Martyn's Law risk assessment for small venues

If you run a pub, café, village hall, church, gym or salon, you may have been offered a paid “Martyn’s Law risk assessment”. Many of those products are written for large, enhanced-duty premises. Match the document to the duty before you buy.

Muster is a digital fire safety log book with Martyn’s Law readiness for small UK venues. For a first step, use the free Martyn’s Law tier checker. When you want fire records in one place, open the fire safety log book.

This is guidance, not legal advice. It cannot tell you your tier, or that any tool will make you compliant. For a judgement about your own premises, use the official guidance and, where needed, a competent professional.

What the law actually requires

Martyn’s Law is the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025. The Home Office factsheets on GOV.UK explain who it applies to and what each tier is expected to do.

Qualifying premises are those in a building, wholly or mainly used for purposes listed in the Act, where 200 or more individuals may reasonably be expected at the same time. Shops, food and drink, leisure, halls, libraries and museums only count when used mainly for visiting members of the public. Certain qualifying events can also be in scope. The factsheets set out the uses and the thresholds.

Tier	People at the same time	What the Act is aimed at
Standard duty	200-799 (places of worship, schools, further education and childcare stay in this tier at 800 or more)	Notify the SIA and have public protection procedures
Enhanced duty	800 or more, unless the Act provides otherwise	Public protection procedures plus public protection measures

The main duties are expected to come into force in spring 2027.

For standard duty premises, the factsheets focus on reasonably practicable procedures to reduce the risk of physical harm if an attack occurs: how you evacuate, move people to a safer place inside (invacuation), lock down, and communicate with staff and the public. That is not the same as a written terrorism risk assessment for enhanced-duty premises. If you are in the standard tier, a long paid risk report may be the wrong purchase.

Your fire risk assessment is a separate duty

You already have fire safety duties as the responsible person. In England and Wales, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 you must complete a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment and keep it under review. GOV.UK sets out those workplace fire safety responsibilities. Scotland uses the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 and Northern Ireland the Fire and Rescue Services (NI) Order 2006.

A fire risk assessment looks at ignition, fuel, people, escape and equipment. Renaming the cover does not turn it into a Martyn’s Law document, and a terrorism-focused form does not replace the fire risk assessment.

If yours is missing, out of date, or you are unsure it is suitable, close that gap first with someone competent. A Martyn’s Law risk assessment template will not do that job.

Do you need a Martyn’s Law risk assessment?

Take the questions in this order.

1. How many people may reasonably be present at once, including staff and volunteers, at a busy but realistic time?
2. Is the building wholly or mainly used for a purpose the Act covers?
3. Are you looking at a one-off event rather than ordinary use?

Read the GOV.UK factsheets against those answers. A tier checker is a practical way to put the people figure in. It is not a legal determination.

If fewer than 200 people may reasonably be expected at the same time, the premises are not qualifying premises. Qualifying events are separate. In the 200-799 band, put your effort into clear procedures and briefing the people who would follow them. At 800 or more, enhanced duty means public protection procedures plus public protection measures (and a notification duty), except that places of worship, schools, further education and childcare stay in the standard tier. The document should follow the tier, not a sales pitch.

What to look for in a template or paid report

A Martyn’s Law risk assessment template can be a prompt list. It cannot see your doors, your courtyard or your Sunday numbers.

If you use a template or commission a report, look for all of the following:

• It says whether it is for standard-duty procedures or an enhanced-duty terrorism risk assessment, and does not blur them.
• It points to GOV.UK and the Act, not to slogans.
• It asks about your layout, entries and exits, how you would communicate, and who is in charge on the day.
• You can edit it when the rota, the room plan or the responsible person changes.
• It does not sell a “compliance certificate” or claim that filled boxes meet the Act.

For enhanced-duty premises, an assessment copied from a generic file is unlikely to be what is asked for. Take advice from a competent person if you are in that tier. For standard-duty premises, a short local procedures note is usually more use than a long report written for a much bigger site. Keep it in language the person on the door can follow. If you cannot do something safely, do not put it in the procedure.

What good preparation looks like

For most small UK venues the useful bundle is ordinary fire safety done steadily, plus simple Martyn’s Law procedures if you are in scope.

On the fire side, that means a fire risk assessment that matches the building, plus records of weekly alarm tests, emergency lighting, extinguishers, contractor visits, drills and training.

If the Act is expected to apply, add public protection procedures that fit your premises, a briefing so staff and volunteers know what to do, and a way to show what you have when a fire officer, licensing officer or, in time, the regulator asks.

Muster is built for that mix: QR tap-to-log for staff, reminders before checks are due, a procedures builder, a staff briefing with sign-off, and a checklist of what the SIA will ask when you notify. It does not carry out your fire risk assessment or a terrorism risk assessment, and it is not a consultancy. Your records stay yours to view and export.

A simple buying list

• Confirm the tier against GOV.UK before you pay for any Martyn’s Law document.
• Treat fire and terrorism as separate duties with separate evidence.
• Prefer tools that say “expected” when a date is not final, and “good practice” when something is not law.
• Prefer records you can export, so a committee change or a new manager does not wipe the history.
• Ignore anything that promises you will be compliant if you tick a box.

A one-off PDF goes stale the first time you move a call point or change the duty manager. Living records match how a small venue actually runs.

Put the year-round log in one place

Once you know whether a Martyn’s Law risk assessment is even the right purchase, the ongoing job is still the fire log. Muster keeps that log, with Martyn’s Law readiness tools beside it. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial.

Open the fire safety log book when you are ready to set your venue up.