Shire Hall Standard Conditions of Hire
1 USER AND PAYMENT
1.1 No part of the Property is to be used for any purpose other than the Purpose of the Hiring except with the written consent of the Council.
1.2 No part of the Property is to be used for any unlawful purpose or in any unlawful way.
1.3 Where the Hiring relates to the use of Property on more than one occasion, the Standard Conditions shall apply to each occasion.
1.4 The Hirer shall pay the Fee to the Council in accordance with the Agreement.
1.5 Confirmation. Provisional bookings are held for 5 days. The Hirers Agreement Form must be returned and received by the Shire Hall within five working days or, If such time is not available prior to the date of arrival, within a maximum of 24 hours. If the Shire Hall does not receive the Agreement within this period, the Shire Hall reserves the right to release the provisional booking and re-let the facilities.
1.6 Terms of Payment
1.6.1 Deposits. The Hirer must pay the deposit or the full pre-payments(s) specified. Should the client fail to pay the requested deposit or pre-payment by the due date the Shire Hall may treat the booking as having been cancelled by the client. Deposits are neither refundable nor transferable.
1.6.2 Final Payments. Clients not having credit facilities with the Shire Hall are required to make full payment of the total estimated charge at least 7 days prior to the event start date and settle any extras incurred on departure of the event. If credit is granted, full payment of any outstanding balance must be made within 21 days – any queries will not affect immediate payment of the remainder of the account. No allowance or refund can be made for meal or other elements not taken within the agreed package rate.
1.7 Amendments and Cancellations
1.7.1 In the unfortunate circumstance that you have to cancel or postpone your confirmed booking at any time prior to the event, The Shire Hall will make every effort to re-sell the facilities on your behalf. In the event of The Shire Hall being unsuccessful in reselling the cancelled or amended booking, cancellation charges will be made as follows:
a) 100% of any additional costs incurred at the time of booking e.g. equipment hires and entertainment
b) 70% of the contracted food and beverage revenue if less than seven days
1,7.2 Any cancellation, postponement or partial cancellation must be confirmed in writing and the facilities you have reserved cannot be released for resale until this is received and acknowledged.
1.7.3 Should the client make significant changes to the programme or the expected number of delegates the Shire Hall reserves the right to amend the rates and / or facilities offered
1.7.4 Amendments or Cancellations by The Shire Hall
a) The Shire hall reserves the right to cancel any booking forthwith or reserves the right to offer alternatives facilities without any responsibility on its part in the event of the Property being required for any purpose in connection with a Referendum or Parliamentary. Local Government or European election
b) or if the Property is rendered unusable for any such event as is mentioned in Condition 13.3.
c) If the Hiring is cancelled for any such reason as is mentioned in Condition 1.7.4, the Council will give to the Hirer the maximum practicable notice and refund the Fee, but will not otherwise be liable to the Hirer.
2 EQUIPMENT
2.1 No lighting, heating, power or other electrical or mechanical fittings or appliances in the Property are to be altered, moved or in any way interfered with.
2.2 No additional lighting, heating, power or other electrical or mechanical fittings or appliances are to be installed or used without the prior consent of the Council.
2.3 Any stage lighting equipment provided by the Council must not be operated by any persons other than suitably trained persons approved by the Council.
2.4 The Hirer shall not bring any equipment whatever nature on to the Property except with the written consent of the Council
3 SUPERVISION
3.1 During the Period of the Hiring, the Hirer is to be responsible for :
3.1.1 The efficient supervision of the Property, including :
(a) The effective control of children
(b) The orderly and safe admission and departure of persons to and from the property.
3.1.2 The safety of the Property.
3.1.3 The preservation of good order and decency in the Property.
3.1.4 Ensuring that all doors giving access from the Property are left unfastened and unobstructed and immediately available for exit and that all exit aisles, corridors and passageways are kept open and clear of any blockage or obstruction of whatsoever nature and that all fire appliances are undisturbed and accessible in case of emergency.
3..2 Whenever the Council considers it appropriate, no activity may be carried out as part of the Hiring unless it is supervised by appropriately qualified persons as approved or directed by the Council.
3.3 Hirer is responsible for the orderly exit of their guests to minimize the disturbance to residents.
4 DECORATIONS AND ADVERTISING
4.1. No bolts, nails, tacks, screws, pins or other like objects are to be driven into any part of the Property, nor is any adhesive substance to be attached to it.
4.2 No posters, boards, signs, flags, or other emblems or advertisements are to be displayed inside or outside the Property without the previous written consent of the Council.
5 MAXIMUM NUMBER TO BE ADMITTED
The number of persons to be admitted to the Property is not to exceed the Maximum Number indicated in the Agreement and during the Period of Hiring the Hirer must keep a note of the number of persons admitted and show the same on demand of any officer of the Council.
