Fireworks display regulations in the United Kingdom: no firing licence, HSWA 1974, risk assessment and the Explosives Regulations 2014

Unlike France, Italy or Spain, England, Wales and Scotland have no administrative permit to fire a professional fireworks display. The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 requires employers and the self-employed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety of persons affected by their activity; it is this general duty, enforced by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and local authorities, that governs firing.

The HSE page on organising firework displays states that category F4 fireworks may only be used by professional firework display operators, and advises organisers of major displays to contact the emergency services and the local authority, as well as the airport if the site is near one. The landowner, the police and the fire service may set contractual or public-order conditions, but there is no national form and no statutory deadline.

The central tool is the written, site-specific risk assessment: fallout distances, wind direction, spectator areas, emergency access, firing plan, misfire procedure. The HSE long published guide HSG123 'Working together on firework displays', aimed at competent organisers and operators; that 2006 edition, now archived, has been superseded by the industry guides the HSE refers to, particularly for displays fired by professionals.

The Explosives Regulations 2014 add rules on the acquisition and supply of fireworks (regulation 9) and on storage. Safety distances are not set by law: they derive from the manufacturer's instructions for each article and from the operator's risk assessment, which must be defensible in the event of an accident or inspection. PyroDesk produces the site plan with radii per position and keeps the risk assessment attached to the file.

After Brexit the United Kingdom kept categories F1 to F4, T1/T2 and P1/P2 inherited from the European directive; products bear the UKCA marking or, under the transition periods announced by the government, the recognised CE marking. The Fireworks Regulations 2004 prohibit possession of category F4 fireworks by the public (regulation 4): only professionals of the display trade may acquire and use them.

There is no mandatory national pyrotechnician certificate comparable to the French F4-T2; competence is shown through training and experience, often evidenced by the courses and memberships of the sector's professional bodies. The HSE states that professional operators using F4, T2 or P2 articles are required by product safety law to have public liability insurance covering that use.

Storing fireworks requires a licence issued under the Explosives Regulations 2014 by the competent licensing authority, which depends on quantity, explosive type and location: the local authority for small quantities, the police or the HSE beyond, in accordance with Schedule 1 of the regulations. The HSE publishes separate guidance for retail and wholesale storage; temporary storage on the firing site must stay within the limits and conditions of the licence or the exemptions provided.

Transport follows ADR as transposed into British law. PyroDesk keeps the inventory per store with net explosive mass per category and movements to each display, which makes it possible to demonstrate compliance with licensed quantities and to prepare transport documents. Licensing authority inspections focus first on those records: quantities per building, category separation, dates in and out, which the software exports in one click.

The Fireworks Regulations 2004 prohibit the use of adult fireworks between 11 pm and 7 am (regulation 7), with exceptions until midnight on 5 November and until 1 am on New Year's Eve, Chinese New Year and Diwali; limited exemptions cover in particular local authority employees for official displays and national celebrations. Site owners and local authorities add their own conditions (noise, wildlife, protected areas).

Scotland adopted in 2022 its own Act, the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Act, which notably allows councils to create firework control zones and tightens restrictions on the public; operators firing in Scotland must check the zones and days concerned. PyroDesk shows on the United Kingdom formalities page the usual contacts (council, fire and rescue, police, airport) and a checklist per display.

Public liability insurance is in practice the document every British client asks for, often with a minimum limit required by councils and venues, in addition to the risk assessment and the method statement. There is no business-to-business e-invoicing mandate in the United Kingdom to date; the government has consulted on introducing one, and large clients accept PDFs and structured formats.

PyroDesk produces quotes, contracts and the client portal in English, computes the net explosive mass of the firing plan per category, generates the site plan with the distances retained in the risk assessment, keeps the inventory of the licensed store and archives insurance and competence documents per operator. The software does not create a permit that does not exist: it documents the diligence British law expects from the operator.