Community Centre Handbook SECTION 4: BUILDING OPERATIONS. This section provides information on the following building relates issues:

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1 Community Centre Handbook SECTION 4: BUILDING OPERATIONS This section provides information on the following building relates issues: Licence and Licence Requirements Complaints Procedures Fault Reporting Procedure Building Repairs, Maintenance and Improvements Insurance Claim Procedure Section 4 1 V4: 11 November 2013

2 Licensing and Licence Requirements Community centre management committees are responsible for the activities that take place within their community centres. Some activities require certain licenses to be in place. There are many different licences that the management committees will need to make sure are in place and it would not be possible to list them all in this handbook. Below are some of the most common licences that are required. If you would like to get more information on licences you can visit Small Society Lotteries Aberdeen City Council s Licensing Board is responsible of registering societies who wish to operate lotteries. The registration fee is 40 with an annual fee of 20. Society lotteries are those promoted on behalf of a group, which is established and conducted for charitable purposes, for the purpose of enabling participation in, or supporting of, sport, athletics or cultural activities or any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain. More information can be found at Public Entertainment Licence Aberdeen City Council requires public entertainment licenses for the following: bonfires bowling alleys; bungee jumping; church halls (a public entertainment license shall not be required for a church hall belonging to or occupied by any religious body while being used wholly or mainly for purposes connected with that body); circuses; community centres; concert halls; dance halls; discotheques; dry ski centres; fairgrounds; fetes with tented accommodation; firework displays; halls used for voluntary organisations; ice rinks; motorbike stunt shows; premises for pop concerts; Section 4 2 V4: 11 November 2013

3 premises for live band performances; premises for variety shows; premises for musical shows; premises for raves; premises for musical festivals; premises for paint ball games; premises for laser display; premises for laser games; premises for health and fitness including gyms; public halls; roller skating rinks; schools and other educational establishments (or parts thereof within which the number of members of the public admitted to or taking part in any single event or activity at any one time exceeds 60); skateboarding; sports centres; swimming pools; and vehicle stunt shows. Aberdeen City Council agreed the definition of groups qualifying for the reduction will be the same as set out in The Gambling Act 2005 (the 2005 Act) which uses the test of whether an organisation is non-commercial. An organisation is defined in that Act as non-commercial if it is established and conducted for: charitable purposes; for the purposes of enabling participation in, or supporting of sport, athletics or a cultural activity; and any other non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain. The fees for Public Entertainment Licenses for 2012/13 are not yet known and will be decided by Aberdeen City Council Licensing Committee ahead of their implementation on 1 April, At present, granting a public entertainment license costs 695, renewing a license costs 530 and the charge for issuing a temporary one is 324. However Aberdeen City Council agreed unanimously to the 75% reduction for community, charity, voluntary and religious groups. Please see the following link for further information Theatre Licence This licence is required where it is intended to perform any play or ballet in whole or part of in public. It does not matter if the play is free a licence is still needed. A theatre licence is required for any premises or any place whether or not another type of licence is in force. You can get more information on Theatre Licences at:- Section 4 3 V4: 11 November 2013

4 Market Operators Licence This licence is required for holding a private market, such as a car boot sale, where goods are offered by more than one seller for sale to the public. You may not need one if the proceeds are used for charitable purposes or not for private gain. To clarify whether you need this licence you should contact the Licensing Team at Aberdeen City Council or follow the link above. Conditions may be attached to the licence and these must be followed. Television Licence The centre needs to be covered by a valid TV Licence if a television is used to watch or record programmes within the community centre. This includes watching television through devices such as a TV, computer, mobile phone, games consol etc A TV licence covers one building. If there are external centre groups the licence will not cover them. You do not need a TV licence for CCTV or for watching DVDs and Videos. You can get more information from Performing Rights Licences There are two different types of licence under this heading. One is from the Performing Rights Society (PRS) for Music which represents music writers, composers and publishers the other is Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) License this represents record companies and performers. Both of these operate differently and have different terms and conditions. Playing live copyrighted music in public may require a PRS for Music licence. Playing recorded copyrighted music in public may require both licences. However, from January 2012, PPL and PRS for Music will introduce a single music licence for community buildings such as community centres. This joint licence will be administered by PRS for Music on behalf of both organisations and will apply if the community centre's income is less than 50,000 per year. For more information on this community buildings tariff please use the following link For more information on PRS please use the following link or call es/charityandcommunity/pages/default.aspx For more information on PPL please use the following link Section 4 4 V4: 11 November 2013

5 Bingo Licences There are three different types of licence that you may require for bingo. An operating licence A personal management licence And a premises licence Some organisations may need all three kinds. In most circumstances organisations do need an operating licence to run bingo. This licence covers bingo halls and if you are charging people to play. You do not need a bingo operating licence however if you are fundraising or running bingo as prize gaming. If you are fundraising through bingo you must tell the players who you are raising funds for and all money raised must go to the good cause stated. You can minus reasonable costs from the profit for running the event for things like prizes. Please go to the following website to get more details on the licence use for bingo. hat_you_nee/do_i_need_a_licence/circumstances_in_which_you_do.aspx#bingoasp rizegaming Complaints Procedure There are three different types of complaint these can be separated into three sections. Complaints about the activities Complaints about the centre practices and policies Complaints about the members of staff or volunteers If a member of the community has a complaint of any of the above they should contact the centre manager who in turn shall feed this to the management committee. The management committee shall then decide how to resolve the issue. The complaint should be acknowledged in writing within one week of receiving however due to management committees meeting once a month it may take up to two months to resolve fully. Under current data protection law, if a complaint against a member of staff is dealt with under disciplinary procedures you cannot share details of the outcome with the complainer. Please see the sample form in Appendix IV that has a step-by-step example guide on how to make a complaint and how to deal with such complaints. Section 4 5 V4: 11 November 2013

