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Smoking Shelters What does 'enclosed' or 'substantially enclosed' mean?
Premises are 'enclosed' if they have a ceiling or roof and except for doors, windows and passageways they are - wholly enclosed, either permanently or temporarily. For example a room which has a ceiling or roof that extends over every wall and there are no openings i.e. empty spaces or gaps in those walls except for a door. The room will be 'enclosed'.
Premises are 'substantially enclosed' if they have a ceiling or roof but there is an opening or an aggregate area of openings in the walls which is less than half of the area of the walls, including other structures that serve the purpose of walls and constitute the perimeter of the premises. In determining the area of opening or an aggregate area of the openings, no account is taken of openings in which there are doors, windows or other fittings that can be opened or shut.
The definition of 'roof' includes any fixed or moveable structure or device which is capable of covering all or part of the premises as a roof, including for example a canvas awning.
For example if the structure was the four walls of a box it could only have solid material to almost the equivalent of a back and one side.
Are doors, and windows not openings? If considering doors and windows etc. in deciding whether a premise is substantially enclosed they can be taken as serving the purpose of walls. What do you mean by smoking structure? Environmental Health considers a smoking structure to be any area under a roof or ceiling. It does not have to be a structure with walls and could simply be the area under a canopy or awning. Do you have any examples of smoking structures which comply? Most people associate smoking structures with shelters.
Fig. 1 
Fig.1 shows a bus shelter. It complies. It has a back and two part sides and the part sides when added together are less than the equivalent of one side. Over 50% of the perimeter i.e. the area under the roof is space. How do I calculate whether my smoking structure is substantially enclosed?
The perimeter of the smoking structure has to be set first. This would normally be the area under the roof but there are other cases.
Once the perimeter has been decided, ignore the roof, which is not part of the calculation. What is the total vertical area enclosed by the perimeter, solids and spaces (T)?
Remember any doors, windows or other fittings are considered as serving the purpose of walls. What is the area of the walls (X)? What is the area of the openings Y?
So T = X + Y
If X is less than Y, the smoking structure is not substantially enclosed.
If X equals Y, the smoking structure is not substantially enclosed.
If X is greater than Y, the smoking structure is substantially enclosed.
The only time that a smoking structure does not comply is when X (total area of walls) is greater than Y (total area of openings).
Worked Example of Shelter Compliance
The above smoking shelter was erected prior to the smoking ban and the owner wished to know whether it complied. The perimeter in this case is set by the roof, which slopes from back to front.
Total area on perimeter (T) = front + back + 2 sides
Front area = 2.2m x 5.1m = 11.22m2
Back area = 3.4m x 5.1m = 17.34m2
Side area (combined) = 2 (2.2 x 2.3) + 1(1.2 x 2.3) = 12.88m2
T = 41.44m2
Total area of solids (X) = front walls + back wall + side walls
Front solid = 1.6m x 1.0m + 1.8m x 1.0m = 3.4m
Back solid = 3.4m x 5.1m = 17.34m2
Sides solid = 2(2.3m x 1.0m) = 4.6 m2
X = 25.34 m2
Totals area of gaps (space) to open air (Y) = T - X = 41.44 m2 - 25.34 m2 = 16.1 m2 Y = 16.1 m2.
Expressed as %, X (solid) is 61 % of the smoking structure and Y (space) is 39%, so Y is not at least 50% of the structure. So the structure is 'substantially enclosed' and smoking could not be allowed.
The owner to make the structure comply removed two complete panelled sections from front and side and half of further panelled section of the front. Solid material removed to equivalent of 4.9 m2, so X = 20.44 m2 and Y = 21 m2.
Expressed as %, X (solid) is 49.3 % of the smoking structure and Y (space) is 50.7%, so Y is now at least (exceeds) 50% of the structure. So the structure is not 'substantially enclosed' and smoking could be allowed.
What do you mean by structure? A structure could be natural e.g. hedging or man-made e.g. brick, anything that we would consider as giving a sheltering effect to the smoking structure. Structures could be permanent or temporary therefore would include removable screens and large plants in pots. Does Environmental Health comment on planning applications and building warrant applications? Yes. Environmental Health department is a statutory consultee on all planning applications. However, we can only ensure that what is proposed would comply with the smoke free legislation if the proposal is labelled as a smoking shelter in the planning application. Contact the local, Planning office (Downpatrick 028 4461 2211) and the Environmental Health Department and Building Control section of Lisburn City Council prior to making an application. What if the roof or canopy over a room with four walls is retractable? It the roof is capable of being fully closed the room will be considered as smoke free whether its closed or open. Do I have to provide a smoking area? There is no requirement in the legislation to provide smoking areas. However, if you intend to, then that area has to comply with the enclosed and substantially enclosed guidance. We would however recommend that you consider where your staff and customers are likely to smoke. This is because of secondary issues arising from the introduction of the smoke free legislation. For example: health and safety, litter (cigarette ends) and, in particular, with the licensed trade, issues such as noise and anti-social behaviour.
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