KEY POINTS
- Premises qualify only if all four tests in section 2 of the Act are met: a building (or building and land), a Schedule 1 use, 200 or more people at the same time from time to time, and no exclusion.
- Schedule 1 lists 17 uses, from shops, food and drink and entertainment to hotels, places of worship, health care, education and public authority services.
- The numbers test includes staff and is about predictable peaks, not averages. A genuine one-off surge does not bring premises into scope.
- Open access parks and recreation grounds, Parliament and devolved government premises, and some transport premises with their own security regimes are excluded.
- Places of worship, childcare, schools and further education always stay in the standard tier, even at 800 or more.
The four tests at a glance
Section 2 of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 sets out when premises are "qualifying premises". The Home Office statutory guidance turns it into four questions. Your premises are in scope only if the answer to every one is yes.
- Is the site a building, or a building and other land? (A building includes part of a building or a group of buildings.)
- Are the premises wholly or mainly used for one or more of the uses in Schedule 1 to the Act?
- Is it reasonable to expect that, from time to time, 200 or more people may be present at the same time in connection with those uses?
- Are the premises outside the exclusions in Part 1 of Schedule 2?
If all four are met, you are in the standard tier unless 800 or more people are reasonably expected at the same time, in which case you are in the enhanced tier (subject to the special cases below). For a quick answer for your venue, use our free tier checker.
Test 1: a building, or a building and other land
There must be a building on the site that the public can access to some extent. There is no minimum size and no requirement about materials. Limiting access to people who have paid, hold a ticket or are members does not stop premises counting as publicly accessible.
- Part of a building: a shop inside a factory can be premises in its own right, even though the factory is not.
- A group of buildings: a hospital, university campus or hotel and spa complex can be one set of premises. Indicators include close proximity, a shared principal use and the same responsible person for most buildings.
- A building and other land: a pub with a beer garden, a restaurant with outdoor seating, a stately home with gardens, or a racecourse, zoo or theme park with buildings on site.
- Premises within premises: a shopping centre is premises, and so may be large units inside it. Each is assessed separately for the numbers test.
Land on its own does not qualify as premises under section 2. The guidance's example is a ruined abbey with no building: it is not qualifying premises, although ticketed events held there can still be qualifying events, because the event definition includes land without buildings. Once the heritage body adds a café and toilets, the site becomes a building and other land and can qualify.
Test 2: a Schedule 1 use
The premises must be wholly or mainly (entirely or mostly) used for one or more of the uses in Schedule 1. The guidance says to consider all the circumstances, particularly the time spent on Schedule 1 uses compared with other uses, and to look at use over a period rather than on the day you assess.
| Schedule 1 use | Typical examples from the guidance |
|---|---|
| Shops etc | Shops, retail units, showrooms, post offices, banks, fuel stations, shopping centres |
| Food and drink | Pubs, bars, restaurants, cafés, food halls |
| Entertainment and leisure | Nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, concert halls, arenas, theme parks, zoos, casinos, gyms, leisure centres, swimming pools, bowling alleys |
| Sports grounds | Stadia and arenas with spectator accommodation |
| Libraries, museums and galleries | Including archives and outdoor collections |
| Halls etc | Village halls, community centres, venues for hire, exhibition halls, conference centres |
| Visitor attractions | Attractions of cultural, historic, touristic or educational value, such as heritage railways |
| Hotels etc | Hotels, hostels, holiday parks |
| Places of worship | Churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, gurdwaras, cathedrals |
| Health care | Hospitals, primary care clinics, GP and dental surgeries |
| Stations | Railway, bus, coach and tram stations (some are excluded, see below) |
| Aerodromes | Civil airfields (many airports are excluded, see below) |
| Childcare | Registered nurseries, pre-schools and day care |
| Primary and secondary education | Schools, academies, pupil referral units |
| Further education | FE and sixth form colleges, publicly funded training providers |
| Higher education | Universities, including student accommodation they manage |
| Public authorities | Premises where a public authority serves visiting members of the public, such as household waste recycling centres |
Several uses (shops, food and drink, entertainment, museums, halls) apply where the activity is principally for visiting members of the public. So offices, warehouses, factories and private workplaces are not Schedule 1 uses, even with hundreds of staff on site. A private members' club still counts, because the Act says limiting access to members or ticket holders does not stop premises being used by visiting members of the public.
If premises have more than one Schedule 1 use, that does not change whether they qualify, but it decides who the responsible person is. See who is the responsible person.
Test 3: 200 or more people, from time to time, at the same time
The third test asks whether it is reasonable to expect that, from time to time, 200 or more people may be present on the premises at the same time in connection with the Schedule 1 use. The guidance is clear on three points.
- Staff count. The figure must include everyone working there in connection with the Schedule 1 use: employees, contractors, volunteers and others, whatever their working pattern.
- "From time to time" means occasionally, not on average. Predictable peaks such as Saturday nights, Christmas trading, January sales or big televised matches count if they are likely to recur.
