# A Martyn’s Law clause for your hall hire agreement > Adapt a Martyn’s Law clause for your hall hire agreement. Cover hirer briefings, named leads, clear routes and large events while keeping responsibility clear. A Martyn’s Law clause in a hall hire agreement can require hirers to receive procedures, brief their team, nominate a lead and co-operate with the venue while statutory responsibility remains where the law places it. The model wording below is an adaptable template, not legal advice or an official government clause. ## At a glance - **Document**: Model hire agreement wording - **Use for**: Village, community and church hall bookings - **Legal responsibility**: Cannot be transferred by a contract label - **Before use**: Adapt with your own advisers ## Check the venue and adapt the wording The Home Office statutory guidance allows hire agreements to specify practical public protection tasks. Ordinary hall hire does not transfer the premises operator’s statutory responsibility to a hirer. A qualifying event can have a separate responsible person under the event rules. The next four sections form a model clause. Replace the bracketed fields, attach the relevant procedures and check how the wording fits your existing agreement, insurance and other responsibilities with your own advisers. Use the clause to support a real handover. A signature cannot make up for procedures that the hirer has not received or cannot carry out. [Martyn’s Law for village and community halls](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/village-halls) · [Martyn’s Law for churches and church halls](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/churches) · [Who is the responsible person?](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/responsible-person) ## Model clause: receiving and briefing the procedures For this clause, the Venue means [legal name of venue operator], the Hirer means [hirer’s legal name], and the Procedures mean the venue procedures supplied for the booking, identified by [title, version and date]. Before the booking begins, the Venue will provide the Hirer with the Procedures relevant to the hired areas and explain any arrangements that require a handover or demonstration. The Hirer will read the Procedures, raise questions with [venue contact] before use and brief its staff, volunteers and contractors on the arrangements relevant to their roles. The Hirer will explain relevant instructions to attendees when needed. The Hirer will tell the Venue before the booking if it cannot carry out an allocated task or needs further information, assistance or an adjustment to the arrangements. ## Model clause: naming a lead and co-operating The Hirer will nominate [name or role and contact details] as its booking lead, together with a deputy or replacement arrangement. The booking lead will be available during the hire and will know how to contact [venue lead and contact details]. The Hirer will co-operate with the Venue’s lead in carrying out the Procedures and will promptly report concerns, incidents or difficulties affecting those arrangements. The Hirer will ensure that people allocated practical tasks understand them and have received any necessary explanation of the relevant controls or equipment. No person is required by this clause to confront an attacker or compromise their own safety. The title booking lead allocates practical tasks only. It does not determine who is the responsible person under Martyn’s Law. ## Model clause: keeping routes and controls usable The Hirer will keep the agreed entrances, exits, escape routes and emergency access clear throughout the hire, including during setting up and clearing away. The Hirer will use only the agreed layout and areas. It will not obstruct, disable or alter relevant doors, alarms, communication equipment or access controls, or introduce barriers or locking arrangements, without agreement from the Venue. The Hirer will report a blocked route, failed control or other difficulty to the Venue promptly and co-operate in putting suitable arrangements in place before the affected activity proceeds. [The four public protection procedures](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/public-protection-procedures) · [An emergency evacuation plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/evacuation-plan-template) ## Model clause: changes, large events and legal responsibility When booking, the Hirer will tell the Venue the nature of the activity, the greatest number of people expected together, the proposed layout and any admission arrangements. The Hirer will promptly report changes before publicising or making arrangements that materially affect the agreed booking. The Hirer will notify the Venue of any proposed large event, including an event expecting 800 or more people together, so that the parties can assess the relevant premises and event rules before proceeding. That number is a review trigger in this clause, not a statement that every such event qualifies. For an ordinary hire, the Venue retains the statutory responsibility placed on it as the responsible person for qualifying premises. Nothing in this agreement transfers that responsibility to the Hirer or removes any legal duty independently applying to either party. Where a proposed booking may be a qualifying event, the parties will establish who controls the premises for that event and record the required co-ordination arrangements. Statutory responsibility follows the law and the actual arrangements, rather than the label used in this agreement. [When a hall booking is a qualifying event](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/events) ## Attach the procedures and test the handover Before using the clause, fill in every placeholder, identify the attached procedures and check that your booking process gathers the information requested. Agree who briefs each hirer and how changes reach them. A useful handover explains the relevant routes, the communication method and any controls the hirer is expected to use. Keep sensitive details within the people who need them. Martyn’s Law duties are not yet in force. The SIA expects spring 2027, with no exact date confirmed. A written plan or hire clause is not itself a standard-tier requirement; recording and communicating arrangements is useful good practice. Adapt this template with your own advisers. It does not replace the rest of your hire agreement or provide legal advice. [The standard-tier preparation checklist](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/standard-tier-checklist) · [An event safety plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/event-safety-plan-template) · [Check your hall’s tier](https://wardcote.co.uk/check-your-tier) ## Questions ### Is this an official hall hire agreement template? No. It is model wording prepared by Wardcote for adaptation. It is not an official government clause or legal advice. Review it with your own advisers before use. ### Can our hire agreement make the hirer the responsible person? A contract can allocate practical tasks but cannot transfer the statutory responsibility placed on the premises operator. Qualifying events have separate responsibility rules based on control of the premises for the event. ### Should a village hall give procedures to every hirer? Hirers should receive the arrangements relevant to the areas and activities they control. Explain the practical tasks rather than relying on a signature acknowledging an unfamiliar document. ### Can a church hall use this clause? Yes, after adapting it to the hall’s arrangements and obtaining your own advice. A church hall’s tier depends on its principal use; church ownership alone does not give it the worship exception. ### Does mentioning 800 people make the booking a qualifying event? No. The wording uses 800 as a prompt to review the booking. Every qualifying-event criterion and exclusion must be checked, including admission arrangements and the type of premises. ## Sources - [Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025: official text](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2025/10/pdfs/ukpga_20250010_en.pdf) - [Home Office statutory guidance](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025/terrorism-protection-of-premises-act-2025-statutory-guidance) - [SIA: regulatory role and implementation timetable](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/understanding-martyns-law-and-the-sias-role-as-regulator) ## Related - [Martyn’s Law for village halls](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/village-halls) - [Martyn’s Law for churches](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/churches) - [Martyn’s Law crowd management and event security](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/events) - [Who is the responsible person under Martyn’s Law?](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/responsible-person) - [Event safety plan template](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/event-safety-plan-template) - [Martyn’s Law compliance checklist for standard-tier venues](https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/standard-tier-checklist) --- Source: https://wardcote.co.uk/martyns-law/hire-agreement-clause · Last reviewed 2026-10-16 · Wardcote, venue and event security. General guidance, not legal advice.