Room Booking Policy

Click here to view a downloadable PDF version of this policy.

A room booking policy is in place to enable a consistent and effective system for the booking of meeting and function rooms within the Residences. For the purpose of this document, the "Residences" refers to those sites that are owned and managed by the University of Sheffield. 

This policy clarifies which groups can make bookings, which venues are available and states any associated conditions and/or procedures, the allocations of rooms sections also covers which rooms are available during term time and during vacation periods. This policy applies to all room bookings in the residences including those booked to facilitate staff organised Residence Life events, Students' Union clubs and societies events and activities, and Conferences / commercial bookings. 

Procedure and Restrictions: All Bookings 

• All bookings will be made with consideration to availability. Whilst we will always endeavour to allocate a room for all enquiries, we cannot guarantee all bookings. We will seek to offer alternatives where possible to best accommodate each event, this will be communicated to the named event organiser. If no ACS rooms are available it will be for the event organiser to make appropriate arrangements for booking alternative rooms or rescheduling/cancelling the event.
• Room bookings will be free of charge but activities must be for University of Sheffield Accommodation residents only with no profit being generated by the event or activity. If there is a small charge (whether on the door or ticketed in advance) then evidence that this is to cover the costs associated with the event may be requested and ACS reserves the right to charge, this will be communicated to the named contact booking the room.
• Bookings to be submitted via the ACS Residences Room Booking Form at least two working weeks in advance for processing by the Residence Life Admin Assistant.
• Bookings in spaces used for commercial business (High Tor, Hotel spaces etc) must be after 6:30pm, or non-working days, during standard University term-time dates.
• All bookings must be made for specific scheduled events with a named contact and full details provided on the Google Form. Rooms cannot be booked 'on hold' or reserved in order to prevent other bookings.
• If events include external speakers it is the responsibility of the event organiser to provide details to TUoS Security a minimum of 14 days prior to the event (more details can be found here). TUoS Security will then provide confirmation as appropriate to the event organiser.
• If the event or activity is to allow external parties such as public admission this must be incorporated into the relevant risk assessment by the event coordinator.
• No bookings will be accepted at Customer Services from SU Clubs and Societies. If any requests are received, they will be passed to residencelife@sheffield.ac.uk or directly to the Google Form.

Staff-led Residence Life Programme 

• This applies to any staff-led events and activities that form part of the department funded and scheduled Residence Life programme. Including events organised by Engagement & Development staff, Student's Union Give it a go Coordinator, and Sport Sheffield.
• Room booking requirements to be planned and coordinated across the Residence Life Team to allow for room bookings to be made for the upcoming programme. Where possible this will be planned by July for the following academic year.
• Staff-led events and activities that form part of the Residence Life programme will be booked in advance of room bookings being opened to student societies (as below). There will be no preference given to staff led events after these dates.
• It may at times be necessary to amend or cancel a booking due to unforeseen circumstances, but every effort will be made to give sufficient notice and where possible an alternative time and date.
• Edge Hub events- every effort should be made to minimise the need to move the wooden tables or cause them damage. Cooking events should always use flat pack tables which can be provided as part of the room booking. Crafts and other events can use the wooden tables if required but reasonable steps should be taken to protect them (ie. using table cloths).

Students' Union Clubs and Societies 

• SU will provide a list of all current Student Clubs and Societies on an annual basis to ensure that all bookings are from a recognised and approved SU Club or Society.
• The GIAG team will ensure that all SU Club or Society bookings are covered by a relevant risk assessment at the time of booking, the SU will hold responsibility for ensuring the health and safety of students participating in Club and Society activities.
• For Students' Union Club and Society bookings that identify additional risks (in addition to those covered by the SU's standard activities risk assessment) event organisers should contact giveitago@sheffield.ac.uk for assistance with enhanced risk assessments or to comply with external speaker requirements.
• The following information must be provided in order to confirm the booking:
  • A contact name, email, phone number and Registration number
  • Full name of society - for example Dance Soc - competition team
  • GIAG event name
  • Dates required
  • Times required
  • Room size and layout
  • Equipment
  • No. of people
  • Completed risk assessment
• Bookings for student led events in Semester One will usually open during the first week of July.
• Bookings for student led events in Semester two will usually open during the first week of December.
• Due to the level of booking requests we receive we will not be able to book rooms for the whole year in advance for student-led events and activities.
• If there are no spaces available an email will be sent by the Admin Assistant with the following information included - "All information about SU bookable spaces is available on the Students' Union website here: https://su.sheffield.ac.uk/activities/bookable-rooms-and-spaces and information about University bookable spaces is available here: https://students.sheffield.ac.uk/it-services/room-bookings"
• Those attending SU Clubs and Societies events must be: 
  • Registered students with The University Of Sheffield;
  • And/or members of the relevant SU Club/Society (according to SU rules whereby societies must have 51 % student membership);
  • Or formally registered visitors of the Club/Society.
• Where availability is possible, block bookings (one that is repeated more than four bookings per semester) will be facilitated for one semester in advance. Block booking requests should follow the same time scales as set out above.
• Bookings will be made on a first come first served basis, with the exception of clubs and societies with recurring block bookings, in order to ensure access to a wide range of clubs and societies preference may be given to other requests for the following semester.
• A maximum of five hours per booking per week is available for regular weekly bookings. One off bookings for more than five hours, may be permitted on a case by case basis.
• Should a booking need to be changed/amended this should be requested by email to the admin assistant (residencelife@sheffield.ac.uk) we cannot guarantee that we can meet all requirements when amending bookings.
• Should you no longer require the room the booking MUST be cancelled with as much notice as is possible. Failure to cancel two room bookings with subsequent non-attendance will result in all future bookings being cancelled.

