To be viewed as a private members club, there needs to be a minimum of 25 registered members of the club, a committee consisting of a Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer and there needs to be a constitution written for the Club. Names of the Committee members and a copy of the constitution/club rules will need to be kept on file by the Local Authority. If the members of the committee or constitution/club rules change then the Licensing Authority require notification of this amendment in writing.

Qualifying clubs should not be confused with proprietary clubs, which are clubs run commercially by individuals, partnerships or businesses for profit. These require a premises licence and are not qualifying clubs.