Serving responsibly

Most of learning to tend a bar is about pouring drinks. The part that carries legal weight is about refusing them. In New Zealand that is not house policy or judgement - it is written into law, and it applies to the person holding the bottle as much as to the person holding the licence.

In New Zealand the governing legislation is the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012. Anyone managing the sale or supply of alcohol on a licensed premises needs a Licence Controller Qualification, which covers the Act itself and host responsibility, and a Manager's Certificate issued by the local council on the strength of it.

• Do not serve anyone already intoxicated. This is an offence, and it's the server's as well as the licensee's.
• Do not serve minors. The purchase age is 18, and acceptable identification is limited to a passport, a NZ driver licence, a Kiwi Access card, or a HANZ 18+ card.
• Provide free drinking water, low- and non-alcoholic options, and substantial food.
• Help people get home. Numbers for taxis, and not turning someone out of the door who plainly should not be driving.
• Watch for the signs - slurred speech, unsteadiness, repetition, becoming loud or argumentative, ordering rounds faster than the last ones are finished.