Exhibition booths and stalls

Plenty of makers, small shops and food producers take a stall at a craft fair, a county show or a market. Each show's organiser sets its own rules for the people who take a stall. A few rules also come from the law, and they reach the person behind the table.

Fire safety at an outdoor show

The Home Office publishes a fire safety risk assessment guide for open-air events and venues. It is written for the people responsible for outdoor events and venues, and markets are among its examples. It does not cover large temporary structures or air-supported structures.

A show held in a building comes under a different Home Office guide. There is one for small and medium places of assembly, for up to 300 people, and one for large places of assembly, such as exhibition and conference centres. The organiser's fire risk assessment may set rules for your stall, so ask the organiser what it expects of you.

Power on an outdoor site

HSE says event organisers, contractors and others using electrical equipment "must do all that is reasonably practicable to ensure that electrical installations and equipment at an event are properly selected, installed and maintained so as not to cause death or injury".

It says electrical equipment that could be exposed to rain should be built or protected with suitable covers, enclosures or shelters. As far as practicable, it should be placed where members of the public cannot touch it.

Giving out or selling food

GOV.UK says you must register with your local authority to run a food business. Registration applies to all types of businesses who sell food and drink, wherever they trade from, and that includes "temporary premises such as a stall or van".

GOV.UK says a food bank or charity may need to register even if the food it gives out is free. You must register at least 28 days before you start trading.

Selling to visitors

The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 have their own meaning of "business premises". Regulation 5 says they include "any movable retail premises where the activity of the trader is carried out on a usual basis".

The same regulation defines an off-premises contract as one made with both people present "in a place which is not the business premises of the trader". Regulation 29 gives the buyer a right to cancel a distance or off-premises contract within the cancellation period. Whether a sale at your stall falls on one side or the other turns on those words. Citizens Advice explains returns and cooling-off periods from the buyer's side.

Before the show

The organiser's own information for stallholders comes first, because each show sets its own rules. HSE's event safety pages explain the organiser's side, including how to plan, manage and review an event.

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