6 Faults Reporting The following information suggests a step by step approach to reporting faults:- 1. If the fault is within the premises then it should be dealt with as soon as possible. 2. If the fault poses risk of serious injury immediate action must be taken to make the area safe. 3. The fault should be reported to the Centre Manager as soon as possible. 4. If the Centre Manger thinks the fault is the responsibility of the Management Committee to fix the Management Committee will be informed as soon as possible. The Management Committee will then decide on the best course of action. 5. If the Centre Manager thinks the responsibility lies with the landlord, Aberdeen City Council, then the manager will arrange for the fault to be reported as follows; The fault should be noted in the Aberdeen City Council logbook, stored in the centre office. The person reporting the fault should contact the councils service desk ( ) and provide details of the fault along with the Unique Property reference Number (UPRN) which is on the form the logbook. The person reporting the fault should complete the first part of the logbook with the information of the fault and the information provided by the help desk. When the contractor comes to repair the fault they should complete the form. If a query arises about the repair all the information should be in the logbook. Section 4 6 V4: 11 November 2013

7 Building Repairs, Maintenance and Improvements Aberdeen City Council will be responsible for and carry out all internal and external repairs and maintenance in order to keep the premises in a wind and watertight condition. In addition, the Council will be responsible for the following cyclical inspection and maintenance: Legionella Testing - Monthly water temperature testing & flushing of any potential dead legs, quarterly cleaning of shower heads, annual risk assessment and any relevant cleaning of system and reports; Fire Fighting Equipment - Annual servicing of hose reels, fire extinguishers and fire blankets test and reports; Fire Alarms (if installed) - Monthly Quarterly, 6 monthly and annual servicing and monitoring of system and reports; Emergency Lights (if installed) - Monthly, 6 monthly and annual testing and servicing of system and reports; Electrical Circuit Wiring Testing - 5 Year testing of fixed electrical system and reports; Portable Appliance Testing (PAT Testing) - Annual testing and reports of council owned equipment only; Boiler Plant and Automatic Controls (if installed) - Annual testing of gas fired systems, 6 monthly testing of oil fired systems & annual testing of controls and reports; Refrigeration Plant (Air Conditioning) (if installed) - 6 monthly or annual depending on type of system and reports; Automatic Doors (if installed) - Annual testing; Asbestos Management - surveys and, where Council budget is available, remove, encapsulate or manage any material found; Light Fittings maintenance and, where necessary, replacement of light fittings located more than 4 metres above floor level. The Council shall be responsible for undertaking any repairs or rectifying any breakdowns identified during these inspections where such repairs are economically viable. Records of these inspections must be kept on site by the Management Committee. Section 4 7 V4: 11 November 2013

8 The Management Committee will be responsible for all other internal and external repairs and maintenance and should the cost of such work be prohibitive can ask for details of this to be presented to Council Committee to see if Council funding can be provided. Management Committees must ensure that before they carry out any repairs, improvements or decoration that they first obtain written Landlord's Consent. They should send details of any proposed work, in writing or , to the Community Centre Liaison Officer who will liaise with property colleagues to ensure that any building work is progressed correctly. Work should not begin until written consent is received from the Council. As Community Centre's a non domestic buildings Management Committees must ensure that certain things are in place for all building work. While Management Committees are not restricted to using the Council's preferred contractors list they will need to ensure that they contract a competent, insured, tradesman that will provide material specifications and method statement for the work. As well as Landlords Consent, the Management Committee may require Planning Permission and a Building Warrant. The Council Staff in the Property section will be able to assist with identifying any requirements. Management Committees need to be aware that there are costs associated with obtaining Planning Permission, Building Warrant and Landlord s Consent. This should be considered when calculating the overall cost of any planned work. Section 4 8 V4: 11 November 2013

9 Insurance Claim Procedure There is a blanket insurance policy in place that provides public liability and employers liability insurance cover for names community centres. It is not automatic and centres need to opt in. Management Committees may make alternative insurance arrangements and the claim procedure should be affected accordingly. Procedure Should a member of staff, volunteer or member of the public contact the community centre regarding an accident, personal injury or other claim against the community centre then this procedure should be followed. 1. All accidents or incidents that happen on the centres premises or during the centre s activities should be recorded in an accident / incident form. 2. If it is not appropriate to complete an accident / incident form then the contact details for the person making the claim should be taken along with brief details of their claim. 3. The person making the claim should be advised that the matter will be passed onto the centre manager. Should the matter making the claim be the centre manager they should be advised that the matter will be dealt with by the management committee. 4. On no account should any liability be accepted. 5. The Centre Manager should contact the Council s Insurance Officer who will advise on how to proceed. 6. The advice of the Insurance Officer should be followed and the Management Committee advised at the next Management Committee meeting. The Council s Assistant Insurance Officer is Rachel Pawsey, telephone no , rpawsey@aberdeencity.gov.uk Section 4 9 V4: 11 November 2013

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