What are the legal requirements of running a business?

Depending on what sort of business you're starting you may be affected by law on:

• Health and safety
• Fire precautions
• The environment
• Employee rights
• Buildings
• Providing services to disabled people
• Intellectual property (for example business names, inventions and copyrights)
• Fair trading (consumer protection law)
• Keeping information about people
• Licences
• Insurance

Music, Movies and Mamta Are you ready: Image makeover Red One for Achchamundu! Achchamundu! A day-trip to Dakshin Chitra ஒரு படம், இரு நாயகர்கள் யோகி: ஆங்கிலப் படத்தின் காப்பியா? சிம்புவின் டாலரும் தேவையில்லாத வதந்தியும்

What are the health and safety requirements?

You are responsible for the effect your business may have on the health and safety of your employees and members of the public. You may need to register with the local authority.

What are the required fire precautions?

You may need a fire certificate. For general advice on fire precautions, talk to your local fire service department.

What are the relevant environmental regulations?

There are environmental regulations that may apply if your business:

• uses refrigeration or air-conditioning equipment, fire equipment or solvents for cleaning
• produces, imports, exports, stores, transports, treats, disposes of or recovers waste
• produces, imports or exports packaging
• produces packaging waste

Do you need to protect the legal rights of your employees?

You must protect the legal rights of your employees. Especially if you take over an existing business.

Do the buildings need to be safe?

You must take action if:

• a new building or change of use is involved

• plant or machinery is installed within an industrial site, but outside a building

• existing premises require structural alterations

Contact your corporation planning authority for further information,

What are the intellectual property requirements?

'Intellectual property' describes things such as business names, patents and inventions. You should protect your own company name and logo, along with any inventions, product designs or copyright. You should also respect other people's intellectual property rights. For example, you can't use the same name for your business as someone else doing similar work in your town. The Patent Office can provide lots of useful information and advice.

Do you need a licence?

A licence is required for many businesses, not just the obvious ones like bars or public houses. For example, you need a licence to run a hotel, a guesthouse, a mobile shop or to be a hairdresser. You should always check whether your business requires a licence to trade.

Do you need insurance?

It's good practice to have insurance to cover the loss or theft of your business property as well as other types of possible losses.

Vinod Kuriakose

(The writer Vinod Kuriakose can be contacted at feedback2vinod@yahoo.co.uk)