For many churches, sports clubs, community trusts and other not-for-profits, hiring out the hall is a steady source of income. The same building might host a weekday fitness class run as a business, a Saturday birthday party, a playgroup and a community meeting, each organised by someone other than the owner. Every one of those hires raises the same questions: who is responsible if someone is hurt, who pays if the building is damaged, and what the hire agreement should say.
Two Organisations Under One Roof
Where the hall owner employs anyone, it is a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, and section 37 places a specific duty on a PCBU that manages or controls a workplace. So far as is reasonably practicable, it must ensure that the workplace, the means of entering and leaving it, and anything arising from it are without risks to the health and safety of any person.
When a hirer runs its own business or undertaking in the hall, such as a dance school or a fitness class, the hall is a workplace for that hirer too, and both organisations can hold duties at the same time. The Act deals with this directly. Section 33 provides that more than one person may have the same duty at the same time. Section 34 requires each PCBU with the same duty, so far as is reasonably practicable, to consult, co-operate with and co-ordinate activities with the others, and a breach is an offence with a maximum fine of $20,000 for an individual and $100,000 for any other person. Section 31 provides that a duty under the Act cannot be transferred to another person.
The practical consequence is that a hire agreement cannot contract the owner out of its health and safety duties. What the agreement can do is record how the two organisations will share information about risks, who is responsible for what during the hire, and how incidents will be reported. That is the consultation and co-ordination the Act expects.
Groups made up entirely of volunteers, with no employees, are in a different position. Section 17 of the Act excludes volunteer associations from the definition of a PCBU, so they have no duties under the Act. They can still be sued under the general law by someone injured on their premises, which is where public liability insurance does its work.
Whose Liability Is It?
Injuries at a hired hall usually fall into one of two groups. Some arise from the building itself: a loose step, poor lighting in the car park, a faulty heater or a slippery entrance. Those claims are likely to be directed at the owner, and the owner's public liability policy is the cover that should respond.
Others arise from what the hirer does: an exercise class taught badly, a bouncy castle set up without proper anchoring, or a party where alcohol is poorly managed. Those claims are, in principle, the hirer's responsibility, but injured people often name everyone involved, including the owner. A commercial hirer should have its own public liability cover. A family hiring the hall for a birthday party usually does not, and if something goes wrong the claim may land on the owner by default.
Some insurance programmes can be extended to protect casual hirers who have no cover of their own, sometimes called hirer's liability. Whether that is available, and on what terms, depends on the insurer, so ask whether your programme can include it rather than assume.
Damage to the Building
A hall used by many groups carries more wear and more risk of accidental damage than one used by its owner alone. The owner's property policy is the main protection, but it is underwritten on the basis of how the building is used. If the hall has moved from occasional community use to regular functions, catering, children's activities or late-night events, tell the insurer. A change in use that the insurer did not know about is a common reason for a claim to be disputed.
Most owners also take a bond and include a clause making the hirer responsible for damage beyond fair wear and tear. A bond deals with small damage quickly without involving the insurer. For anything larger, the owner's property policy responds and the insurer may then seek to recover its costs from the hirer, which is another reason commercial hirers should hold their own cover.
Councils Do the Same
Councils that hire out their own community venues treat these issues as standard. Wellington City Council's bookable venue hire terms and conditions, for example, include separate sections on insurance, damage and liability, alcohol, and health and safety. A community hall does not need terms as long as a council's, but it should cover the same ground.
A Hire Agreement Checklist
A short written agreement for every hire, including regular ones, should identify the hirer and the person in charge on the day, and describe the activity. It should require commercial and regular hirers to hold public liability cover and to provide a certificate of currency before the first booking, with a note of the limit. It should set out who is responsible for damage, the bond and how it is returned. It should require the hirer to obtain any licence the activity needs, including for selling alcohol, and to follow the venue's rules on capacity, exits, cooking and heating. It should explain how the owner and hirer will share information about known hazards, and how injuries, incidents and damage must be reported. Finally, it should say what happens when the hirer brings in its own equipment or contractors.
Alongside the agreement, keep a simple induction for regular hirers covering exits, fire equipment, first aid, the location of the switchboard and who to call out of hours. A five-minute walk-through at the start of a hire is one of the cheapest risk controls available.
Get Your Cover Checked
If hire income has grown, or the building is used very differently from when the policy was arranged, it is worth having your public liability and property cover reviewed against how the hall is used today. charityinsurance.co.nz passes enquiries to Registered Financial Service Providers who place cover for not-for-profit organisations. Get a Quote and a specialist will be in touch within one business day. For more on liability at events, see our charity public liability page.
Sources: Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, sections 17, 31, 33, 34 and 37; Wellington City Council, Bookable venue hire terms and conditions. Checked 15 October 2026.
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