Are there any exemptions?

Private dwellings are not covered by the legislation. Also certain establishments where people live and which are also workplaces, e.g. prison cells, hospices and long-stay residential care homes, are exempt. However, this does not mean that smoking is allowed throughout the premises. Bedrooms in which smoking is allowed must meet the following conditions:

• are completely enclosed, except for windows / doors, on all sides by solid floor to ceiling walls
• do not have a ventilation system that ventilates into any other smokefree part of the premises
• if a door opens onto a smokefree landing,  the door needs to be fitted with a mechanical closing device to prevent smoke drift
• Is clearly marked as a room in which smoking is permitted

If the policy does not allow smoking in bedrooms, then employers can identify a designated smoking room but it must meet the conditions described above.  It also will be up to the management to decide if visitors can smoke in smoking rooms. The smoking rooms are not to be used by staff. There is no obligation for employers of exempt places to have ‘smoking rooms’ if they do not wish to.