- A genuine one-off does not count. If numbers spike unexpectedly (say, a product goes viral overnight) and the spike is not expected again, the premises do not move tier or into scope because of it.
Only people in the part of the premises used for the Schedule 1 use are counted, and you do not count people in the surrounding street. You must be able to evidence your method if the SIA asks. Our guide to calculating capacity sets out the six methods in the Home Office supplementary guidance with worked examples.
Test 4: exclusions, exemptions and special cases
Part 1 of Schedule 2 excludes three groups of premises:
- Premises occupied for the purposes of either House of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Administration, Senedd Cymru and the Welsh Government, or the Northern Ireland Assembly and departments.
- Parks, gardens, recreation grounds, sports grounds that are not designated sports grounds, and other open air recreation or leisure premises, but only where there are no measures to check that people entering have paid, have a ticket or pass, or are members or guests. Charging for a specific facility, such as hiring a pitch, does not remove the exclusion if general access stays open.
- Transport premises already covered by their own security regimes, such as airports with an aerodrome security plan, certain rail assets subject to security instructions, Channel Tunnel premises and ports with port security plans.
Crown premises occupied by the Crown, such as government department buildings, are also generally outside the Act, although parts controlled by others can be in scope.
Our guide to exemptions and special cases covers these in more depth, including how events at these premises are treated.
Worked examples
These illustrative examples are based on the scenarios in the Home Office guidance and its supplementary document B. Your own circumstances may differ, so apply the tests to your facts.
| Premises | Key facts | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Pub | No more than 175 people including staff on weekdays, but 200 or more most weekends | Standard tier. The weekend peak recurs, so it counts |
| Restaurant | Up to 180 people for ten months, rising to 250 at times in the run up to Christmas each year | Standard tier. The seasonal peak is predictable |
| Clothes shop | Usually well under 200, but 300 reached several times during Black Friday and January sales | Standard tier |
| Gallery | Safe occupancy of 850, but records show a peak of 500 and no change expected | Standard tier. Use the realistic peak, not the theoretical maximum |
| Nightclub | Usually under 800, but five or six special event nights a year push it over | Enhanced tier. Occasional, planned peaks are enough |
| Village hall | Safe occupancy 250, but no more than 150 present in five years | Out of scope, unless regular larger events become expected |
| Factory shop | Shop in part of a factory, fewer than 200 in the shop including staff | Out of scope. The factory is not a Schedule 1 use and the shop is below 200 |
| Junior football at the local rec | Open access ground, no stands, no entry checks, occasional tournaments of 200+ | Excluded. Open access recreation ground |
Sector pages show how this plays out in practice, for example for pubs and bars, shops and retail stores and hotels.
Common mistakes and next steps
- Counting customers only. Staff, contractors and volunteers must be included.
- Using an average day. The test is about your predictable busiest times.
- Using the fire safety maximum without thinking. It is one valid method, but if your realistic peak is lower and you can evidence it, the guidance accepts that.
- Assuming offices or staff-only areas count. Only the part used for the Schedule 1 use is assessed.
- Forgetting to review. Premises can move into scope, change tier or fall out of scope as trade changes. Review when your use, layout or busy periods change.
If your premises qualify, the next steps are to confirm the responsible person and prepare your procedures. Our guide to public protection procedures explains what good looks like at standard tier, and the standard vs enhanced tier comparison shows what changes at 800. If you would like a structured route, our packs produce tailored procedures and a staff briefing for standard tier venues.
Frequently asked questions
Does an office building count as qualifying premises?
Generally no. Private workplaces are not a Schedule 1 use, however many staff they have. A public-facing part, such as a shop or café open to visitors, can be premises in its own right if it meets the other tests.
Are outdoor venues covered?
Premises need a building, or a building and other land. Theme parks, zoos, racecourses and stadia with buildings on site can qualify. Open access parks and recreation grounds with no entry checks are excluded, but ticketed events held there may be qualifying events.
Do staff count towards the 200?
Yes. The Home Office guidance says the figure must include all staff working in connection with the Schedule 1 use, including employees, contractors and volunteers.
We hit 200 once, unexpectedly. Are we now in scope?
Not if the surge could not reasonably have been expected and is not expected to happen again. Planned or predictable peaks, such as seasonal sales or regular events, do bring premises into scope.
Is a large church or school with 900 people enhanced tier?
No. Places of worship, childcare settings, schools and further education premises that qualify are always standard tier, whatever their size. Universities can be enhanced tier.
Sources
- Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, section 2 and Schedules 1 and 2 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: Statutory guidance, chapter 4 (Home Office)
- Non-statutory supplementary document B: Scope, illustrative examples (Home Office)
- Understanding Martyn's Law and the SIA's role as regulator (SIA)
General information based on the Act and published guidance, not legal advice. Check the official statutory guidance on GOV.UK for your situation.