Activity waiver template: what it can cover in the EU and UK, and how to get every guest to sign

An activity waiver is a short text guests read and sign before they take part. It names the risks of the activity, the safety rules and what each guest must be able to do, and the guest confirms they understand and agree. In the UK and the EU, a waiver can't remove your liability when someone is hurt because of your negligence. What it does is record that you warned guests and that they agreed to your rules.

This guide gives you a free waiver template to copy and explains what a waiver can and can't cover under EU and UK law. It also shows how to get every guest to sign before they arrive, children and latecomers included. It's written for small businesses that run tours and activities, such as kayak trips, climbing, escape rooms and workshops with tools. The rules were checked on 22 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice: the law differs by country and by activity, so ask a local lawyer or your insurer to read your final text.

Guests can sign online before they come, on their own phone. Try it free for 30 days, with no card needed.

Free activity waiver template

Copy the text below and change the parts in [brackets]. Name the real risks and the rules of your own activity: a specific list is more useful to guests than a general one, and it shows what you warned them about.

[Business name]: [Activity name]

What this activity involves. [One or two sentences, for example: a 2-hour guided kayak trip on open water, about 6 km.]

The risks. Taking part has risks that come with the activity, even when everyone follows the rules. They include [for example: falling into cold water, the kayak tipping over, sunburn, strains from paddling, and slipping on wet rocks].

Our safety rules. Before the start, our staff give a safety briefing. During the activity, I will [for example: wear the buoyancy aid I am given at all times on the water, stay with the group and follow our staff's instructions].

What I confirm. I confirm that [for example: I am at least 12 years old, I can swim 50 metres, and I am not under the influence of alcohol or drugs]. If I don't meet one of these, I will tell the staff before the start.

Telling the staff. I will tell the staff before the start about anything that could affect my safety today.

My rights. This waiver does not take away my legal rights. [Business name] stays responsible for death or injury caused by its negligence.

My agreement. I have read this waiver, I understand the risks and the safety rules, and I agree to them.

Name: __________ Date: __________ Signature: __________

For a child: child's name __________, parent's or guardian's name __________, signature __________

How to make it fit your activity

• Name the real risks. Think of what has gone wrong before, or nearly did: cold water, a steep path, a sharp tool, a dark room.
• Write down the briefing you really give. If your staff explain how to hold a paddle or where the emergency exit is, put those points in the waiver too. The next section explains why this matters.
• Set clear requirements. Age, height, weight limits or being able to swim are easy for a guest to confirm and easy for your team to check.
• Keep it short. Most guests read it on a phone. One screen of plain sentences gets read; three screens of small print get skipped.
• Use your guests' language. If many of your guests speak another language, add the text in that language too, one after the other.

The template is a starting point, not a finished legal document. You decide what your waiver says, and you're responsible for it and for checking that it works where you operate. TicketPa collects and keeps the signatures for you, but it can't check whether your text is valid.

Paste the finished text into the Waiver tab of your activity in TicketPa, and every guest signs it on their ticket. Waivers come with the Standard plan, and the free 30-day trial is the Standard plan, with no card needed.

What can a waiver cover in the EU and UK?

A waiver can record the risks you told guests about, the safety rules they agreed to follow and that they meet your requirements, like a minimum age. It can't remove your liability for death or personal injury caused by your negligence. UK law says such terms have no effect, and EU law lists them as terms that may be unfair to consumers.

A waiver can	A waiver can't
Show that you told guests about the risks	Remove your liability for death or injury caused by your negligence
Record the safety rules guests agreed to follow	Make an unfair term binding just because the guest signed it
Record that guests confirmed they meet your requirements	Replace a proper safety briefing, safe equipment and trained staff
Help you and your insurer show what happened if there's a claim	Take away a guest's legal rights as a consumer

The laws behind this:

Where	The rule	What it means for your waiver
UK, guests	Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 65: a business can't exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, by a contract term or a notice.	A line like "we accept no responsibility for injuries" doesn't protect you from a negligence claim. Signing it, or knowing about it, doesn't by itself mean the guest accepted the risk (section 65(2)).
UK, business customers	Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, section 2: the same rule when a business books, like a company team day, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.	The same goes for corporate groups.
EU and EEA	Unfair Terms Directive 93/13/EEC, Annex point 1(a): terms that exclude or limit liability for a consumer's death or personal injury are on the list of terms that may be unfair.	Each country's own law sets the details, so check the rules where you operate.

