Meta description: Use this 2026 campsite checklist to cover insurance, fire safety, water, waste, electrics, food, alcohol and guest safety alongside Class BC and Class BA permitted development rights.
Hello, landowner.
A pop-up campsite can support farm diversification camping, pub income and rural tourism.
Permitted development rights can help.
They do not cover everything.
Planning approval does not replace insurance, risk controls, food registration or licensing.
Use this checklist before you open.
This guide covers camping legislation UK 2026, permitted development rights campsite UK, Class BC camping England, Class BA camping Wales, the prior approval campsite process and the temporary campsite 60 days rule.
Confirm your position with your local planning authority, licensing team, environmental health team and insurer.
1. Confirm your permitted development route
Start with the land location.
England: Class BC camping
Class BC can allow a temporary recreational campsite for:
- Up to 60 days in one calendar year
- Up to 50 pitches
- Moveable structures needed for the campsite
- Tented recreational camping
You must provide toilets and waste-disposal facilities.
You must notify the local planning authority before opening each calendar year.
Include:
- A site plan
- Pitch locations
- Toilet and waste facilities
- Operating dates
- Access arrangements
If the site sits in Flood Zone 2 or 3, you need prior approval before opening.
Check the Class BC legislation.
Wales: Class BA camping
Class BA applies to temporary recreational campsites in Wales.
On most land, it allows up to 60 days in a calendar year.
The limit reduces to 28 days where the land is in a:
- National Park
- National Landscape
- World Heritage Site
You must apply each year for a determination on whether prior approval is required.
The council checks:
- Toilet and wastewater arrangements
- Waste disposal
- Vehicular access
- Site location
- Operating dates
You can proceed when the council confirms prior approval is not required, or when the statutory period passes without a notice requiring it.
If prior approval is required, obtain it before opening.
Read the Welsh Government guidance on temporary campsites.
Do not confuse the old 28-day rule with every campsite proposal.
The 2026 position uses Class BC in England and Class BA in Wales.
The rules differ by country.
2. Remember what PDR approval does not cover
Permitted development rights deal with planning.
They do not confirm that your site is safe.
They do not provide public liability insurance.
They do not register your food business.
They do not grant an alcohol licence.
They do not complete your fire risk assessment.
They do not test your electrical equipment.
They do not remove site licensing duties.
Keep planning documents separate from your operating file.
Store both together.
3. Arrange the right insurance
Public liability insurance is not usually a general legal requirement.
It is still essential for a commercial campsite.
Your policy should cover claims from:
- Campers
- Visitors
- Delivery drivers
- Contractors
- Volunteers
- Children and vulnerable guests
- Activities on the land
- Temporary structures
- Fire and cooking areas
- Livestock and farm operations
- Food and drink sales
- Alcohol-related activities
Many campsite operators arrange £5 million public liability cover.
Some landowners, councils, partners and insurers expect £10 million.
Choose the limit your risk profile and contracts require.
Do not rely on a standard farm policy.
Tell your insurer about:
- Tent pitches
- Glamping
- Campfires
- Events
- Outdoor activities
- Food sales
- Alcohol sales
- Electrical hook-ups
- Staff and volunteers
- Pub or hotel premises
If you employ anyone, arrange employers’ liability insurance.
The legal minimum is normally £5 million.
Ask a specialist broker to confirm the correct policy.
Keep the certificate on site.
4. Complete a site risk assessment
Walk the whole site before opening.
Record each hazard.
Check:
- Uneven ground
- Slopes
- Watercourses
- Ponds
- Roads
- Farm machinery
- Livestock
- Electric fences
- Trees and branches
- Mud and vehicle movement
- Night-time access
- Weather exposure
- Children’s play areas
- Fire and cooking areas
Set controls for each risk.
Name the responsible person.
Set inspection times.
Record incidents and near misses.
Review the assessment when you change:
- The pitch layout
- The number of guests
- The facilities
- The activities
- The access route
- The operating dates
Use a site-specific risk assessment template from HSE.
5. Control fire risk and pitch spacing
Fire spreads quickly between tents.
Create a written fire risk assessment.
Cover:
- Tents
- Cooking
- Gas cylinders
- Barbecues
- Campfires
- Heaters
- Electrical equipment
- Smoking
- Vehicles
- Waste
- Fuel storage
Keep tents and vehicles spaced so guests can leave safely.
Keep fire points visible.
Keep access lanes clear.
Do not block emergency routes with cars, tables or equipment.
Provide:
- Fire extinguishers suited to the risks
- Fire blankets where cooking takes place
- Clear emergency instructions
- An assembly point
- A way to raise the alarm
- Emergency access for fire and rescue vehicles
There is no single spacing number that suits every site.
Follow your local authority’s campsite conditions, your fire risk assessment and your insurer’s requirements.
