When making preparations for the introduction of smoke-free provisions on 1 July 2007 in the UK, it is recommended that you take extra care with outdoor smoking shelter schemes which could result in significant expense wasted if it goes wrong. This guide is intended to help you make the right decisions, although it should not be considered a definitive interpretation of UK smoking ban law.
What is considered a smoking shelter?
There is no legal definition and you do not need to provide it. It will be illegal to smoke or allow smoking in enclosed or substantially enclosed premises, therefore a smoking shelter must be less than substantially enclosed. This means that 50% of its sides must be permanently open.
Location is important too, 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 facilities rather than structures, and an adjacent wall could be considered part of your shelter facilities.
Some other problems to avoid
Planning permission may be required, depending on the size of the smoking shelter
You cannot provide temporary covers for any of the open parts; this prevents them from being counted as permanently open
Customers outside your premises can cause noise or other annoying problems for neighbors, and this can lead to a review of your certificate / license.
You will need to provide some type of container for your customers' garbage
There are alternatives for smoking shelters such as:
Awnings
Umbrellas and umbrellas
Golf umbrellas for customers to borrow
Recently, a Scottish pub has loaned waterproof coats to customers, with "stolen from Buddies Bar" printed on the back.
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