trying to reach the people inside |
They are not steps in a sequence; they are options, and the decision between them is the heart of the procedure. The same event can call for different answers in the first minute and the fifth. That is why each procedure names the person who decides.
Writing the invacuation procedure
Walk the building and answer: where is the safest part? Usually the room furthest from the public entrance and the street, with solid walls, few or no windows, and a door that closes; a vestry, a store room, an inner hall. Then: how do people get there from every part of the premises, including the garden and the car park, and who sweeps each area. Then: what you do once there. Doors closed, lights off if that makes sense, away from windows, phones on silent, one person in contact with the emergency services. Then: how long, and who decides it is over. Write it as instructions for the person in charge that day, in the order they would do them.
Writing the lockdown procedure
Start with the doors. List every entrance and whether it can be secured from inside without a key, with a key (where kept), or not at all, and what you would use instead. Then the sequence: who calls the lockdown, how they say it (the words matter; a code can confuse hirers), who secures which door, where people go inside (the invacuation room, usually), how you keep people from opening a door to someone knocking, and how you communicate with the police. Then the limits: a hall with glazed doors and no internal locks cannot be made secure, and the procedure should say that plainly and say what the realistic aim is: delay, distance, out of sight.
The Act does not require you to buy locks, shutters or barriers. It requires a procedure that is reasonably practicable for the building you have. A procedure that honestly states the building's limits is compliant with the duty in a way that a fantasy procedure is not, and it is also the first step toward deciding whether a £40 bolt is worth fitting.
The decisions every version must contain
- Who decides, and their deputy, by role not by name (so it survives a change of caretaker).
- The exact words used to call it, and how they reach every part of the premises.
- Where people go, from each area, and who checks each area is clear.
- Which doors, secured how, by whom.
- Who speaks to the emergency services, and from where.
- How it ends, and who says so.
- What the building cannot do, stated plainly.
The free procedure writer asks these questions about your building and drafts all four procedures from the answers; anything it does not know becomes a gap for you to fill rather than a guess. The templates page has the same structure on paper.
Common questions
- What is the difference between invacuation and lockdown?
- Invacuation moves people from where they are (often outside, or in an exposed part of the building) to a safer part of the premises, away from the threat. Lockdown secures the premises against someone trying to get in: doors locked, shutters down, people out of sight. They often happen together, invacuate then lock down, but they are two decisions.
- Who decides to lock down?
- Your procedure names them: the person in charge on the day, with a deputy. In a hall it is the hirer's contact or the duty volunteer; in a church, the warden or the officiant; in a school, the head or whoever holds the on-call. The decision cannot wait for a committee.
- What if our doors do not lock from inside?
- Then your procedure says so, and says what you do instead: which doors can be secured and how (wedges, furniture, a bar), which rooms have doors that lock, where people are least visible. The Act does not require you to fit locks; it requires a procedure that is reasonably practicable for the building you have. Writing down the limitation is part of the procedure.
- Do we have to practise it?
- The Act does not set a drill requirement. The guidance expects the procedures to be known and reviewed, and a yearly walk-through is the practical minimum. Do not run a surprise lockdown drill with the public present.
- Is 'Run, Hide, Tell' the same thing?
- Run, Hide, Tell is the public advice for an individual caught up in an attack. Your procedures are the organisation's plan for the building: where to run to, where to hide, who tells. They should be consistent with it.
Written from the building you have, not the one you wish you had.
The Venue Record drafts all four procedures from your answers about the doors, rooms and people, marks anything unanswered as a gap, and keeps every confirmed version with the name of the person who signed it off. Your people read it on their phones, and you see who has.
Start your 14-day trialAbout ten minutes. 14 days, then £25 a month per building.
A plain-English summary of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 and the Home Office statutory guidance, written for the people who run premises. The Act is not yet in force and regulations may change the detail. It is not legal advice. The Venue Record is independent and is not connected to, endorsed by or approved by the Home Office, the Security Industry Authority or any government body.