Summary of sports ground safety requirements
Sports stadia with a spectator capacity of more than 10,000 people (5,000 in the case of premiership or football league grounds) are designated by the government and must be certified under the Safety at Sports Grounds Act 1975.
A general safety certificate will cover use of the stadium for certain specified activities. Use for other spectator related purposes will require the issue of a special safety certificate.
A safety certificate will set the permitted capacity for the sports ground, together with the detailed terms and conditions with which the ground management must comply in order to operate the sports ground at its permitted capacity.
Although the safety certificate is issued by the local authority, responsibility for the safety of spectators at the sports ground rests at all time with the sports ground management. This will normally be the owner or the lessee of the sports ground.
Any non-designated sports ground which contains a covered stand*, with a spectator capacity of more than 500, is deemed a regulated stand and must be certified under the Fire Safety and Safety at Places of Sport Act 1987.
* Stand, in relation to a sports ground, means an artificial structure (not merely temporary) which:
- provides accommodation for spectators
- is wholly or partly covered by a roof
In relation to the number of spectators in a stand provided with covered accommodation, 'covered' means covered by the roof or other part of the structure which constitutes the stand.