Free guide · Counting capacity
How to count to 200.
Whether the Act reaches you turns almost entirely on one number: how many people it is reasonable to expect on the premises at the same time. Here is how to work it out, who counts, and what to do when the answer is 'sometimes'.
The method
Four steps.
- 01
Count everyone present at the same time
The test is the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect to be present on the premises at the same time. Not admissions over a day, not members on the books, not the average. Everyone in the building at your busiest realistic moment.
- 02
Include staff, volunteers and contractors
This is the half people forget. The Home Office's own worked example is a venue with a customer capacity of 750 and 60 staff at peak: 810 people present, which is enhanced tier rather than standard. Clergy, welcomers, musicians, teaching assistants, caterers, bar staff a hirer brings in, the cleaner who is there during the event — all of them count.
- 03
Pick a basis you can justify, and write it down
The statutory guidance expects you to assess capacity on a reasonable basis and to be able to explain it. Four are commonly used, below. Whichever you choose, record the figure, the basis and the date. That note is evidence of a reasonable assessment even if someone later disagrees with the number.
- 04
Think about your busiest realistic day, not a typical one
A church counts its Christmas Eve service, a school its sports day, a hall the biggest wedding it actually hosts. 'Reasonable to expect' does not mean the theoretical maximum the fire certificate allows if you never approach it, but it does mean the events you know will happen.
The basis
Where the number can come from.
The guidance (Supplementary Document A to the section 27 statutory guidance) does not prescribe one method. It expects a reasonable one, and a record of it.
- Fire safety safe-occupancy figure
- The maximum occupancy from your fire risk assessment. Often the most defensible number, because it was worked out by someone else for a related purpose. It can overstate a building that is never full.
- Historic attendance
- Records from your busiest recent events. Strong evidence of what it is reasonable to expect, provided you add the staff and volunteers who were also present.
- Seating plus standing, with staff added
- Count the seats, estimate standing room realistically, add everyone working. Good for halls and places of worship with fixed pews or chairs.
- An estimate
- Acceptable as a starting point if you write down how you reached it and replace it with something firmer when you can.
The awkward cases
When the count does not settle it.
You only cross 200 occasionally
The test is what it is reasonable to expect from time to time, not your typical week. A church that is quiet all year and holds one 300-person funeral has a genuine judgement to make, and the law leaves it with the responsible person. How often it happens, whether you can predict it and whether you plan for it all bear on the answer. Many places in that position choose to prepare as though in scope, because the four procedures are useful on the day you have 300 people in the building whether or not the Act compels them. Our checker returns a “review” result here rather than a tier, because a questionnaire should not pretend to decide it.
Places of worship, schools and childcare
These enter standard tier at 200 and stay there however many people are present. A cathedral with 1,500 at a service is standard tier, not enhanced. Count carefully all the same, because the 200 line still decides whether you are in scope at all.
Shared premises and premises within premises
A hall let to other groups, a unit inside a centre, a school used by a church on Sundays. There can be more than one responsible person, and the Act expects them to coordinate. A small unit expecting fewer than 200 people inside a larger site that is itself in scope is generally not separately caught, but the larger site may well be. Agree in writing who does what.
Several buildings, or buildings and grounds
The premises test applies to the buildings. Open land is only caught when a qualifying event is held on it: open to the public, 800 or more expected at once, and entry controlled by tickets, payment or checks. Assess the buildings for the premises test and any large outdoor events separately.
800 or more
Except for the worship and education rule above, 800 or more people present at once is enhanced tier, where the duties widen to public protection measures and documented assessments. Muster does not cover enhanced tier yet — it is next on our roadmap. Check your figure carefully, including staff, because this is the line where the workload changes most.
To be plain about it: the figure you settle on is yours. Write it down with the basis and the date, keep the note with your procedures, and revisit it when the building, the events or the people change. That record, more than the number itself, is what a reasonable assessment looks like. Sources: Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, sections 2 and 3 and Schedule 1; the section 27 statutory guidance and its Supplementary Document A on capacity; the Home Office factsheets on standard duty premises.
Got your number? See what it means.
The checker asks for visitors and staff separately, so the half people forget is harder to forget.