Martyn's Law notification: the deadlines and what to register

A Responsible Person for premises or an event in scope must register with the Security Industry Authority (SIA). The deadline is three months, 28 days or 14 days, depending on who you are and what you are registering. None of these deadlines has started to run.

Who has to register?

The Responsible Person for qualifying premises or a qualifying event. For example, that could be the owner or manager of a pub, restaurant or hotel with large function space, a place of worship, a school, a venue or sports ground, or the organiser of a ticketed event.

A person who stops being responsible must also notify the SIA.

Not sure whether this includes you? The free scope checker takes a few minutes, runs in your browser and stores nothing.

When does the clock start?

The Notification Requirements Regulations 2026 come into force on the day section 9(1) of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 comes into force. The regulations call that day the commencement day.

Section 37 of the Act leaves that day to the Secretary of State, who appoints it by regulations. When the legislation was last checked, on 10 September 2026, no commencement day had been appointed. Until it is, no notification deadline is running and none can be missed.

The SIA has said it expects the Act to come into force in spring 2027, and that people will be invited to test the notification portal from early 2027. The guidance note covers what the SIA has published. The commencement note sets out what is in force now.

What are the deadlines?

Regulation 3 sets the deadline, which the regulations call the "required time", for each kind of notification.

Three points follow from the table.

• Premises have a three-month window. Events do not. An event already publicised on the commencement day must be notified within 14 days of it.
• New Responsible Persons get 28 days. If you take over premises after the commencement day, you have 28 days from the day you become responsible.
• Keeping the entry accurate is a continuing duty. Notification is not a one-off. Changes carry their own 28-day or 14-day deadline.

What do you have to register?

Regulation 5 and the Schedule list the content. The Responsible Person makes the notification, or someone they authorise does. It goes through the SIA's online portal, in the form the SIA requires.

For qualifying premises, the notification must include Parts 1 and 2 of the Schedule. Enhanced duty premises add Part 3.

1. The Responsible Person. Name and contact details, any registered company or charity number, and anyone else who has control of the premises, with their relationship to the Responsible Person.
2. The premises. Postal address, the relevant Schedule 1 use, whether the premises are a group of buildings, and whether they form part of larger premises.
3. The capacity figure. The greatest number of individuals who can reasonably be expected to be present at the same time, and the method used to calculate it.
4. Authorisations. Whether you hold, or have applied for, an alcohol licence, an entertainment licence or a sports-ground safety certificate, with dates and the issuing authority.
5. Online presence. The websites and social media accounts used to advertise the premises.
6. For enhanced duty premises, the senior individual, if one has been designated under section 10, and confirmation that the compliance document required by section 7 is understood.

Every notification must also confirm that the person submitting it knows that knowingly or recklessly giving false or misleading information is an offence under section 25 of the Act.

For a qualifying event, the notification draws on Parts 1, 3 and 4 of the Schedule. It adds the date, time and admission time of the event, a description, whether the event has been held before, and when and where it was first publicised.

What can you prepare now?

No action is needed before a commencement day is appointed. Two items take longer to reconstruct than to record, so they are worth settling early.

The capacity figure and the method behind it. The Schedule asks for the method as well as the number. Section 2 turns on whether it is reasonable to expect that, from time to time, 200 or more individuals may be present at the same time. The enhanced tier begins at 800. The scope checker follows the Act's own test.

Who the Responsible Person is. Where more than one person has control of the premises, the notification must name each of them, and section 8 requires them to co-ordinate. The Act guide and the FAQ explain how the Responsible Person is identified.

Write down the decision, its basis and its date. That record is the first thing the notification will draw on.