Give guests clear rules on fires and barbecues.
Ban open flames where conditions make them unsafe.
Review the HSE fire safety guidance.
6. Provide drinking water, toilets and waste facilities
PDR conditions require toilets and waste arrangements.
Treat these as core facilities.
Provide:
- Clearly marked drinking water
- Handwashing facilities
- Toilets
- Wastewater arrangements
- Chemical toilet disposal where needed
- General waste bins
- Recycling points
- Food waste storage
- A collection plan
Use potable water only for drinking.
Mark non-drinking water clearly.
If you use a borehole, spring or other private supply, speak to your local authority about testing.
Keep taps clean.
Prevent wastewater from reaching streams, drains or neighbouring land.
Check septic tanks, treatment systems and discharge requirements.
Clean toilets on a set schedule.
Record every inspection.
7. Check electrical hook-ups and PAT testing
Electrical hook-ups need proper design and maintenance.
Use a competent electrician for:
- Distribution boards
- Outdoor sockets
- Temporary supplies
- Earthing
- Residual current protection
- Cable routes
- Generator connections
- Fixed installations
Protect cables from vehicles, water and foot traffic.
Use weatherproof equipment.
Keep electrical points away from wet areas.
Do not allow guests to connect unsafe leads.
PAT testing is not automatically required every year.
The legal duty is to keep electrical equipment safe.
Use risk-based inspection and testing.
Inspect equipment more often when it is:
- Used outdoors
- Frequently moved
- Exposed to rain
- Used by guests
- Used for cooking
- Used in a bar
- Used with generators
Keep records of inspections, faults and repairs.
Read the HSE guidance on portable appliance testing.
8. Register food sales
Selling breakfast, snacks, meals or drinks with food usually makes you a food business.
Register with your local authority before trading.
This includes:
- Farm shops
- Pub kitchens
- Campsite cafés
- Mobile catering
- Breakfast services
- Food vans
- Bar snacks
Create a food safety system.
Control:
- Cooking temperatures
- Chilled storage
- Cleaning
- Cross-contamination
- Allergens
- Personal hygiene
- Waste
- Pest control
Train anyone who handles food.
Use the GOV.UK food business guidance.
9. Check alcohol licensing
Selling alcohol needs separate approval.
You may need:
- A premises licence
- A personal licence holder
- A designated premises supervisor
- Temporary Event Notices for occasional events
Ask your local licensing authority before advertising alcohol sales.
Include the bar, serving area and event area in your site plan.
Add alcohol-related risks to your operating plan.
Control:
- Serving times
- Underage sales
- Intoxicated guests
- Noise
- Glass
- Lighting
- Emergency access
Planning approval does not authorise alcohol sales.
10. Mark access, signage and emergency routes
Use signs that guests can understand at night.
Mark:
- The entrance
- Reception
- Pitch numbers
- Toilets
- Drinking water
- Waste points
- Fire points
- Emergency exits
- Assembly points
- No-entry areas
- Livestock areas
- Private land
- Quiet hours
Keep the main access route open.
Check visibility from the public highway.
Plan for ambulances, fire appliances and waste vehicles.
Give guests a site map at arrival.
Use low-level lighting where needed.
Avoid glare into homes, roads and neighbouring land.
11. Brief staff and guests
Write a short staff briefing.
Cover:
- Opening checks
- Fire response
- First aid
- Flood warnings
- Severe weather
- Lost children
- Livestock access
- Electrical faults
- Complaints
- Incident reporting
- Emergency contacts
Brief guests when they arrive.
Tell them:
- Where to park
- Where to walk
- Where to find water
- How to use toilets
- Where to place waste
- How to report a problem
- What to do during a fire
- Where to assemble
- When fires and noise are prohibited
Keep a daily site log.
Record:
- Guest numbers
- Pitches used
- Facility checks
- Waste collections
- Incidents
- Complaints
- Weather warnings
- Repairs
12. Check site licensing separately
Planning limits and licensing limits use different tests.
For tent camping, a site licence may be needed when the site is used:
- For more than 42 consecutive days, or
- For more than 60 days in any rolling 12-month period
The planning limit uses a calendar year.
The licensing test uses consecutive days and rolling 12-month periods.
Check both.
Caravans, motorhomes and campervans can trigger separate rules.
Use the GOV.UK camping licence guidance.
Join the Open Sky Adventure group
Use this checklist before you take bookings.
Check the planning route.
Prepare the site plan.
Arrange insurance.
Complete the risk assessments.
Install the facilities.
Brief your team.
Brief your guests.
Open only when your documents and controls are ready.
Read Open Sky Adventure’s UK camping legislation guide for landowners.
Review our legal information.
Join the Open Sky Adventure community.
We will happily help you, signup live now if you have an interest in joining our license agreement.