Talk:Fireworks law in the United Kingdom

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early comments[edit]

An article on 'magazine' in the arsenal rather than publishing context would be useful. If anyone has the requisite knowledge please add it. 84.69.120.56 11:11, 1 April 2006 (UTC)[reply]


The categorisation here is generally unhelpful to the amateur. It seems to be based on the mass of explosives, rather than the maximum range of the firework. For example, a very small single-shot roman candle would be in category 2, but could shoot a single fireball up to 20 m if it fell over at 45 degrees. On the other hand, a large fountain of cat 3 type may only have a range of a few metres, even in the worst case. Thus while cat 2 fireworks are always smaller than cat 3, the actual "safe-distance" is almost completely uncorrelated to the category! Most garden fireworks are labelled with the effect (usually "ejects stars" for a roman candle, or "emits showers of sparks" for a fountain), and with a distance recommendation based on the category ("retire at least 5m" for a cat 2, or "retire at least 25 m" for a cat 3). In my experience, the distance recommendation is bad advice: it is sometimes too close for comfort, and sometimes far too far, giving a false sense of security. It's also too granular (there's no 15 m range). Experience and common sense are usually a better guide than the instructions; in particular, small roman candles are potentially much more dangerous than they look, whereas large fountains are usually less dangerous than the instructions say. [BTW, I'm a physicist, with quite a lot of experience of garden fireworks, but I'm not a professional pyrotechnician.] RichardNeill (talk) 06:17, 5 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The categorisation is as contained in the British Standards — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.213.110.4 (talk) 16:47, 30 October 2012 (UTC)[reply]

UK CE Marking Fireworks[edit]

the UK in 2017 will need to comply with the new EU changes, below is what i have found online, As this is not in line until next year is it worth placing on the article at this time.

The CE marking on all fireworks in the UK will come into force on the, 4th July 2017 on the 4th July 2010 The Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations, All retailers/trade fireworks must carry a CE Mark. Fireworks that conform to BS 7114 can be sold upto 4th July 2017.

The New CE marks complys to category 2 and category 3 and are the following safety distance.

8 metres 15 Metres 25 Metres

Information found here, http://bonfirenighttraditions.co.uk/ce-marking-fireworks-guide/. BFNGaz (talk) 09:49, 9 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Curfew[edit]

I don't know the legislation involved, but there most certainly is not a curfew of 11-7 being observed in Edinburgh during the Festival in August. Fireworks routinely go off at midnight for most days of that month, including large public displays. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elettaria (talkcontribs) 10:08, 5 November 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Category 4[edit]

Are there controls on where category 4 fireworks can be fired?

An acquaintance was telling me about what must surely have been cat 4 stuff being fired in great quantity in a small back garden surrounded by other not-forewarned houses. You don't have to be a humourless killjoy to wonder if that is reasonable behaviour. 109.151.253.181 (talk) 20:27, 11 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Merge proposal[edit]

Firework Code should be merged with this article under "Accidents and safety campaigns". As it stands we have an article on a leaflet that doesn't describe anything about what is actually contained within, and not only that, but its title poses it as an overarching "fireworks code" for all firework safety regulations (as it was previously portrayed in the "see also" of Fire safety, through no fault of the publication's authors of course). If it was a notable campaign it may as well belong here where it has more visibility and context. Reconrabbit 21:12, 16 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Pinging @Pigsonthewing as the creator of the article indicated in the proposal. Reconrabbit 21:16, 16 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No objection, provided all the content is kept. Andy Mabbett (Pigsonthewing); Talk to Andy; Andy's edits 22:01, 16 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I'll wait a few days and then perform the move. Mockup here. Most of the references need archiving so might be useful to run IAbot on this page afterwards. Reconrabbit 01:12, 17 February 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Merge is done. I forgot about this for a couple weeks. Reconrabbit 19:25, 8 March 2024 (UTC)[reply]