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Allergens, licensing and rates
The mandatory conditions on every pub's licence: free tap water, small measures, ID checks (now digital too), promotions and the price floor
Every alcohol licence carries the same mandatory conditions. All five, digital ID from September 2026, and the lowest legal price of a pint.
Your premises licence may run to a dozen pages of conditions agreed with the police and the council. A handful of conditions apply whether they are printed on it or not. They come from orders made under the Licensing Act 2003, they apply to every licence that authorises the sale of alcohol in England and Wales, and a licensing officer on a visit will expect staff to know them.
The four conditions in the 2010 order, as amended
The Schedule to the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010 has been amended several times. In its current form on legislation.gov.uk it has four live paragraphs; a fifth has been deleted.
- No irresponsible promotions. The responsible person must take all reasonable steps to make sure staff do not carry out, arrange or take part in irresponsible promotions. The list includes games that require or encourage people to drink a quantity of alcohol within a time limit or to drink as much as possible; unlimited or unspecified amounts of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee, where that carries a significant risk of undermining a licensing objective; free or discounted alcohol as a prize, again with that significant risk; and promotional material that condones, encourages or glamorises anti-social behaviour. Dispensing alcohol directly into another person's mouth is also banned, unless the person cannot drink without help because of a disability. An ordinary happy hour is not banned on its own; the test is the risk.
- Free tap water. Free tap water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available.
- An age verification policy. The licence holder must adopt one, and the designated premises supervisor must make sure sales follow it. It must require anyone who appears to be under 18, or an older age the policy sets, to produce photographic ID with a date of birth and either a holographic mark or an ultraviolet feature before being served. Most pubs set Challenge 21 or Challenge 25.
- Small measures. Beer or cider must be available in half pints; gin, rum, vodka or whisky in 25ml or 35ml; and still wine by the glass in 125ml. These measures must be shown on menus or price lists, and customers who do not say what size they want must be told the small measures exist.
New since 15 September 2026: digital ID
The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) (Amendment) Order 2026 (SI 2026/1022) took effect on 15 September 2026. It lets an age verification policy permit staff to accept ID in digital form, provided it comes through a registered digital verification service that meets the required confidence standard. It is a permission, not a duty: a pub can keep a physical-ID-only policy. If you want to accept digital ID, the policy has to say so, and staff need to know what a valid digital check looks like.
The fifth: no sale below duty plus VAT
A separate order made in 2014 added a price floor. Alcohol must not be sold for consumption on or off the premises for less than the permitted price, which the Schedule sets as:
P = D + (D x V)
D is the duty on the alcohol as if charged on the day of the sale, and V is the VAT rate. If the answer is not a whole number of pennies, it is rounded up to the next penny.
The floor worked out at 2026 duty rates
GOV.UK's Alcohol Duty rates from 1 February 2026 give these per litre of pure alcohol: £19.45 for draught beer and cider from 3.5% to under 8.5%, £22.58 for the same strengths not on draught, and £33.99 for spirits over 22%.
| Drink | Pure alcohol | Duty (D) | D plus 20% VAT | Lowest legal price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draught pint, 4% | 0.02272 litres | £0.4419 | £0.5303 | 54p |
| 440ml can, 4% | 0.01760 litres | £0.3974 | £0.4769 | 48p |
| 25ml single, 40% | 0.01000 litres | £0.3399 | £0.4079 | 41p |
These are the figures before any small producer relief, which lowers duty on some beers and so lowers the floor too. In practice no pub prices a pint at 54p. The floor matters for "free drink with a meal" offers, staff drinks charged at a token price, and promotions that bundle drinks into a fixed price. If the drink element of a bundle works out below the floor, the promotion may breach both this condition and the ban on irresponsible promotions.
Why it matters on an inspection
Selling alcohol in breach of a licence condition is an offence under the Licensing Act 2003, and a breach can lead to a review of the licence. The mandatory conditions are the easiest to check: an officer can ask for tap water, ask the bar for a 125ml glass, or ask to see the age verification policy and the refusals log.
A two-minute check for the manager
- Is the age verification policy written down, and do new staff sign that they have read it?
- Are 125ml wine, half pints and the single spirit measure on the menu or price list, as the condition requires?
- If you will accept digital ID, does the written policy now say so?
- Will staff give tap water without fuss, including to people not buying?
- Has anyone priced a promotion or staff drink near the duty floor?
New bar staff should get these on day one; our new starter checklist has space for them, and the guide to hiring under-21s covers who can sell alcohol. For the licence types themselves, see which licence a pub or restaurant needs.
Overlyft builds AI staff who join the venue team and check each new promotion against the price floor and the promotions rule, and keep the refusals log and staff sign-offs up to date, for the designated premises supervisor to approve.
This is general information for England and Wales, not legal advice. Check your own licence and your council's guidance.
Where this comes from: legislation.gov.uk, The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010, Schedule as amended (irresponsible promotions, free tap water, age verification, small measures), including the Amendment Order 2026 (SI 2026/1022, digital ID from 15 September 2026); The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Conditions) Order 2014, Schedule (permitted price P = D + (D x V), rounding up to the nearest penny); GOV.UK, Alcohol Duty rates from 1 February 2026 (draught 3.5% to under 8.5% at £19.45, standard at £22.58, spirits over 22% at £33.99 per litre of pure alcohol). All read 7 October 2026.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
