Crowd & event safety law, by country

United Kingdom

• ☐Estimate your expected capacity (including staff and performers) to work out whether Martyn's Law applies to you at all, and if so, whether you fall in the standard tier (200–799) or enhanced tier (800+).
• ☐Standard tier: document your evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication procedures, and make sure relevant staff are briefed on them.
• ☐Once the SIA's online notification system is live (ahead of commencement), notify the SIA that you're a responsible person for a qualifying premises or event — you don't need to do this yet, but check the SIA's site as commencement approaches.
• ☐Enhanced tier: in addition, complete a documented security risk assessment and put the resulting physical/technical/procedural measures in place.
• ☐Cross-check your plan against the Purple Guide's DIM-ICE model (Design, Information, Management — Incident, Capacities, Environment) rather than inventing your own crowd-safety framework from scratch.
• ☐If alcohol or regulated entertainment is involved, confirm your premises licence conditions under the Licensing Act 2003 actually match what you're planning to do (capacity, hours, activities).
• ☐For a sports ground, check the Green Guide's capacity and exit standards specifically — they're stricter and different from general event guidance.

European Union

United States

• ☐Calculate your occupant load using NFPA 101's net area factors: roughly 7 sq ft per person for a concentrated standing crowd (no seating, general assembly use) and 15 sq ft per person for less concentrated, unfixed-seating spaces — check the current edition adopted by your local jurisdiction, since local amendments vary.
• ☐Confirm the number of trained crowd managers required: NFPA 101 requires one per 250 occupants or portion thereof, never fewer than one, for assembly occupancies (1,500 occupants = 6).
• ☐Check which fire and building code your city or state has actually adopted (NFPA 101 directly, or the International Fire Code, which incorporates similar but not always identical occupancy rules) — this is decided locally, not federally.
• ☐Confirm your egress routes, exit signage and emergency lighting are signed off by your local fire marshal before doors open — they are the enforcing authority, not a national body.
• ☐If you employ event staff, review whether your crowd-safety planning meets OSHA's General Duty Clause — providing a workplace free of recognised hazards applies to your own crew, not just attendees.
• ☐Check your accessible-egress and accommodation provisions against the ADA if the event is open to the public.

Germany

• ☐Check whether your venue holds more than 200 visitors in a single room — that's the threshold at which the VStättVO applies at all.
• ☐Size your escape routes to the model ordinance's baseline: every part of an escape route must be at least 1.20 m wide. On top of that minimum, allow 1.20 m of width per 200 visitors for indoor assembly venues, or 1.20 m per 600 visitors for outdoor venues and stadiums (MVStättVO §7).
• ☐Identify which of the 16 federal states' version of the model ordinance actually applies to you — most states follow the MVStättVO figures above closely, but always confirm against your specific state's adopted text, since amendments do occur.
• ☐Check your state's requirements for a designated safety/technical responsible person at larger events — the exact capacity trigger for this varies by state.
• ☐Confirm your venue's structural and fire-safety sign-off against your state building code (Landesbauordnung), which underpins the assembly-venue rules.

Spain

• ☐Determine whether your activity is covered by RD 393/2007 — most public-entertainment and mass-gathering activities are — and if so, get a plan de autoprotección written by a competent technician, not drafted in-house without one.
• ☐Register or submit your self-protection plan with the relevant civil-protection authority per your autonomous community's process — the registration route differs by region.
• ☐Check your specific autonomous community's own 'espectáculos públicos' law for the capacity, licence and safety-plan requirements that actually apply to your venue type — Catalonia, Madrid and Andalucía, among others, each set their own thresholds.
• ☐Confirm your venue's operating licence and any capacity limit stated on it match what you intend to run — regional inspectors check the licence, not just your self-protection plan.

