Martyn's Law by premises type
Martyn's Law for Restaurants and Cafes
Where this is up to
It's law. Not in force yet. The SIA is already rehearsing.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 received Royal Assent in April 2025. The duties are not yet in force: they commence after 3 April 2027, and the SIA says it is working toward spring 2027. The notification rules arrived in July 2026, so you now know what the SIA will ask for. The regulator is running voluntary pilot inspections while it builds the regime; statutory inspections and enforcement start only when the duties do. The work now is recording your scope, your procedures, your staff awareness, and the notification data.
- Apr 2025 The Act received Royal Assent
- Apr 2026 Home Office statutory guidance first published
- Jun 2026 SIA regulatory guidance consultation closed; the final version is due in autumn 2026
- Jul 2026 Notification rules, deadlines, and data requirements published
- Spring 2027 SIA target for commencement; after 3 April 2027, exact date not set
Worth doing now
- Confirm the number behind your tier, and keep the method you used to reach it.
- Draft the four procedures (evacuation, invacuation, lockdown, communication) and brief your team.
- Gather the notification data: responsible people, licences and certificates, and the sites and socials you advertise on.
- Start building records now, so they're there before duties commence.
Restaurants
What pushes a service past 200
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Covers, queues, and staff all matter
The number is more than seated covers. Include staff on shift and people expected to be present in connection with the premises, such as private dining guests or recurring queueing patterns.
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Private dining can change the answer
A restaurant below 200 on ordinary service may cross the threshold when private rooms, events, terraces, or seasonal service are counted together.
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Procedures have to work during service
A dinner service lockdown (securing people safely inside) or invacuation (moving people to a safer place within the building) procedure needs roles, communication routes, and customer handling that make sense when the kitchen and floor are active.
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Outside seating can be part of the premises
A terrace, courtyard, or pavement-seating area can form part of the assessment where it is used with the restaurant. Record how you treated it rather than relying on indoor covers only.
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Use the official examples carefully
The Home Office's restaurant examples are useful templates for proportionate procedures, but they are not a ready-made plan for your restaurant.
Worked example
How capacity adds up for restaurants
Capacity check
- Indoor covers
- 150
- Terrace
- 40
- Private dining room
- 20
- Staff on shift
- 18
Reasonably expected at the same time
228
A city brasserie at its Christmas peak
Indoor covers come to 150, but the terrace, private dining room and staff are all present at the same time on peak service. Counted together, the brasserie tips into standard tier.
Illustrative example applying the official capacity method. It is not a determination, so record your own assessment and the data behind it.
Capacity checker
Your busiest moment is what counts
Restaurant & café capacity check
Count the people present together during a recurring peak service, not covers alone.
Source: Home Office capacity methods
The statutory guidance points to supplementary document A for ways to assess the “greatest number of individuals reasonably expected to be present at the same time.” Its example methods are non-prescriptive; whichever you use, include workers, and consider immediate-vicinity areas for procedures rather than the threshold count.
Read supplementary document A →What to keep on file for Restaurants
- Capacity assessment with seating, terrace, private dining, queueing, and staff assumptions recorded.
- Booking, EPOS, event-calendar, and staffing evidence for repeated busy periods such as Christmas, graduations, or weekend peaks.
- Procedure versions for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown, and communication during service.
- Staff awareness evidence for managers, front-of-house, kitchen, cleaning, and security contractors.
- Event or private-hire notes where the expected number changes materially.
- FOH, BOH, landlord, hotel, food-hall, or centre handover notes where responsibility is shared.
- Notification data sheet: who controls the restaurant and any shared site, the alcohol licence with its dates and issuing council, any temporary event notices with their dates and the council each was given to, terrace and pavement seating (the notification asks about adjoining seating specifically), and the sites and socials that advertise you.
- Review log showing changes after layout, opening-hours, terrace, or private-hire updates.
Martyn's Law resources for Restaurants
Martyn's Law questions for Restaurants
Do restaurant covers decide Martyn's Law scope?
No. Covers are one input. The assessment includes all people reasonably expected to be present at the same time, including staff and relevant non-seated areas.
Do delivery riders count?
It depends on the setup. If people are expected to be present in connection with the premises at the same time, record how you treated them and why.
Does a terrace or courtyard count?
It can if it forms part of the premises and is used with the restaurant. Record whether it is included and what peak assumptions you used.
Does standard tier require a formal terrorism risk assessment?
No. Standard tier requires appropriate public protection procedures and staff awareness. A documented scope and procedure record is still useful evidence.
Are private dining rooms ignored?
No. If they form part of the premises and contribute to the expected number present at the same time, include them in the assessment.
We are inside a hotel or shopping centre. Is it the landlord's responsibility?
Not necessarily. A restaurant unit can be a qualifying premises in its own right if it meets the threshold, while the wider hotel or centre may also have duties. Record the coordination position rather than assuming the landlord covers you.
Is Martyn's Law in force yet?
No. The Act received Royal Assent in April 2025 with an implementation period of at least 24 months, and duties are expected no earlier than spring 2027. The guidance is clear enough to start recording scope, procedures, awareness, and reviews now.
We come out below 200. Is there anything to do?
If your peak number stays under 200 you likely have no Martyn's Law duty yet. Keep a short one-page record of how you reached that figure: your seating, terrace, private-dining and staff assumptions, plus a review date. That lets you show your working and revisit it if you grow, add events, or extend the terrace.
We mainly need help with food safety and EHO, not Martyn's Law. Can Duty Room help?
Yes. Most restaurants come to Duty Room for everyday food-safety and EHO readiness, and Martyn's Law records sit alongside that in the same place. See the Food Safety area for what that covers.
Official sources
Compare another Martyn's Law scenario
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Hotels
Rooms, events, departments, night operations, and evidence across mixed-use hotels.
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Pubs and bars
Big-match peaks, beer gardens, door teams, function rooms, and staff-awareness records.
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Exhibition and conference venues
Venue, organiser, exhibitor and contractor handovers in one evidence trail.
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Cinemas
Staggered showtimes, packed foyers, and who is in the building at once.
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Community venues and halls
Recurring hires, volunteers, and the committee minute behind the call.
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Music Venues
A full room with the lights down, plus crew and security working it.
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Places of Worship
Service peaks, the place-of-worship rule, and volunteer awareness.
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Shops and retail
Peak footfall, seasonal staff, and surge days like Black Friday, not annual totals.
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Sports Grounds
Match-day counts and the access-control facts that set the tier.
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Theatres
Seated houses, foyers, backstage crew, and evacuating mid-performance.
Keep Martyn's Law procedures, staff awareness, and evidence in one place.
Duty Room is operational compliance software: workflows, checklists, and evidence. It is not a substitute for professional legal, regulatory, or compliance advice. You are responsible for understanding and meeting the obligations that apply to your business.