The four standard-tier procedures
At standard tier, Martyn's Law asks you to have appropriate public protection procedures in place across four areas: evacuation, invacuation, lockdown and communication. They are practical plans your people know and can carry out. The Act does not require you to buy equipment or make building changes, and at standard tier there is no legally required written document, though a short written summary is good practice (as at 12 July 2026).
What "procedures" means here
A procedure is simply an agreed plan for what your team does in a given situation, and it is expected so far as is reasonably practicable. The point of the four areas is to make sure you have thought through the realistic responses to an attack in advance, rather than improvising when it matters most. None of them requires new kit; they require a plan and people who know it.
1. Evacuation
Getting people safely out of the premises. This means knowing your exit routes, having an assembly point that is a sensible distance away, and being clear on who directs people and how. A good evacuation plan accounts for people who need help to move and for exits that might be blocked.
2. Invacuation
Bringing people into, or to safer parts of, the premises when it is safer to stay inside than to leave. Sometimes the danger is outside, and moving people out would move them towards it. Invacuation is about identifying which parts of your premises are safer, and how you move people to them and keep them there.
3. Lockdown
Securing the premises to control who can enter and leave. Lockdown is about slowing or stopping an attacker's movement: knowing which doors can be secured, who has the means to secure them, and how you restrict access quickly. Again, this is a plan and a set of actions, not necessarily new hardware.
4. Communication
Alerting people to danger and telling them what to do. This covers how you raise the alarm, how staff communicate with each other, and how you give clear instructions to the public in the moment. It ties the other three together: an evacuation, invacuation or lockdown only works if people know it is happening and what part they play.
No equipment, no mandatory document. The Act does not require physical alterations or equipment purchases for these procedures. There is no statutory requirement for a written document at standard tier either, but the procedures must be communicated to those who would carry them out, so writing a short summary and briefing your staff and volunteers is sensible.
How to put them in place
- Walk your premises and decide your evacuation routes and assembly point.
- Identify your safer areas for invacuation.
- Agree how you would lock down, and who can do it.
- Decide how you raise the alarm and communicate with the public and each other.
- Brief your staff and volunteers so they know their part, and revisit it as people and layouts change.
This is exactly the checklist the personalised report tailors to your premises, along with your responsible person and your key dates.
What enhanced tier adds
If your capacity is 800 or more, you are in the enhanced tier, and on top of these four procedures you also need public protection measures across monitoring, movement, physical safety and security, and information security, plus a mandatory tailored document and, for organisations, a senior individual. See standard tier vs enhanced tier.
Frequently asked questions
What is invacuation?
Bringing people into, or to safer parts of, the premises when it is safer to stay inside than to leave. It is the opposite of evacuation and one of the four standard-tier procedures.
Do the four procedures need equipment?
No. The Act does not require physical alterations or equipment purchases for standard tier procedures. They are about having appropriate plans your people know and can carry out.
Do I have to write the procedures down?
There is no statutory requirement for a written document at standard tier, but the procedures must be communicated to those who would carry them out, and a short written summary is good practice.
Sources
- Home Office statutory guidance The standard-tier procedures across the four areas. gov.uk statutory guidance
- Home Office factsheets The standard duty requirements. gov.uk factsheets
- ProtectUK overview Plain-English framing of the duties. protectuk.police.uk
Content current as at 12 July 2026. Guidance can be updated before commencement; re-check the primary source before acting.
Get your procedures checklist for your premises
Run the free scope check to confirm you are standard tier, then get the report, with a plain-English action checklist tailored to your site.
Run the free scope check