GUIDANCE ON EXPLOSIVES LICENSING & FEES Under the Explosives Regulations 2014 Cambridgeshire County Council is responsible for the licensing of persons who store up to 2000kg of explosives at premises within the county. Hazard Types Explosives are classified into Hazard Types. Most fireworks and small arms ammunition are Hazard Type 4 and can be identified as the outer boxes will be marked with the symbol 1.4G in an orange diamond: Some larger fireworks are classed as Hazard Type 3 and are marked 1.3G. Storage of Hazard Type 3 fireworks may reduce the quantity that is permitted to be stored depending on the licence type and separation distances available on site (see below). If in doubt about the classification of your fireworks, please consult your supplier. Quantities The quantities of explosives that may be stored are referred to as net mass. This is the weight of the actual explosive contained within an article, not including any casings and packaging etc. These quantities are usually marked on the outer packaging. If not available, they are commonly taken to be 25% of the gross weight of fireworks and other pyrotechnics. Types of Licence The licence that you require relates to separation distances and the amount that you store. A separation distance is the minimum distance between the location where the explosives are stored, and other specified places where people may be present (see separation distance tables). Where explosives of different hazard types are in one store, the total quantity of explosives are treated as belonging to the hazard type which would require the greatest separation distance. o A licence where no separation distances apply permits storage of up to: 250kg of Hazard Type 4 explosives; or 25kg of Hazard Type 3 explosives; or 25kg of a combination of Hazard Type 3 and Hazard Type 4 explosives Please note, if your explosives are stored within or adjoining domestic/sleeping accommodation the limits are reduced to 75kg of HT4 or 0kg of HT3 unless specific fire precautions are in place. o A licence where separation distances apply is for storing up to 2000kg For storage of more than 2000 kg of explosives the Health and Safety Executive are the licensing authority. For storage of up to 2000kg of explosives, if some of the explosives are either smokeless powder or percussion caps, or require an explosives certificate, or the explosives are stored by a person who is a registered firearms dealer, the Police are the licensing authority. Licence Applications and Site Plans Licence applications can be made for a period of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 years. When a licensing authority receives an application, it has to identify the site to be licensed and be able to confirm that the site and the storage locations within the site are suitable for explosives. The licence when issued must specify the places of storage, and a register has to be populated with this and other information. Therefore applicants will be asked to submit appropriate plans with their application which will be appended to the licence and form part of the register.
Separation Distances Hazard Type 3 explosive (distances in metres) Hazard Type 4 explosive (distances in metres) Quantity kg (NEC) Footpath or Lightly Used Road Minor Railway Major Building Quantity kg (NEC) Footpath or Lightly Used Road Minor Railway Major Building 0.1 25 0 0 0 0.1 250 0 0 0 25 30 7 10 20 250 300 1 1 1 30 40 7 11 22 300 340 1 1 2 40 50 8 12 23 340 370 1 2 3 50 60 8 12 25 370 400 1 2 4 60 70 9 13 26 400 450 2 3 5 70 80 9 14 27 450 500 2 3 6 80 90 9 14 28 500 550 2 4 7 90 100 10 15 29 550 650 3 5 9 100 150 11 17 34 650 700 3 5 10 150 200 12 19 37 700 750 4 6 11 200 250 13 20 40 750 800 4 6 12 230 300 14 21 43 800 900 4 7 13 300 350 15 22 45 900 950 5 7 14 350 400 16 23 47 950 1000 5 8 15 400 450 16 24 49 1000-1100 5 8 16 450 500 17 25 50 1100-1150 6 9 17 500 550 17 26 52 1150-1200 6 9 18 550 600 18 27 54 1200-1300 6 10 19 600 650 18 28 55 1300-1350 7 10 20 650 700 19 28 56 1350-1400 7 11 21 700 750 19 29 58 1400-1450 7 11 22 750 800 20 29 59 1450-1550 8 12 23 800 850 20 30 60 1550-1600 8 12 24 850 900 20 31 61 1600-1650 8 13 25 900 950 21 31 62 1650-1700 9 13 26 950-1000 21 32 64 1700-1800 9 14 27 1000-1100 22 33 66 1800-1850 9 14 28 1100-1200 22 34 67 1850-1900 10 15 29 1200-1300 23 35 69 1900-2000 10 15 30 1300-1400 24 36 71 1400-1500 24 36 73 1500-1600 25 37 74 1600-1700 25 38 76 1700-1800 26 39 77 1800-1900 26 39 79 1900-2000 27 40 80 Fireworks Supplied Outside Certain Festival Periods Storage licences only permit sales of fireworks during the following periods: o 15 October to 10 November o 26 December to 31 December o On the first day of Chinese New Year and the 3 days immediately preceding it o On the day of Diwali and the 3 days immediately preceding it If you wish to sell fireworks outside these periods an extended fireworks licence is required. This is available from Cambridgeshire County Council and is renewed annually on 1 January each year at a cost of 500.
