Martyn's Law for pubs and bars

Pubs are the single biggest category of standard tier premises. Landlords ask two questions first: "do my quiet weekdays save me?" and "is this on me or the pubco?" Both have answers straight from the official guidance, and one of them surprises people.

Weekend peaks count, quiet weekdays don't save you

The threshold is 200+ people (customers plus staff) reasonably expected at the same time, from time to time. The guidance's own example: a pub with no more than 175 in on weekdays that regularly hosts 200+ at weekends is in scope. Seasonal patterns count the same way: a venue that only crosses 200 in the run-up to Christmas, but does so every year, is in scope (paras 4.31 and the scope examples).

The flip side is equally official: your fire capacity or licensed capacity is a ceiling, not the answer. If your genuine busiest nights never reach 200 including staff, you're out of scope, so keep a dated note of how you know (para 4.25).

Tied tenants: the responsible person may be the brewery

The duty falls on the "responsible person": whoever has control of the premises for their use as a pub. The statutory guidance's example 3 in chapter 6 is explicit:

"A pub is owned by a large brewery but is leased by a tenant. The brewery is the licence holder for the premises. Therefore, the responsible person is the brewery."

Statutory guidance, chapter 6, example 3

So: who holds the premises licence? If it's you (free-of-tie leases, freeholders, most managed-house operators at company level), the duty is yours. If the pubco or brewery holds it, the legal duty likely sits with them, but don't relax: in practice they will discharge it through you and your staff, and you'll want that division of tasks in writing. If you're unsure, ask your BDM the question directly; being able to show you clarified it is worth having.

What the standard tier looks like behind a bar

• Evacuation that doesn't mean the fire drill: no gathering at the car-park assembly point (a predictable crowd is a target, para 7.36); staff push people out and away, in different directions, and don't stop to cash up.
• Invacuation: if trouble is in the street, bring the beer garden and smokers in fast, then lock the door behind them.
• Lockdown: know tonight, not in the moment, which doors lock from inside, where the keys live, and, a detail templates often miss, whether any doors unlock automatically on the fire alarm (para 7.44 flags exactly this).
• Communication: agreed words, said calmly. Drunk customers argue with vague instructions; they follow short, specific, repeated ones.

All of it staffed by whoever's actually on, which some nights is two people. The guidance explicitly scales expectations to your resources (para 7.23); a plan that assumes a security team you don't have is worse than useless.

Penalties, without the scare tactics

Standard tier: civil penalties up to £10,000 plus up to £500/day (paras 9.14–9.16). The guidance says it in terms: "non-compliance with a compliance notice issued in relation to standard tier premises is not a criminal offence" (figure 16). The £18m figures in trade-press headlines are enhanced tier (800+). What is criminal for anyone, either tier: knowingly giving the SIA false or misleading information (s.25). Whatever you write down, make it true.

Not sure of your tier, or whether your annual beer festival changes it? (It might: read this before you assume.) The free checker takes two minutes and gives you a printable record of your assessment.

And if you're in scope and want the four procedures written for your actual bar, cellar and garden, plus action cards your weekend staff will read, see how the service works for a pub.

Sources: Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025; Home Office statutory guidance (April 2026, updated May 2026) and supplementary documents. Paragraph references are to the statutory guidance. General information, not legal advice. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.