Martyn's Law readiness, shown on your own building
From spring 2027 every venue, attraction, hospital, school and place of worship that expects 200 or more people at once must have procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication, and the people who work there must know their part. We photograph the building in 360, mark every exit, shelter and lockable room, show each procedure as a route, and hand you a training tour your staff can walk through before anything happens.
- Every exit, muster point and lockdown room marked
- Each procedure as a route staff can rehearse
- The spatial record behind your written procedures
What the Act asks for
Martyn's Law, formally the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025 after the campaign by Figen Murray, whose son Martyn Hett was killed in the Manchester Arena attack. The Home Office published the statutory guidance on 15 April 2026 and has said the duties will take effect after an implementation period of at least 24 months, with the SIA's notification portal expected in spring 2027. The Security Industry Authority is the regulator.
Premises used for the purposes in the Act's Schedule 1 (shops, food and drink, entertainment and leisure, sports grounds, libraries and museums, halls, visitor attractions, hotels, places of worship, healthcare, bus and railway stations, aerodromes, childcare, schools, colleges, universities and public authorities) qualify when 200 or more people are reasonably expected to be present at the same time. From 200 to 799 is the standard tier: notify the SIA, and have public protection procedures, so far as is reasonably practicable, for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication. From 800 is the enhanced tier: the same procedures, plus public protection measures for monitoring, movement control, physical security and security of information, a written document sent to the SIA, and a named senior individual. Places of worship, nurseries, schools and colleges stay in the standard tier however many people they hold.
The Act does not prescribe training, but the Home Office FAQs are clear that staff with responsibilities under the procedures must be made aware of them and given the understanding and tools to carry them out. Penalties run from £10,000 at the standard tier to £18 million or 5% of worldwide revenue for serious breaches at the enhanced tier.
Why a 360 tour
Each of the four procedures is a question about the building. Evacuation: which way out from here, and where do we gather? Invacuation: where do we bring people in, and which doors can be secured? Lockdown: which rooms lock, from which side, and who holds the key? Communication: where are the radios, the PA points, the muster boards? A written procedure answers those in words. A 360 tour answers them in the corridor the steward is actually standing in, with the door, the sign and the route in view, and it can be walked through by a new starter at induction, by a volunteer on a Sunday, or by the whole team in a rehearsal, without anyone leaving their desk.
We have built this kind of tour before, for a fire and rescue service that needed crews to know a building before they arrived; see the Bishop Bosel Halls familiarisation tour. The same method gives a responsible person the record they need behind their procedures, and the medium they need to train against.
Which tier is your site in?
Enter the largest number of people you reasonably expect on the premises at the same time, including staff. The Act is not prescriptive about the method; the Home Office guidance describes reasonable ways to arrive at the figure.
A guide, not legal advice. The duties take effect when the Act comes into force, expected in spring 2027. Confirm your tier against the Home Office guidance on ProtectUK.
What a Martyn's Law readiness tour contains
Built for the responsible person, not the marketing department.
Every exit, marked and photographed
Each final exit, fire exit, gate and staircase as a point in the tour, with the door, its hardware and what is beyond it, so nobody discovers a locked gate on the day.
The four procedures as routes
Evacuation to each muster point, invacuation to the shelter spaces, lockdown of each securable zone, and the communication points, each shown as a route through the building from any starting point.
Lockable rooms and who locks them
Which rooms and zones can be secured, from which side, with what, and who holds the means, recorded where the room is rather than in an appendix.
Staff training and induction
A guided version with the procedure read aloud at each point and a short check at the end, so you can show that everyone with a role has walked it, and when.
The record behind your document
For enhanced-tier premises, the tour is the spatial evidence behind the compliance document you send to the SIA: a dated record of the building, its measures and its routes.
Live on the day with Signposted
Add Signposted and the same plan becomes the visitor map: one switch turns it red, keeps only exits and first aid lit, routes every phone to the nearest exit and pushes your wording to everyone who opted in to alerts.
