Regulations For Smoking Shelters

In making your preparations for the introduction of the Smokefree provisions on 1 July 2007 in the UK, it is advised that you are particularly careful with any plans for outdoor smoking shelters that could lead to significant wasted expenditure if it goes wrong. This guide aims to help you make the right choices, although it should not be relied upon as a definitive interpretation of the law of the UK Smoking Ban

What counts as a smoking shelter?

There is no legal definition, and you don't have to provide one. It will be illegal to smoke or allow smoking in enclosed or substantially enclosed premises, therefore a smoking shelter has to be less than substantially closed. This means that 50% of it's sides must be permanently open.

The location is also important, because building a structure like this with an open side too close to a wall or other obstruction could mean that it no longer complies. (the law refers to premises rather than structures, and an adjacent wall could be deemed to be part of the premises of your shelter.

Some other problems to avoid

    * You may need planning permission, depending on the size of the smoking shelter
    * You can't provide temporary covers for any of the open parts-this stops them being counted as permanently open
    * Customers outside your premises may cause noise or other nuisance problems for neighbours, and this may trigger a review of your certificate/licence
    * You will need to provide some form of bin for your customers litter

There are alternatives for smoking shelters such as :

    * Awnings
    * Umbrellas and Parasols
    * Golf umbrellas for customers to borrow
    * One Scottish pub has recently been loaning waterproof coats to customers, with "stolen from Buddies Bar" printed on the back

Another common mistake made by some in Scotland and Ireland has been to cover an existing yard with an awning. Because the yard has 4 walls and the awning provides a roof covering,even temporarily, the yard falls into the category of substantially enclosed premises even when the awning is withdrawn.