No Smoking Signs

No smoking signs: UK legal requirements

Since the Health Act 2006 came into force, every enclosed workplace and public place in the UK must display compliant no-smoking signage at its entrances. Get the wrong size, wrong wording, or no sign at all and the responsible person is liable for a fixed penalty notice and potential prosecution. Direct Signs has supplied Health Act compliant signage since 2007.

The legal minimum

The Smoke-free (Signs) Regulations 2007 set the precise specification for entrance signs:

• Size: minimum A5 (210mm × 148mm)
• Pictogram: the standard international no-smoking symbol, red circle with diagonal line over a black cigarette, at least 70mm in diameter
• Wording: "No smoking. It is against the law to smoke in these premises"
• Location: at every entrance to the premises, visible to anyone entering

Different rules apply in Scotland (Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005), Wales (Smoke-free Premises etc. (Wales) Regulations 2007), and Northern Ireland (Smoking (Northern Ireland) Order 2006), but the core elements, entrance signage, pictogram, mandatory wording, are equivalent.

Vehicles, vaping, and supplementary signage

Smoke-free vehicles, taxis, buses, work vehicles used by more than one person, and vehicles carrying children, must display a no-smoking sign in each compartment. The minimum size is smaller than for premises (75mm × 50mm).

Vaping is not covered by the Health Act 2006, but most employers extend their no-smoking policy to e-cigarettes under workplace rules. If your policy includes vaping, your signage should explicitly say so: Direct Signs supplies combined "No smoking, no vaping" signs as both stock and bespoke products.

Choosing materials

Most no-smoking signs are interior: affixed to glass doors, painted walls, or internal entrances. Self-adhesive vinyl is the lowest-cost choice and works for all smooth indoor surfaces. Rigid PVC (Foamex) is mountable with screws or VHB tape and is the standard for general-purpose signage indoors and in sheltered porches. For exterior gates, hoardings, and outdoor smoking-area boundaries, aluminium composite gives weather-resistant durability.