Kept current
A layout change, a new fence line or a refurbished hall is re-photographed and the routes re-drawn, with the old version kept, so the record matches the building on the day it matters.
Private, secure and offline
Hosted on your own address behind a password, or supplied as files for your intranet. Nothing in it is public. Works on a phone in a basement with no signal.
Yours, not ours
We photograph, draw and build. The procedures, the risk judgement and the plan remain yours or your security adviser's, and the tour says what you decide it says.
How it works
A day on site for most standard-tier premises; two or three for a stadium, an arena or a hospital.
- 1
Walk it with you
Your responsible person, security lead or adviser walks us round with the draft procedures. We note every exit, shelter, lockable zone and comms point, and the questions the walk throws up.
- 2
Photograph in 360
Every decision point: outside each exit, inside each securable room, at each muster point and comms point. Sensitive areas can be photographed without being published.
- 3
Draw the routes
Evacuation, invacuation and lockdown from each part of the building, on your floor plans or on a drawn plan we make from them, with the procedure wording you give us at each point.
- 4
Build and test
The tour is built, read through with your team, corrected, and tested on the phones and screens your staff actually use. Then it is handed over, with the files.
- 5
Train and rehearse
Run it at induction, before each season or term, and as a tabletop exercise. The guided version records who has completed it.
People expected at one time puts premises in the standard tier: notify the SIA and have procedures for evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication.
Home Office, 2025Enhanced tier: procedures plus measures for monitoring, movement, physical security and information, documented and sent to the SIA.
Home Office, 2025The maximum penalty for serious non-compliance at the enhanced tier: £18 million or 5% of worldwide revenue, whichever is greater.
Mishcon de Reya, 2025When the SIA notification portal is expected to open and the duties to take effect, after an implementation period of at least 24 months from Royal Assent.
ProtectUK, 2026Premises in scope that we already work in
The Schedule 1 uses map almost exactly onto the sectors we photograph, map and build for.
Further reading
Frequently asked questions
Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Just get in touch, or even better, book a video consultation.
When does Martyn's Law come into force?
The Act received Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. The Home Office has said there will be an implementation period of at least 24 months, and that the SIA notification portal is expected in spring 2027. There is no legal duty until the Act is commenced, but the guidance was published in April 2026 so that premises can prepare now.
Does it apply to our school, church or nursery?
If 200 or more people are reasonably expected on the premises at one time, yes, in the standard tier, and places of worship, childcare and primary, secondary and further education premises stay in the standard tier whatever their capacity. Universities and other premises can fall into the enhanced tier at 800 or more.
Do we have to write the procedures down at the standard tier?
The Act does not require standard-tier premises to send documents to the SIA. In practice you need them written to train against, to review and to show an inspector. The enhanced tier must document procedures and measures and provide the document to the SIA.
Is a tour a substitute for a security adviser?
No. We photograph, draw and build; the risk judgement and the plan are yours or your adviser's. The tour shows your procedures on your building so people can learn and rehearse them, and it gives you a dated record of the premises and its measures. Many clients bring their adviser to the walk-round.
What does it cost?
It is quoted per site, like our other training tours: a day on site and the build for most standard-tier premises, more for a stadium, an arena or a hospital. Adding Signposted for the live visitor map and the emergency switch is quoted alongside. Tell us about the premises and we will come back with a plan and a price.
Can it be kept private?
Yes. It is hosted behind a password on your own address, or supplied as files for your intranet, and it is not indexed by search engines. Areas you do not want shown are photographed for the record but not published.
Talk to us about your premises
Venues, stadiums, schools, hospitals, attractions and places of worship, standard or enhanced tier.
Tell us what the premises is, roughly how many people are there on a busy day and where you are with your procedures. We will come back with a plan, a timescale and a clear price for the readiness tour, and for the live emergency map if you want it.