Permit under restaurant law for temporary serving of alcohol on special occasions; application

For every temporary serving of alcohol at an event (e.g. club, town, music festival, Christmas market), a so-called permit in accordance with § 12 GastG is required. This applies to showmen, established innkeepers who serve alcohol outside their restaurant, but also to clubs.

The scope of application of Section 12 GastG applies if the catering is only provided for a limited period of time on the occasion of an event. A special occasion can be assumed if the catering activity in question is linked to a short-term, infrequently occurring event that lies outside the catering activity (the occasion must therefore be exclusively of a non-gastronomic nature).

As the spatial and environmental requirements for events are usually already regulated and ensured as part of the organization of the event, the examination under catering law for events regularly focuses on the personal requirement of reliability.

The documents listed below must be submitted to substantiate reliability.

In order to obtain a fictitious permit free of charge, the application must be submitted at least two weeks before the planned event. If an application is not submitted in good time and it is no longer possible to properly check the eligibility for approval by the planned date of the event, the permit will be refused.

• Specification of surname and first name with summonable address,
• Indication of the place and period of exercise of the catering business,
• Indication of the food and drink intended for administration.

• a valid traveling trade card,
• a valid restaurant license,
• another valid trade license that is dependent on reliability,
• a permit for the serving of alcoholic beverages of the same type under the assurance that this was carried out without official objection or
• a certificate of good conduct and information from the central trade register in accordance with Section 150 (1) sentence 1 or (5) GewO, each not older than one year

If no old permit is available, proof of reliability can also be provided by stating the specific location, period and scope of the serving of alcoholic beverages not objected to by the authorities. Proof of good repute from another EU country of origin in the form of a certified copy and certified German translation, which could also be replaced by an affidavit in lieu of an oath or comparable acts, can also be submitted.

For non-EU citizens: residence permit allowing self-employment as well as proof of good conduct (official certificate of good conduct or good character or extract from the criminal record of the home country or an equivalent document and/or a certificate of good conduct for authorities and information from the central trade register.

If there is no doubt that the approval requirements have been met, the municipality can waive the preparation and issuance of a notice ("fictitious approval"). In this case, no costs are charged.

If the municipality incurs significant inspection costs in an individual case, the municipality will issue a chargeable notice (see 5.III.7.2 List of costs), if necessary with an extension of the deadline (see Art. 42a para. 2 sentences 3 and 4 of the Bavarian Administrative Procedure Act).

Permission due to fictitious approval: free of charge

Permission in all other cases: 30 to 2000 EUR

Certificate of good conduct and extract from the central trade register: EUR 13 each

• § Section 12 of the German Restaurant Act (GastG)
• § Section 2 Bavarian Ordinance on the Implementation of the Restaurant Act (Bavarian Restaurant Ordinance - BayGastV)
• Annex to the Ordinance on the Enactment of the Schedule of Costs under the Costs Act (Kostenverzeichnis - KVz)

• Enforcement of the Restaurant Act

The application for a permit under catering law for an event must be submitted in text form (i.e. a simple e-mail or via an online procedure provided is sufficient) to the responsible municipality.