Internal or External Conference/Event bookings 

Any bookings not covered by the preceding categories shall fall under this process and will be coordinated via the Conferences team on a commercial basis with appropriate charges. Contact WithUS- 0114 222 8822 or email conferences@withus.com 
Party bookings 
Birthday parties, children's parties and any event that would involve members of the public are not permitted. 
Individual bookings 
Due to the volume of booking requests that Residence Life, GIAG and SU will make, we are unable to accommodate individual bookings from students. 

Terms and Conditions

Allocation of Rooms

• For all enquiries, an appropriate size of room will be selected for an agreed number of attendees of the event. Advice will be given when the booking is made as to an appropriate room and venue for the event or activity (see below for rooms and typical capacities) 
• Provisional bookings will only be held for 10 working days, after which the room can be offered to alternative bookings. Provisional bookings will need to be confirmed via email or the Residence Life Admin Assistant to ensure booking confirmation.
• We reserve the right to change the booked room to another location in exceptional circumstances - e.g. for health and safety purposes or essential needs of the business. This change will be communicated to the person or society who has booked the room.
• We reserve the right to refuse future bookings if an individual/group persistently fails to show without advanced notice, or under any of the H&S grounds listed below.
• Bookings will not be permitted if the following are considered to apply:
  • That damage to the facility could be a consequence of the event
  • The event has an insightful political/religious motivation
  • The event has content of a sensitive nature
  • The event would contravene University policy
  • The event would encourage inappropriate behaviour
  • The event would involve the sale or consumption of alcohol, unless prior consent is given by the Bar Management
  • The event does not meet Health and Safety requirements or organisers have failed to demonstrate completion of an adequate risk assessment
  • No external catering is allowed in any of the University of Sheffield venues

Cancellation of room bookings

• Should an event be cancelled by the organising party this must be communicated to the Res Life Admin Assistant as soon as practically possible (with a minimum of 1 working days notice). Duty Leaders and Customer Services will be advised by email of such changes as part of the cancellation process. Implementation of cancellation is the responsibility of the event organiser.
• Deviation from the above will be deemed a 'no-show'. Repeated reports of 'no-shows' may result in the right to book rooms being rescinded.

Health and safety

• The group or individual making the booking assumes responsibility for all Health and Safety aspects concerning the event (such as fire emergency procedures, risk assessments, conduct of attendees etc.)
• During the event, it is the responsibility of the person or Society in whose name the booking has been made to ensure that the conduct of attendees is appropriate for the venue. This includes managing noise levels, and ensuring that the nature of activities is in accordance with University expectations, avoiding offensive or inflammatory content, and cooperating with reasonable requests from University/ UNICUS staff.
• Furniture/equipment must not be taken out of the rooms to be used elsewhere.

Post-event

• All locations must be vacated by 12 midnight. Exceptions to this may only be made where it is in keeping with supporting the University strategy.
• The person or Society in whose name the booking has been made will assume full responsibility for the condition of the room. Failure to leave the room in an acceptable condition (including the removal of litter), damages/vandalism found following use or deviation from the room booking policy may result in a suspension or termination of room booking privileges for the responsible person and/or group. Charges will be made for any damages that can be attributed to a booking or wherever excessive clean-up is required.

Room capacities and availability 
Please note the stated capacities cannot be exceeded under any circumstances. 

The Edge, Endcliffe

High Tor rooms are available to book in term time only as per the parameters set out above. 
High Tor 1 is the largest room - this room is then separated into High Tor 2, 3, 4 & 5. (Please note if High Tor 1 is booked, rooms 2, 3, 4 & 5 cannot be booked) 

• High Tor 1 - Monday to Friday (6.30pm-Midnight) Saturday and Sunday (Sam-Midnight) 200 capacity. Ideal for dance/fitness activities.
• High Tor 2 - Monday to Friday (6.30pm-Midnight) Saturday and Sunday (8am-12am) 100 capacity. Ideal for dance/fitness activities. Wooden floor, fixed AV, presentation screen and sound system.
• High Tor 3 - Monday to Friday (6.30pm-Midnight) Saturday and Sunday (8am-12am) 50 capacity. Ideal for small-scale dance/fitness activities, lectures, seminars and meetings. Wooden floor, fixed AV, presentation screen and sound system.
• High Tor 4 - Monday to Friday (6.30pm-Midnight) Saturday and Sunday (8am-12am) 50 capacity. Ideal for small-scale dance/fitness activities, lectures, seminars and meetings. Wooden floor, fixed AV, presentation screen and sound system.
• High Tor 5 - Monday to Friday (6.30pm-Midnight) Saturday and Sunday (8am-12am) 100 capacity. Ideal for dance/fitness activities. lectures, seminars and meetings.
• The Edge Hub - Available during term time (except exam periods where this is used as a revision space), shared with Conference teams during non-University term time. Only available for staff-led events that form part of the Residence Life Programme.
• The Edge Bar - to be booked in discussion with the Bar Manager and Conference team if appropriate (for commercial events and activities).

The Ridge, Ranmoor

Ridge Common Room - available for Engagement & Development staff led event bookings only.

Crewe, Endcliffe 

Endcliffe Studio - Monday to Sunday (9am-11pm) 50 capacity (seating unavailable). Suitable for dance/fitness activities. Wooden floor and carpeted area.