Italy

• ☐Prepare a written safety plan that clearly separates 'safety' measures (crowd, exits, medical, structural) from 'security' measures (public order) — the Gabrielli circular treats these as two distinct plans, not one combined document.
• ☐Submit your venue and event plan to the local Commissione di Vigilanza sui Locali di Pubblico Spettacolo for inspection and approval before the event — this is a local, not national, sign-off.
• ☐Calculate your required exit width under D.M. 19/8/1996 using the exit-module system: each module is 0.60 m wide, and total exit width must be sized to the venue's expected occupancy divided by its evacuation flow capacity per module.
• ☐Provide at least 3 exits in reasonably opposite positions, each at least 2 modules (1.2 m) wide. Venues with a capacity of 150 people or fewer may use only 2 exits, and may count a single 0.9 m-wide exit as one module.
• ☐If your safety measures can't be fully guaranteed as planned, treat that as a stop condition — Circolare Gabrielli is explicit that an event without adequate safety measures should not go ahead, rather than proceeding at reduced safety.

Netherlands

• ☐Classify your event's risk category under the Handreiking Evenementenveiligheid (regular / attention / risk) — this determines how much scrutiny your permit application gets and from whom.
• ☐Apply for your municipal event permit (APV) with enough lead time for the safety region and police to review it if your event falls in the higher-risk categories.
• ☐Confirm temporary structures (stages, tents, barriers) meet the Bouwbesluit's occupancy and structural requirements, and get them signed off before the event.
• ☐Check who your safety region contact is for your specific municipality — coordination runs through them for anything above a routine, low-risk event.

France

• ☐Identify your venue's ERP category and type — these set the maximum occupancy, and the number and width of exits you must provide and cannot exceed.
• ☐Confirm exit widths and fire-safety measures at your venue against its specific ERP classification, not a generic assumption — categories differ significantly by venue type and size.
• ☐For larger public events, arrange your security plan (bag checks, perimeter control) directly with the local préfecture rather than treating it as an internal-only decision.
• ☐Keep your occupancy count enforceable at the door — ERP maximum occupancy is a hard legal limit, not a target.

India

• ☐Work through the NDMA's mass-gathering guidelines for capacity planning, site layout and entry/exit routes before finalising your event footprint.
• ☐Confirm with your district administration and local police what event-specific permissions and coordination they require — implementation runs through them, not the NDMA directly.
• ☐Check your venue's occupancy limit against local building bye-laws, which vary by state and municipality.
• ☐Put a real-time monitoring and communication plan in place per the NDMA guidance — this is one of the areas most often missing at events that later have crowd incidents in India.

China

• ☐Apply for and obtain the required public-security permit before the event — this is a precondition to running the event at all, not a formality to complete afterwards.
• ☐Set your attendance cap at the capacity actually approved in your permit, and be able to demonstrate you enforced it at entry points.
• ☐Prepare and file the security and emergency plans required by Decree No. 505 alongside your permit application.
• ☐Confirm with local public-security authorities which additional local rules apply on top of the national decree, since implementation and specific requirements can vary by city.

Australia

• ☐Confirm crowd controllers deployed on site hold current, valid individual licences issued by the relevant state or territory authority (such as Victoria Police LRD, NSW SLED, or QLD Office of Fair Trading).
• ☐Develop a documented Event Safety Management Plan in alignment with the Safe Work Australia General Guide for Managing Risks at Events (2021).
• ☐Calculate occupant capacities and egress paths in accordance with the National Construction Code (NCC Volume One, Section D), verifying that all exits provide unobstructed, continuous paths of travel to open space.
• ☐Check with the local council and police licensing command for jurisdiction-specific crowd-controller-to-patron ratios stipulated in your venue licence or event permit, as baseline conditions vary by state and event risk profile.
• ☐For events in public open space or temporary structures, ensure crowd barriers and temporary stages comply with Australian Standards (AS 1170 series for structural actions and wind loads).

Canada

• ☐Calculate assembly occupant loads in accordance with NBC 2020 Division B, Table 3.1.17.1 occupancy factors for your specific assembly space type, and confirm the approved capacity with the local authority having jurisdiction.
• ☐Ensure the number and cumulative width of exits meet NBC 2020 Subsection 3.4.3 requirements, with doors equipped with approved panic hardware swinging in the direction of exit travel.
• ☐Verify that all security and crowd-monitoring personnel possess valid provincial security licences issued by your province's regulatory body.
• ☐File your event safety and emergency evacuation plan with the municipal fire department and obtain required Special Event permits prior to opening.
• ☐Post the approved maximum occupant load certificate in a conspicuous position near the main entrance as required by provincial fire regulations.