In short: BS 7909 is the British Standard code of practice for temporary electrical systems in entertainment, currently BS 7909:2023+A1:2024. It is not an Act of Parliament, but some venues and councils make it a condition. A small crew should name a responsible person, use protected and tested kit, and get a competent electrician involved for anything beyond the basics.
BS 7909 is the British Standard code of practice for temporary electrical systems in entertainment. It tells you how to design, install, test and manage the power for a show, event or shoot that is only going to be there for a short time. If your crew plugs in more than a couple of domestic lamps, it is worth knowing what it says.
This is general guidance written for small crews, not an electrical specification. A competent person must assess the actual job, and anything beyond simple small set-ups needs a qualified electrician.
What the standard is
The full title is BS 7909, Temporary electrical systems for entertainment and related purposes. Code of practice. The BSI Knowledge site lists the current edition as BS 7909:2023+A1:2024, with the base standard published on 25 September 2023. Its subject areas include temporary electrical installations, lighting and lighting equipment, stages and production equipment.
Older copies are still around. The HSE's event safety publications page, for instance, still lists the 2001 edition. If someone asks you to comply with BS 7909, ask which edition they mean and read the current one.
Is it the law?
A British Standard is not an Act of Parliament. The legal duties come from the general law on electrical safety, including the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, which apply to work activities generally and so to temporary electrical work on a shoot. BS 7909 is the code the industry works to for temporary systems.
It also appears as a condition. The film office of one London borough, for example, makes compliance with BS 7909 a requirement for filming on its land where a local supply or a generator is used, and asks productions to name a responsible person and supply an electrical risk assessment and method statement before filming. Other councils and venues set their own conditions. If you are told you must comply, ask for the requirement in writing and ask what it covers.
What it asks for in practice
A short summary cannot replace the standard, which you can buy from BSI. Several ideas come up again and again.
- A named person in charge. The standard calls the role the Senior Person Responsible (SPR). Richmond upon Thames, for example, asks productions to nominate an SPR to oversee and manage electrical safety during filming and to give the council their details.
- Competent people. Regulation 16 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 says nobody should be engaged in work where technical knowledge or experience is needed to prevent danger or injury unless they have that knowledge or experience, or are suitably supervised. That is a higher bar than being keen.
- Protection. The 2010 guidance described below asks for final circuits to be protected by 30mA residual current devices (RCDs) where practicable.
- Tested equipment. The same guidance asks for a current portable appliance test and a visual check before use. See PAT testing for kit that travels.
- Testing the system. Ask the venue or council what evidence of testing it wants before the system is used, and keep that paperwork in the production file.
- A risk assessment. It should be specific to the location, not a generic one. The risk assessment template is a starting point.
The RCD, testing and responsible-person points above come from a summary written for lighting camera operators by the Production Safety Working Group in April 2010. It was written when an earlier edition of the standard applied, and it calls itself a brief summary. Use it to understand the shape of the requirements, and check the 2023 edition and the venue's own conditions for current detail.
What counts as small
The same 2010 summary treated set-ups up to 6kW as something an experienced lighting camera operator could manage, provided they were competent, could test sockets with the right test equipment, used a suitable RCD and made sure someone competent was present while the system was live. For set-ups above 6kW it asked the person in overall control to nominate an SPR, usually the gaffer or a chargehand. It also gave limits for domestic premises: no more than 5kW in total and no single light over 2kW.
Those figures are a useful rule of thumb for how the thinking changes with scale, and they are not rules to quote. Treat them as an older benchmark and confirm the current position with a competent electrician.
A sensible approach for a small crew
- Decide who is responsible. One named person, on the call sheet. On a small shoot that may be the gaffer. See what a gaffer does.
- Know your load. Add up the lamps and the supply before you plug in. The power on set page shows the sums.
- Use protected supplies. Put RCD protection between the supply and your kit, and test it using its test button.
- Check the kit. Look at every cable, plug and lamp before it goes up. Take out anything damaged. Keep PAT records for the kit you own or hire.
- Keep cables safe. Route them away from walkways and water, and avoid daisy-chaining extension leads.
- Know the isolation point. Everyone on set should know how to switch the power off, and who does it.
- Write it down. A short risk assessment and a note of what was checked is better than none.
- Ask the venue. In a studio with a fixed installation, the building's electrics belong to the venue. Ask what they supply, what they require of you, and what they expect if you bring a generator or your own distribution.
If a job needs a generator, a large distribution board, power to a public area or anything you are not sure about, bring in a qualified electrician with temporary power experience.
Training
Bectu runs a three-day programme on applying BS 7909 to temporary power systems, developed by James Eade. Each day runs from 9.00 to 5.30, and you must attend all three. It is aimed at experienced electricians and technicians who work with temporary power in theatre, events, broadcasting and film. It does not teach basic electrical theory, so you need to be comfortable with ideas like Ohm's law and power loading before you attend.
The programme covers legislation and BS 7909, earthing and protective bonding, protective devices, testing and inspection including BS 7909 reporting, and managing temporary systems. It ends with open-book assessments on each module and a closed-book practical, and successful candidates receive a City & Guilds digital badge. Bectu says the course was updated in April 2026 to reflect the 18th edition of the wiring regulations, and the course is held in Victoria, London.
For a one-person crew, the course is more than you need. For the person who will be the SPR on a regular basis, it is the recognised route.
Do you need a gaffer?
On a small studio shoot, a gaffer or a spark brings competence, and they know the questions to ask of the venue. Granary lists a gaffer from £450 and a spark from £350 per day, plus VAT, as indicative rates. See gaffers and lighting crew for how that works.
What to ask a venue or council
Before a shoot, three questions save most of the argument later. Which edition of the standard do you want us to work to? Do you need a named responsible person, and do you want their details in advance? Do you need evidence of testing on the day, and in what form? Written answers go in the production file with the risk assessment.
Common mistakes
- Treating the standard as optional paperwork. The paperwork follows from the safety, and venues often check it.
- Quoting an old edition. Check which one applies.
- No named person. When nobody is in charge, nobody checks.
- Untested kit. A lamp that has never been checked is a risk.
- Overloading a single supply. Do the load sums first.
- Copying the 2010 figures as rules. They are an older rule of thumb.
Sources
- BSI Knowledge, BS 7909:2023+A1:2024 Temporary electrical systems for entertainment and related purposes. Code of practice, read 5 November 2026
- Bectu, Programme in the application of BS7909 to temporary power systems (3 days), read 5 November 2026
- Production Safety Working Group, Lighting Camera Operator Guidance, BS 7671/7909 (version 3, April 2010), read 5 November 2026
- London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, BS 7909 and filming electrical safety, read 5 November 2026
- legislation.gov.uk, The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, regulation 16, read 5 November 2026
- HSE, Event Safety publications, read 5 November 2026
Related guides
Questions we get asked
What is BS 7909?
BS 7909 is the British Standard code of practice for temporary electrical systems for entertainment and related purposes. It covers how to design, install, test and manage temporary power for productions and events. The current edition is BS 7909:2023+A1:2024.
Is BS 7909 a legal requirement?
The standard itself is a code of practice, not an Act of Parliament. The legal duties come from laws such as the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, and BS 7909 is the industry's recognised way of meeting them. Some councils and venues make it a condition of filming.
Do small film crews need BS 7909 training?
Not every crew member does, but someone with responsibility for the power should understand it. Bectu runs a three-day programme on applying BS 7909 to temporary power systems, aimed at experienced electricians and technicians.
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