This page explains who grants licences and how to apply for a licence.
This will depend on:
| Activity | Licensing authority | Enforcing authority |
| All manufacture of explosives | HSE | HSE |
| Storage of more than 2000 kg of explosives | HSE | HSE |
| Storage of any quantity of explosives at mines | HSE | HSE |
| Storage of any quantity of explosives in harbour areas | HSE | HSE |
| Handling explosives in a harbour | HSE | HSE |
| On-site mixing | n/a | HSE |
| Transport of explosives | n/a | HSE |
| Storage of up to 2000 kg of explosives if some of the explosives are either smokeless powder or an explosive that requires an explosives certificate* (eg blasting explosives or black powder) | Police (contact your local police explosives liaison officer) | Police |
| Storage of up to 2000 kg of other explosives (including fireworks and small arms ammunition), none of which requires and explosives certificate* | Local licensing authority (eg trading standards or fire and rescue service, depending on location) | Local licensing authority |
* Explosives that do not require an explosives certificate are listed in Schedule 1 to the Control of Explosives Regulations.
England: The Fire and Rescue Service is the enforcing authority in the metropolitan counties (West Midlands, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Tyne and Wear, South, and West Yorkshire), as well as in Cornwall and Oxfordshire. For all other areas, the enforcing authority will normally be the trading standards department of the local authority (in some parts of England this will be part of the county council).
Scotland and Wales: For explosives not requiring an explosives certificate the enforcing authority is the local council.
Where a district council or city council has taken over the functions of the county council, the authority may have agreed with the police or combined fire authority for the fire authority to enforce and the administer licensing on its behalf.
Read the Memorandum of guidance for applicants before completing the application form.
Enclose a draft licence, which must include the following:
If you have further evidence to support the suitability of the proposed site, you should enclose copies of this evidence. Examples include reports of explosives surveys by the MoD’s Explosive Storage and Transport Committee.
If you are applying to vary an existing licence then you must enclose a draft varying licence.
Enclose the relevant application fee. Fees are payable on the scale laid down in the current Health and Safety (Fees) Regulations. There is an initial fee for all licences and a further fee payable for all work done on MSER and PORTS licences.
Licence application form
Example: Terms of licence