lonfire Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Hi,I'm currently looking into doing a battle of the bands type event.. as all of the events I have run so far have been church youth events/services we are exempt from applying for a PEL (as far as I've been told).. the event will be held in a primary school hall which I'm pretty sure doesn't have its own PEL.. the event will be run by the church i.e. they will pay for hire of hall, we'll be using their kit...etc. Its not for profit making (hence the church will pay for hire of hall), its mainly as part of our youth work we do in marlow, providing young people with stuff todo.. I have read documents about applying for PELs and that theres special rules for community halls and such or is it exempt as its being run by a church? any thoughts people..thanksChris <edit> arse I can't change the title.. SPELLING ;-)Moderation: Spelling in topic title sorted - you only had to ask :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer...... Nor would I want to be.... My understanding is that the legal framework is uniform across the country, but the way in which it is implemented is largely down to the discretion of the local council. A google turned up a number of reasonable FAQs on this subject - eghttp://www.hounslow.gov.uk/home/a-z_servic...ntlicensing.htm In particular, that document discusses the "church exemption". This law makes no distinction between a church and any other building, however it appears to be common for churches to be exempt when used primarily for religious services, "unless scenery, special effects, stage costumes or other circumstances introduce additional risks to the premises". This exemption would normally not apply to concerts or shows in church halls.... so wouldn't apply to a hire of a school hall.... But in practice it varies from area to area. Talk to your local council well in advance. Phone them anonymously if you so desire. Find out what the position is. If there are going to be problems, you want to know about them NOW rather than half an hour before the first band goes on stage, when Mrs Goggins across the road has complained to the council after noticing a truckload of PA being unloaded... Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 Talk to your local council well in advance. Phone them anonymously if you so desire. Find out what the position is. If there are going to be problems, you want to know about them NOW rather than half an hour before the first band goes on stage, when Mrs Goggins across the road has complained to the council after noticing a truckload of PA being unloaded...<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Good idea. Talk to them in hypothetical terms ("I'm thinking of maybe...", rather than, "I'm going to / want to..."). Your local licencing authority will probably be able to give you a far better idea of the requirements and costs involved than any of us can. Apart from that, you can't avoid them forever, so you might as well be open and up front with them from the very beginning. You'll make a better impression that way and are more likely to get a helpful response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonfire Posted January 7, 2005 Author Share Posted January 7, 2005 hi,thanks for the info.. I have emailed them to see what they say.. I will let you know what they think.. thankschris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce Posted January 7, 2005 Share Posted January 7, 2005 I must admit, in this situation I would have phoned rather than emailed... Most people regard email as a less formal medium than letter, but since a digital record exists, I have known some people - council officials in particular! - who tend to "err on the conservative side" when emailed. Get them on the phone, or face-to-face, and they're far more friendly and helpful! Find out the name of the person responsible - there will probably be a list on the council website, but each will have their own "locality" - and phone him/her. Make it a friendly call, and as lightnix says, keep it hypothetical. That way you will have a dialogue, rather than a response to a specific question, and you can try to get them on your side before laying all your cards on the table.... Bruce. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly Posted January 12, 2005 Share Posted January 12, 2005 Of course who knows what will happen when the 2004 Licensing Act comes into force later this year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted January 12, 2005 Share Posted January 12, 2005 Of course who knows what will happen when the 2004 Licensing Act comes into force later this year! <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Well in theory it should get easier. And a lot less regional variation. I've already had a conversation with my local council and they plan on following the 'Technical Standards' (Yellow Book) and 'Standard Conditions' (Green Book). I belive the advice from LACORS is to follow those publications. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lightnix Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 Well in theory it should get easier. And a lot less regional variation.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>But in practice it will probably be a complete nightmare. I've already mentioned this in another thread recently, but the 2004 Licencing Act has some serious implications for all of us, in terms of the number of events that may not be able to afford to comply and the consequent reduction in the amount of work for many crew, especially freelancers. As linked to elsewhere, you may find a UKCMA member, who can give you some practical advice from an industry point of view. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 As I understand it venues already holding Licences (public Ents, Theatre or whatever) will be granted equivalent licences with identical conditions under the transitional arrangements. Not that this really helps Ionfire, as I assume he is wanting an occasional licence. My point when I said "who knows" was, I don't know what everyone else has found, but I've found that the local authorities have been left with administrating a badly thought out piece of legislation with unclear timeframes, and as such aren't able to pass on clear information to us in the industry. I agree that there is the potential for these changes to make things easier, and definitely there will be less regional variation, as Brian says, but I'm also inclined to agree with lightnix, because so far I haven't managed to get a satisfactory answer from anyone on a number of important issues. Anyway, I'm aware that this doesn't help at all with Ionfire's original query. I would support advice given elsewhere in this thread to speak to the licensing officer, they don't bite.........hard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonfire Posted January 13, 2005 Author Share Posted January 13, 2005 hi,cheers for all the info guys.. have talked to the local licensing people and they have gone through everything for me.. the venue doesn't currently hold a PEL and we would need to apply for one.. she said that the venue would need to be inspected.. can people enlighten me what they will inspect for? for example, the venue does (currently) have illuminated fire exit signs.. is that the sort of thing they'd inspect.. correct fire extinguishers..etc. she also said about volume limits, and capacity.. hows that calculated.. thankschris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gilly Posted January 13, 2005 Share Posted January 13, 2005 You are correct that they will inspect for appropriate fire precautions indeed as you suggest Exit Lights and Fire Extinguishers. They will also check exits including panic bolts and access to said exits, they will look at sanitary facilities (toilets and wash basins), they will look at the location (its proximity to residential and commercial sites), they will look at floor surface, they may well check heating/ventilation, they will ensure that there is a potable supply of drinking water and may require a certificate of electrical inspection. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it's a start, anyone want to add to this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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