Why your safety briefing matters more than the wording

In May 2026, France's highest court, sitting as a full court, ruled that a professional organiser of a sports or leisure activity who didn't give the safety instructions the activity needs, suited to the people taking part, can't reduce what it owes for an injury by blaming the participant's carelessness (Cour de cassation, 29 May 2026, no. 23-20.005). The case was about a teenager at a holiday camp who dived into shallow water without having been warned about it.

The ruling is French, but the lesson works anywhere: what protects you is a proper briefing that you can show you gave, more than the wording guests sign.

So put the safety instructions you give into the waiver text itself. In TicketPa, every change to the waiver becomes a new version, and each signature keeps the exact words that person signed.

Is an online waiver as valid as a paper one?

Yes, in principle. In the EU, an electronic signature can't be refused as evidence just because it's electronic (eIDAS Regulation, Article 25). In the UK, electronic signatures can be used as evidence too (Electronic Communications Act 2000, section 7). What matters is being able to show who signed which text, and when.

What to keep	Why it matters	In TicketPa
Each signer's name	One signature per person, not one per group	A full name with every signature
The signature itself	Shows the person signed it themselves	Drawn with a finger or the mouse, or the name typed
For a child, the adult's name	A child can't agree to it alone	The parent's or guardian's name next to the child's
The exact words signed	Your text changes over time	Every change makes a new version; old signatures keep theirs
When and from where	Shows it was signed before the activity	The time, the internet address and the browser
Where it was signed	On the guest's ticket, or on your device on site	On the ticket, or On site with the team member's name

On the booking, Print signed waiver puts all of this on one page to print or save as a PDF, for example for your insurer.

What should a waiver not ask?

• Health details. Information about someone's health is special category data under GDPR Article 9, allowed only under narrow exceptions, such as the guest's explicit consent. The simplest way is not to collect it. List your requirements and ask guests to confirm they meet them, and to tell your staff before the start about anything that could affect their safety. That way the waiver never records which condition a guest has. If an activity really needs medical information, such as diving, get advice on how to collect it.
• Blanket lines. "You take part entirely at your own risk" or "we accept no liability for anything" don't remove liability for negligence in the UK. In the EU they may be unfair. They also make the rest of your text look less honest.
• Small print. A waiver nobody can read helps nobody. Use short sentences and the words you'd use at the meeting point.

How to get every guest to sign before they arrive

Copying the text is the easy part. The hard part is getting four signatures from a group of four before they reach your meeting point, when one person made the booking and the others only got a link. This is how it works in TicketPa:

When	What guests see	What your team sees
They book	The confirmation email asks everyone in the group to sign	The booking, with the waiver still to sign
Before the day	Each person signs on the same ticket, under their own name	The guest list shows Waivers 2 of 4
The reminder goes out	The reminder email asks again if someone hasn't signed	The badge counts up as they sign
They arrive	They show their QR ticket	Scanning the ticket shows who still has to sign

A missing signature never blocks check-in, so your team decides on the spot. Guests who haven't signed can still do it there.

Children and families

A child can't sign for themselves, so a parent or guardian signs for them. On the ticket, they turn on I'm signing for a child, enter the child's name and their own, and sign. Their name stays filled in, so signing for the second and third child takes seconds. A parent who takes part too signs once more for themself.

Guests who didn't sign before they came

Some guests forget, or never opened the link. Select Sign the waiver on this device on the guest list, hand over your phone or tablet, and each person signs in turn. The page shows only the waiver and the form, so guests can't see anything else in your account. These signatures show On site, with the name of the team member who opened the page.

What happens when you change the waiver?

When you change the text, it becomes a new version. Guests with a booking still to come are asked to sign the new version, even if they signed the old one, and the guest list counts only signatures of the new version. Bookings that have already ended keep the words that were signed for that day, so your records always match what each guest saw.

Collect signed waivers in TicketPa today

TicketPa is booking software for small businesses that sell time slots, such as tours, activities, classes and workshops. Guests book on your booking page, get a QR ticket by email and sign your waiver on that ticket.

• On every plan: a booking page in 16 languages, QR tickets, confirmation and reminder emails, and payments online or on arrival.
• With the Standard plan: digital waivers with drawn signatures, signing for children and on site, waiver badges on the guest list, check-in by scanning tickets, and Print signed waiver.

One plan covers your bookings and your waivers, so you don't need a separate waiver app next to your booking system. The booking software cost calculator shows what that costs for your number of bookings.

Every plan starts with a 30-day free trial of Standard, with no card needed. You can also see how it works for adventure activities, boat tours, escape rooms and workshops.