Free drinking water and the cup it comes in: what licensed bars and employers have to provide

This article covers two different rules that ask for drinking water, and only one of them mentions cups. One binds licensed bars and clubs in England and Wales and concerns customers. The other binds employers, and others who control a workplace, across Great Britain and concerns the people at work there. An event whose bar runs under a premises licence or club premises certificate can fall under both, because the crowd at the bar and the staff behind it are different groups with different rules.

Customers at a licensed bar

Paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010 is a single sentence: "The responsible person must ensure that free potable water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available." The Home Office guidance lists the provision of free tap water among the mandatory conditions that, it says at paragraph 10.35, apply to every licence and certificate authorising the sale and supply of alcohol for consumption on the premises, whether or not they are written on the licence.

The Home Office guidance, September 2026 edition, says at paragraph 10.44 that what is meant by reasonably available is a question of fact. Its example is a premises whose water supply had temporarily been lost because of a broken mains water supply: it would not be reasonable to expect free tap water there, but it may be reasonable to expect bottled water to be provided in such circumstances.

An older Home Office document, from September 2014, adds two points. The water does not need to come from a tap, and the condition helps people space out their drinks and not become intoxicated quickly, which reduces the risk of crime and disorder. Paragraph 2 of the Schedule has not changed since the Schedule was substituted on 1 October 2014. The September 2026 guidance does not repeat those two points, and the 2014 document is the oldest guidance document cited on the licensing side, which is why its date is given.

Neither the Order nor either guidance document says what the water must be served in. A cup, a jug or a bottle: the texts do not prescribe a vessel. As a mandatory condition it also stops at a bar run under a temporary event notice. The guidance says the mandatory licence conditions do not apply to activities, including the supply of alcohol, authorised by a temporary event notice, which is covered in our guide to half pints and the small measures condition.

Staff and other people at work

Regulation 22 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 applies in England, Wales and Scotland and has three parts. An adequate supply of wholesome drinking water must be provided for all persons at work in the workplace. Every supply must be readily accessible at suitable places and conspicuously marked by an appropriate sign where necessary for reasons of health or safety. And where a supply of drinking water is required, "there shall also be provided a sufficient number of suitable cups or other drinking vessels unless the supply of drinking water is in a jet from which persons can drink easily."

That last limb is the rule that names cups. Under regulation 4, the duty sits with every employer for workplaces under their control where their employees work, and with anyone else who has control of a workplace, to the extent of that control, in connection with a trade, business or other undertaking. Regulation 4(4) adds that the duty on those in control does not apply to a self-employed person in respect of their own work or the work of any partner of theirs in the undertaking.

The Health and Safety Executive's approved code of practice fills in the detail. Paragraph 211 says drinking cups or beakers should be provided unless the supply is through a drinking fountain, and that for non-disposable cups a facility for washing them should be provided nearby. Paragraph 209 says drinking water should normally be obtained directly from a suitable public or private mains supply, and that refillable containers, where they have to be used, should be suitably enclosed to prevent contamination and refilled at least once a day. The code says of itself that following its advice is enough to comply with the law on the matters it covers, and that anyone prosecuted for breach of health and safety law who is proved not to have followed the relevant provisions of the code has to show they complied in some other way.

Events and temporary sites

Regulation 3 also takes some workplaces out of regulation 22 altogether: ships, construction sites where the only activity is construction work, workplaces below ground at a mine, and workplaces in or on transport of the kinds listed in regulation 3(4), such as an aircraft, locomotive, rolling stock, trailer or licensed vehicle. HSE's guidance at paragraph 22 adds that the Regulations apply to forms of transport that are fixed in position and no longer being used as originally intended, for example those used as restaurants or tourist attractions. Regulation 3(3) says that for temporary work sites the requirements of regulations 20 to 25, drinking water included, apply so far as is reasonably practicable. HSE's guidance at paragraph 25 of the same publication, which is not part of the approved code, says temporary work sites include work sites used only infrequently or for short periods, and fairs and other structures which occupy a site for a short period. On that wording a fair is named. Festivals are not named, and this article does not say whether a particular festival site counts. On the wording of regulation 4, more than one person can be bound at a shared site, each for the matters within their control, subject to the self-employed exception in regulation 4(4). HSE's guidance at paragraph 33 adds that where employees work at a workplace which is not under their employer's control, the employer has no duty under the Regulations, but should, as part of its general duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, take any steps necessary to ensure that toilets and washing facilities will be available. That paragraph does not mention drinking water.

The two rules come from different regimes: one sits in licensing law and the other in health and safety law.

Choosing the cup

For people at work, regulation 22(3) requires cups or other drinking vessels unless the water is a jet, and regulation 3(3) applies that so far as is reasonably practicable at a temporary work site. The regulation does not limit the vessels to disposable ones, and the code adds the washing facility only for non-disposable cups. The reusable coffee cups sold here start at 50 cups, and the site lists its event cups and its Circular coffee cups as dishwasher safe.

For a bar, the condition names no vessel, so the choice is operational. Blank stock cups are sold for events that want reusable cups without commissioning artwork, and the reusable event cups range starts printed runs at 50. Events that would rather not wash can look at cup hire, which starts at 1,000 cups and offers collection, washing and drying support after the event.

Where this stands

This was checked on 30 September 2026. Regulation 22 has no known outstanding changes on legislation.gov.uk. The HSE code is the second edition of 2013 and the oldest guidance document cited on the workplace side. It prints one word of regulation 22 differently from legislation.gov.uk, health and safety where the legislation has health or safety, so the regulation is quoted here from legislation.gov.uk. On the licensing side, the only 2026 amendment to the Schedule concerns age verification in paragraph 3. If you are planning a water point or an office kitchen, ask for a quote with the quantities and the washing arrangement you have in mind.