6 OTHER REGULATIONS
6.1 The Hirer must comply with all conditions and regulations, in particular those
6.2. Made in respect of the Property by the Fire Authority
6.3 Of the Council’s public entertainments license and/or stage play license for the Property (so far as the same may be relevant to the Purpose of the Hiring). And a copy of these will be supplied on request.
7 GAMBLING
7.1 No sweepstake, raffle, tom bola or other form of lottery is to be permitted to take place
In the property except a lottery. which is lawful under the Lotteries and Amusements Act 1976
7.2 For which the prior consent of the Council has been obtained and
7.3 Which is conducted strictly in accordance with the relevant statutory provisions.
8 REFRESHMENTS
The Hirer shall not bring, or permit or allow to be brought into the Property any alcohol,
confectionery, food or refreshments of any description without the prior written consent of the Council.
9 SMOKING
Smoking is not permitted on the site (Including under the Loggia).
10 EXPIRATION OF PERIOD OF HIRING
At the expiration of the Period of Hiring, the Hirer is to leave the Property in a clean and orderly State
11 AGREEMENT PERSONAL TO THE HIRER
The Benefit of the Agreement is personal to the Hirer and not assignable or capable of being sub-hired.
12 DAMAGE TO COUNCIL PROPERTY
The Hirer is to take good care of and not cause any damage to be done to the Property or to any fittings, equipment or other property in the Property and the Hirer is to make good and pay for any such damage caused by any act or neglect of the Hirer or anyone for whom the Hirer is responsible or anyone permitted by the Hirer to enter the Property
13 INJURY TO PERSONS AND LOSS OF PROPERTY
13.1 The Council will not be liable for the death of or injury to any person attending the Property for the purpose of the Hiring or for any losses, claims, demands, actions, proceeding, damages, costs or expenses or other liability incurred by the Hirer in the exercise of the rights granted by the Agreement except where such death, injury or loss is due to the negligence of the Council.
13.2 The Council will not under any circumstances accept responsibility or liability in respect of any damage to or loss of any goods, articles or property of any kind brought in or left at the Property either by the Hirer for his own purposes or by any other person or left or deposited with any employee of the Council.
13.3 The Council will not be liable for any loss due to any breakdown of machinery, failure of supply with electricity , leakage of water, fire, government restriction or act of God which may cause the Property to be temporarily closed or the Hiring to be interrupted or cancelled.
13.4 The Council gives no warranty that the Property is legally or physically fit for any specific purpose.
14 THIRD PARTY INSURANCE
Where clause 1 of the Hire Agreement indicates that the Purpose of the Hiring is for a commercial or business use the Hire is to have in force throughout the Period of the Hiring a policy of insurance effected with a reputable insurance company or with underwriters at Lloyds covering the Hirer against third party risks for a sum of not less than £2,000,000.00 and on demand will produce evidence of such policy to the Council not later than 3 days prior to (and at any time during) the Period of the Hiring.
15 RIGHT OF ENTRY AND RIGHT TO REFUSE ADMISSION
The Council reserves the right for duly authorised members or employees of the Council to enter the Property at any time for any authorised purpose and the right to refuse admission to, or remove from the Property, any person
16 BREACH BY THE HIRER
16.1 If the Hirer fails to observe and perform any of the Standard or Special Conditions, the Council may:-
16.2 Charge to and recover from the Hirer any expenses incurred by the Council in remedying any such failure, including the cost of employing attendants, workmen, cleaners or other persons as may be appropriate and
16.3 Cancel the instant or any other hiring of the Property or any other property of he Council by the Hirer without incurring any liability to the Hirer for the return of any fee or otherwise.
17 COUNCIL TO ACT BY ITS OFFICERS
The Council may act through any authorised officer and references in these conditions to any approval, discretion, consent or requirement of the Council are deemed to be references to the approval, discretion, consent or requirement of any such officer and anything which the Hirer
is required to produce to the Council is to be produced to such officer.
18 APPLICATION OF THE CONDITIONS
The restrictions and obligations in the Standard and Special Conditions apply to any part the premises in which the Property is located.
19 IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
In the event that the emergency services need to be called during the period of hiring, the Duty Officer must be notified. If you would like us to provide First Aid cover, please advise at time of booking.
20 CAR PARKING
Vehicles must park in the designated car parks.
NO CAR PARKING IS PERMITTED IN AGINCOURT SQUARE AT ANY TIME.
NOTES
A Insurance (Standard Condition 14)
The Council has arranged insurance called Hirers Liability Cover through Zurich Municipal Underwriting Services. Thus the Hirer has public liability cover as party of the Hire Fee. THIS COVER IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR COMMERCIAL OR BUSINESS USERS.
A copy of the policy is available for inspection for prospective Hirers.
B Copyright, etc.
The Council has secured licenses from Phonographic Performance Limited (for the public playing of commercial sound recordings) and from the Performing Rights Society
(who act on behalf of the composers to protect their rights in respect of both sound recordings and live performances).