EXPLOSIVES FEES 2017/2018 Applications for licences to store explosives made to licensing authorities which are licensing authorities by virtue of paragraph 1(a) of schedule 1 to the 2014 regulations The Explosives Regulations 2014 The explosives licensing period is from the 1 st October to the 30 th September each year. NEW APPLICATION Duration Cost VAT Licence where a minimum separation distance is prescribed: 250kg to 2000kg (HT4) or 25kg to 2000kg (HT3) 1 year 185.00 No 2 years 243.00 No 3 years 304.00 No 4 years 374.00 No 5 years 423.00 No Licence where NO minimum separation distance is prescribed: Up to 250kg (HT4) or up to 25kg (HT3) 1 year 109.00 No 2 years 141.00 No 3 years 173.00 No 4 years 206.00 No 5 years 238.00 No RENEWAL Licence where a minimum separation distance is prescribed: 250kg to 2000kg (HT4) or 25kg to 2000kg (HT3) 1 year 86.00 No 2 years 147.00 No 3 years 206.00 No 4 years 266.00 No 5 years 326.00 No Licence where NO minimum separation distance is prescribed: Up to 250kg (HT4) or up to 25kg (HT3) 1 year 54.00 No 2 years 86.00 No 3 years 120.00 No 4 years 152.00 No 5 years 185.00 No Varying name of licensee or address of site 36.00 No Any other kind of variation will be charged at a reasonable cost to the authority of having the work carried out Transfer of licence 36.00 No Replacement of licence referred to above if lost 36.00 No LICENCE TO SELL FIREWORKS ALL YEAR ROUND Fireworks Regulations 2004, Regulation 9 Annual licence to sell fireworks outside the permitted periods as stated. NB: The licence to sell fireworks all year round covers the period 1 st January to 31 st December. The fee payable for less than one year's duration shall be, respectively, the fee set out above for a licence of one year's duration decreased proportionately according to the duration of the period for which the licence is granted. 500.00 No
HSE Guidance to applicants IMPORTANT It is your responsibility to ensure you are aware of, and comply with, the Explosives Regulations 2014. The licensing authority has the power to prohibit storage of explosives at the site if it believes the site is no longer suitable. It may also take enforcement action if you are not storing safely. If you are intending to supply fireworks outside the normal permitted period s e.g. New Year, Chinese New Year, October 15 th -November 10 th and Diwali, you will also need to make a separate application to your local licensing authority for a licence to comply with the Fireworks Regulations 2004. General information on completing the application 1. This form should not be used for an application for a licence to store the explosives listed below: - relevant explosives - ammunition the acquisition of which is regulated or prohibited by virtue of the Firearms Acts 1968 to 1997 - smokeless powder or percussion caps - explosives stored by a person who is registered as a firearms dealer under section 33 of the Firearms Act 1968 If you want to store the explosives listed above, you should use form ER2 You should only use this form if you want to store less than 2000kg of explosives. If you want to store more than 2000kg of explosives you should apply to the Health and Safety Executive for a licence. Further information on licensing can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/licensing/how-to-apply.htm 2. If there is insufficient room to provide the information requested, please continue on a separate sheet(s). You should also put your name and address at the top of each sheet before attaching the sheet(s) to your application form. 3. Please contact your local licensing authority if you have any questions about completing this form or about your application. If you live in the metropolitan counties (i.e. West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear, South and West Yorkshire) or in Oxfordshire, Cornwall or Norfolk, you will need to apply to the fire and rescue service. In other areas you will normally need to contact the trading standards department of your local authority 4. Please note: Any previous convictions you may have may be subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and you do not have to include convictions that are spent on this application form. Where the application relates to a corporate body or company convictions of all directors should be listed. Where the application relates in Scotland to a partnership, convictions of all partners should be listed. Information on how Licensing Authorities will consider the relevance of previous convictions to an application for a licence can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/licensing/refusals-revocations.htm 5. Separation distances - please see Regulation 27 of the Explosives Regulation 2014. You will not normally be required to maintain separation distances if you store no more than: - 250kg HT4-25kg HT3 (or combination of HT3 and HT4) - 0.1kg HT1-0.1kg HT2 on one site. If you are unsure whether your store or on places where you will be manufacturing or processing explosives on site are subject to separation distances, contact your local licensing authority
The following documents should be submitted with the application form: 6. A plan to a scale sufficient to show the location of the site in relation to its surroundings (i.e. named or numbered roads, hamlets, villages or geographical features). Where the site does not have a postal address this should normally be a minimum scale of 1:25000. 7. If the store is subject to separation distances you will also need to provide an Ordnance Survey Siteplan (or similar) map showing the location of the store and distances to any neighbouring buildings. The plan should also show any areas where you intend to process or manufacture explosives where a licence for those activities is not required under regulation 6 of ER2014. The scale will depend on the separation distance. For a distance of up to 200 metres, a 1:1250 would normally be required while greater distance would require a 1:2500 or even a SuperPlan. Where this plan clearly identifies the location of the site in relation to its surroundings it can be substituted for the plan referred to in 6 above. 8. If you intend to store or display more than 12.5kg of fireworks on a shop floor, the licensing authority will require you submit a floor plan of the sales area. 9. If you intend to store, process or manufacture explosives within a building that is also used for other purposes you should include a floor plan showing the places within the building where you intend storing, processing or manufacturing the explosives. 10. Information on fees can be found at http://www.hse.gov.uk/explosives/licensing/fees.htm or contact your licensing authority for advice. Renewal of licence, 11. If there have been no relevant changes to the site usage, layout or places where explosives are stored, or to the proximity of protected places to the stores since the licence was originally granted or last renewed, then it will not, in general, be necessary for a new plan to be submitted to your licencing authority. Hazard type and quantity 12. The licensing authority will need to know the hazard type and quantity of the explosives you wish to store to determine whether your store is suitable. The quantity you will be allowed to store will depend on the hazard type of the explosives. Please contact your supplier if you are uncertain about the hazard types of explosive you wish to store. 13. The quantity refers to the net mass of the explosives. This means the weight of the explosive contained within an article i.e. less packaging, casings, etc Period of validity 14. Licences for fireworks and other explosives that do not require an explosive certificate may be granted for up to 5 years as the licensing authority determines.