Martyn's Law for hotels

Where your premises begin and end

Use as a hotel, hostel or holiday park is a specified use in Schedule 1, paragraph 8. Most hotels also have other Schedule 1 uses, such as a restaurant, bar, conference space or spa. Where premises have more than one use, the duties sit with whoever controls them for the principal use. The statutory guidance and the Home Office principal use guidance both give the example of a hotel with a restaurant and conference centre, where the principal use is the hotel because the building exists mainly to provide accommodation.

Premises can be part of a building, a whole building or a group of buildings, together with land such as grounds used by guests and the public (section 2(2)(a) and guidance paragraphs 4.9 to 4.11). A hotel with a separate spa or events building nearby may be one set of premises if, for example, the buildings are close together, share a principal use and are controlled by the same person.

Parts controlled by someone else need care. A restaurant or bar run under a lease or franchise by a different operator may be separate premises within your premises, with its own responsible person. In that case the guidance says each set of premises is assessed on its own numbers, so the restaurant counts only its own diners and staff, while the hotel's figure is based on the whole of the hotel premises (paragraphs 4.13, 4.14 and 4.30). Do not simply add together everyone in a wider complex, and do not leave out parts that genuinely form part of your premises. Where both sets of premises qualify, the two responsible persons must co-ordinate, so far as reasonably practicable (section 8).

Counting guests, visitors and staff

The test in section 2 is whether 200 or more people may reasonably be expected to be present at the same time, from time to time, in connection with the Schedule 1 uses. For a hotel that is likely to include resident guests, people using the restaurant, bar and spa, event delegates and wedding guests, and staff. Staff means everyone working there, including agency workers, contractors and volunteers (guidance paragraph 4.23).

Think about when these groups overlap. A Saturday with a full house, a wedding in the function room and a busy restaurant is a very different picture from a quiet Tuesday. The guidance says to consider the busiest times, and that the method you choose must be evidenced and reasonable (paragraphs 4.24 and 4.25). Supplementary document A suggests methods such as fire safety occupancy, historic records and booking data.

If your number is 800 or more from time to time, the hotel will be enhanced tier premises, with extra duties including assessing and putting in place public protection measures, a compliance document provided to the SIA and, for a company, a designated senior individual (sections 6, 7 and 10).

Events in hotel function rooms

A qualifying event under section 3 needs all of these: members of the public have access to attend, 800 or more people may reasonably be expected at some point at the same time, there are checks that people have paid, hold tickets or passes, or are members or guests of a club or similar body, and the event is not at enhanced duty premises or excluded by Schedule 2.

Most hotel events will not be qualifying events. The guidance says private occasions, such as a wedding reception for invited friends and family or a corporate event for invited staff, are not publicly accessible (paragraph 5.13). If the hotel is itself enhanced tier premises, events held there cannot be qualifying events under section 3(1)(b), and are covered by the hotel's own duties. Control of the hotel does not pass to the organiser of a private event (paragraph 5.14).

Where a standard tier hotel hosts a large public, ticketed event of 800 or more, that event may be a qualifying event, and the responsible person for it is whoever has control of the premises for the event, which may be the organiser. Supplementary document A also gives the example of a hotel whose annual ticketed event reaches 900: because it recurs, the hotel itself was treated as meeting the 800 threshold from time to time and so falling in the enhanced tier. If you host large recurring events, check your tier carefully.

The responsible person in managed, franchised and leased hotels

The responsible person is whoever has control of the premises for their use as a hotel (section 4). The guidance says control ordinarily means physical possession with the right and ability to make decisions about management and use, and that it does not depend on ownership (paragraph 6.3).

Where an owner runs the hotel itself, the owner is responsible. Where a hotel is leased to an operating company, the operator that occupies and runs it is likely to be in control, in line with the guidance example of a company that leases a building to run a shop. In a franchise, the franchisee that runs the hotel day to day is often the one in control, while the brand sets standards. Under a management agreement, where an owner appoints an operator to run the hotel, the answer depends on who actually has possession and decision-making power under the contract. Check your agreements rather than assuming.

If more than one person shares control, each is a responsible person, they may act jointly, and they must co-ordinate (sections 4(4) and 8(2)). For enhanced tier hotels, owners and others with some control who are not the responsible person must co-operate, so far as reasonably practicable (section 8(5) and (6)). Legal responsibility cannot be handed to a security contractor or consultant (guidance paragraph 6.1).

A practical checklist for hotels

A starting point only. Large or complex hotels may need more.

• Map what forms your premises, including grounds and linked buildings, and which parts are run by other operators.
• Confirm who has control for the hotel use, and record why.
• Work out your peak figure across rooms, restaurant, bar, spa, events and staff, and keep the evidence.
• Check whether any recurring public, ticketed events reach 800 or more.
• Write evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication procedures that work at night and for guests who do not know the building.
• Brief all staff, including night, agency and events staff, on their role.
• Agree with any restaurant, bar or spa operators in the building how your procedures fit together.
• Plan your SIA notification for when the duties are commenced, expected in spring 2027.

Common questions

Read next

• Who is the responsible person?
• How to calculate your capacity
• Qualifying events explained
• Multi-tenant and shared buildings
• Notifying the SIA
• Procedure packs for standard tier venues