Your Adventure Activities Licence
If you charge under-18s for caving, climbing, trekking or watersports, you may need a licence from the Adventure Activities Licensing Service. GOV.UK says who does: it’s issued after an inspection, for one, two or three years, and can limit which activities you run, where, and when in the year.
Many campsites don’t need one. A voluntary association such as Scouts doing activities with its own members is exempt, and so is a school with its own pupils. Climbing walls, abseil towers and ropes courses aren’t covered at all, and canoeing or sailing only counts on the sea, tidal water, rough water, or inland water more than 50 metres from the bank. HSE’s page on licensable activities has the details. We don’t decide this for you, and nothing here is legal advice.
If you hold one, add it under Licences and accreditations on the Compliance page: the licence number, who holds it, its dates, the activities it covers as printed on it, and any conditions. Add a copy of the licence and the inspector’s report, as a PDF or a photo. Everyone on your team can read them; owners and leaders can change them.
Reminders. Owners and leaders get an email four months before it runs out, because the licensing service asks for three months’ notice, and again one month before. When the new one arrives, change the dates and the reminders start again.
It appears at the top of the evidence pack, with what it covers, its conditions, and whether a copy is held. You can record other accreditations, such as the LOtC Quality Badge, the same way.
Which activities need it. On the Activities page, edit an activity and say whether it’s licensable here: caving, climbing, trekking or watersports, or not licensable. “What counts?” gives HSE’s definitions. Then choose the line on your licence that covers it, such as “Kayaking”.
Flags on the schedule. A session for a booking is flagged when the activity is licensable, the group may include under-18s, and the group isn’t marked as the same association as you, if you have no licence valid on that day or it doesn’t cover that activity. Like every flag, it doesn’t stop you saving: you may know something we don’t, such as a parent being with every child.
Groups in your own association. No group counts as exempt until you say so. On the Customers page, tick “Members of the same association as us” on a group, such as a Scout group at a Scout campsite, or use Mark all as the same association and untick the exceptions, such as a Girlguiding unit or a church youth club at a Scout campsite. A school or a member of the public can’t be ticked.
Showing it in public. Tick “Show it on your public booking pages” on the licence, and your booking page, enquiry form and groups’ own booking pages say, for example, “Adventure Activities Licence R1234, covering rock climbing and kayaking. Adventure Activities Licensing Service: 029 2075 5715.” Anything that mentions the licence must say what it covers and give that number, so the words are written for you from the licence. It only shows while the licence is in date and lists its activities.
Where your site is. The licence only applies in England, Wales and Scotland. If your site is in Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, the owner can say so on the Compliance page, and nothing is flagged.