Temporary liquor license for events: what venue owners need to know

The first question: whose license covers the bar?

Every drink sold at your venue has to be covered by a license or permit, and the agency will want to know whose. For a venue owner there are three common setups. You hold a permanent license for your premises and serve under it. A licensed caterer or bar service brings its own event authorization for your address. Or a nonprofit client gets a temporary permit for its fundraiser.

The setup decides who files, who pays, who carries the liability and what you put in your contract. Write it into the booking: name the license holder, attach their permit before the event, and say who serves and checks IDs.

Free drinks at a private party are a grey area. California's ABC explains that at a private party the host may pay a bartender only for bartending services, not for alcohol sales, and that a business which provides a place for people to bring and drink their own alcohol needs a license. Do not assume no license is needed just because tickets do not mention drinks.

Step by step

1. 1

   Decide who will be the license holder

   Alcohol at an event is legal only under someone's license or permit. It can be your own venue license, a licensed caterer's event permit, or a nonprofit's temporary permit. Agree on this when you take the booking.

2. 2

   Check the state option that fits

   Match the event to the state's permit types: private or public, nonprofit or business, the number of guests, and how many days.

3. 3

   Sign the property owner's consent

   Agencies such as TABC and California ABC may ask for a letter of permission from the property owner and a diagram of the serving area. As the venue owner you will be asked to sign it.

4. 4

   File before the deadline

   Texas wants 10 business days, California catering authorizations at least 5 days online, Florida nonprofit permits about 7 days. Late filing costs money or the permit.

5. 5

   Keep the permit on site

   Ask for a copy of the issued permit before the event and keep it with the event file, so staff can show it to an officer.

Texas: TABC temporary event options

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission offers three main routes. A File and Use Notification covers smaller private events by distilleries, on-premises retailers and wineries; for on-premises retailers the event must be private and limited to 500 people. A Temporary Event Approval covers events beyond those limits. A Nonprofit Entity Temporary Event permit (NT) is for qualifying nonprofits.

Temporary Event Approvals and NT permits must be filed at least 10 business days before the event start date. Late filing costs 300 dollars for forms received 7 to 9 business days before, 500 dollars for 4 to 6 days, and 900 dollars for 1 to 3 days. Approvals and File and Use events run up to four consecutive days, and NT permits up to 10 consecutive days. TABC may ask for a letter of permission from the property owner, approvals from local officials and a diagram.

Caterers with a mixed beverage permit can add a Caterer's Permit (CB), which allows temporary sales away from their own premises.

California: Type 58 catering authorizations and daily licenses

In California, a business that already holds certain on-sale licenses can get a Type 58 caterer's permit, then apply for a catering authorization for each event. The authorization fee depends on the estimated attendance, and there is a limit of 36 catered events per year at any one location unless ABC grants an exception for substantial public demand.

Catering authorizations can be applied for online at least 5 days and no more than 90 days before the event. Within 5 days you cannot apply online and must file Form ABC-218 with the local district office at least 3 days before. Each event may need the property owner's consent, law enforcement approval and a diagram on Form ABC-253.

Nonprofits can apply for daily licenses to sell beer and wine or distilled spirits at their events. The 36-event cap matters for venue owners: if one caterer runs most of your bar service, count their events at your address over the year.

Florida and New York

Florida section 561.422 lets the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco issue a temporary permit to a bona fide nonprofit civic or charitable organization, a municipality or a county, for on-premises sales for up to 3 days, at 25 dollars per permit and no more than 12 permits a year. The statute also asks for a local building and zoning permit with the application. It sets no lead time, so check the division's temporary permits page for its current processing time and apply well before the event.

In New York, the State Liquor Authority offers an Off-Site Event Permit to off-premises catering licensees serving 50 or more people, with no fee for catering licensees. Other temporary permits in New York mostly cover businesses operating while their full license application is pending, so an event at your venue normally runs under a licensee's permit.

What to put in your venue contract

Most alcohol trouble at events starts with an unclear booking. Spell out who holds the license, who supplies and serves the drinks, when the bar closes, and that the license holder must send you a copy of the issued permit a set number of days before the event. Ask for their certificate of insurance at the same time.

Venura's venue app keeps each booking with its quotation, contract details, invoice and payments in one record, and your event schedule shows every event at the hall. Attaching the permit deadline and the license holder's details to the booking keeps the alcohol paperwork from slipping in a busy month. It runs on web, Android and iOS, free for 30 days.

• Name the license or permit holder in the booking
• Set a date by which you receive the issued permit
• Agree who signs the property owner's consent and the diagram
• Note bar hours inside the permit's hours
• Collect the license holder's certificate of insurance

Temporary liquor license: questions from the United States