The purpose of this Guide is to provide members of the public with general information to assist them in their applications for places of amusement licence for billiard establishment, public bowling-alley and public skating rink under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132) and its subsidiary legislation.

It aims to set out the general requirements for the issue of such licences and should be read by those interested in establishing and operating billiard establishment, public bowling-alley and public skating rink in Hong Kong. Although effort has been made to ensure that this Guide is complete and up-to-date, please note that revision may be made from time to time.

Under Section 92A of the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance (Cap. 132), it is an offence for any person to operate a billiard establishment with 4 or more billiard tables, a public bowling-alley or a public skating rink without a valid licence issued by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD). The Places of Amusement Regulation have provided for the licensing and control measures regarding such establishments.

The applicant must be aged over 18. The licence can only be registered in the name of one person.

The billiard establishments should normally be located in purely commercial buildings. However, the application will be considered on its own merits if the premises are located on the podium floors of mixed commercial/residential buildings and such floors have separate means of access segregated from the residential portions of the buildings.

The public bowling-alleys and public skating rinks should be located in purely commercial buildings or the podium floors of mixed commercial/residential buildings. Such floors should have separate means of access segregated from the residential portions of the buildings.

Installation of amusement games machines as subsidiary entertainment facilities listed in the interpretation under the Miscellaneous Licences Ordinance (Cap. 114) and/or licensable under the Amusement Game Centres Ordinance (Cap. 435) can only be installed as subsidiary entertainment facilities on such premises under the following conditions:

Those amusement game machines are considered providing healthy entertainment and installed with a permit granted by the Commissioner for Television and Entertainment Licensing; and

The operation of the added business has been approved by the licensing authority.

Upon receipt of the application, the Licensing and Prosecution Unit of the LCSD will notify the applicant in writing of the date and time of an inspection to be conducted by the relevant officers. The inspection aims at examining the suitability of the premises for setting up the proposed business. The application will also be forwarded to the Fire Services Department (FSD), the Buildings Department (BD), the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the respective District Office (DO) for comments. If the premises are situated in housing estates under the Housing Authority (HA), the application will be forwarded to the Housing Department (HD) for scrutiny.

In general, the applicant will receive a Letter of Requirements fully specifying the licensing requirements of the LCSD, the FSD and the BD in 40 to 60 working days after the submission of the application, provided that the licensing authority and the relevant government departments have raised no objection.

The applicant is also advised not to start work on making the premises ready until he/she has received the Letter of Requirements. If anyone who wish to start the fixing out work before the receipt of the Letter of Requirements, he/she may have to alter the works that he/she has undertaken in case of not fulfilling the requirements imposed by various government departments.

The applicant will be issued with the licence only when he/she has satisfied all licensing requirements.

Upon satisfying all the licensing requirements put forth by the LCSD, the FSD and the BD, the applicant should inform the Licensing and Prosecution Unit of the LCSD immediately for arrangement of staff to conduct site inspection. In the meantime, the FSD and the BD will also be notified for the inspection of fire services installations and building. Once it is confirmed that the premises have satisfied all the licensing requirements, the LCSD will inform the applicant in writing of the payment of the licence fee and the collection of the licence.

Pursuant to the enactment of the Electronic Transactions Ordinance, applications for new issue/renewal/transfer of a licence in electronic form would be accepted by the Licensing and Prosecution Unit of Leisure and Cultural Services Department at the following address: lpu@lcsd.gov.hk

Should the applicant has any enquiries or difficulties concerning the licensing requirements, please contact the Licensing and Prosecution Unit of the LCSD at 2601 8799.

For enquiries on the licensing requirements of the FSD, please contact the respective Fire Protection Regional Office. The addresses are: