MEMBERSHIP RULES

1. Play will be in accordance with the International Rules of Duplicate Bridge, copies of which are available for reference during play.

2. Play will be available on Mondays and Thursdays including Bank Holidays unless the Committee decides otherwise. Members should be seated by 1.10pm and play will continue until about 4.45pm.

3. The membership of the Club shall be limited to 210 members.

4. Prospective members must attend as visitors on an initial three occasions after which they must notify the Secretary of their intention to apply for membership. A further six visits (Mondays and/or Thursdays) are required after which an application form must be completed and signed by a Proposer and Seconder who must vouch for the suitability of the applicant to be a member of the Club. Committee members may not propose or second membership applications. The application form will then be displayed on the Club notice board for two weeks whereafter, if no objection has been raised and subject to availability within the membership limit, the applicant will be offered membership. In the event of an objection this will be evaluated by the Committee by which the decision as to membership will be taken.

5. In exceptional circumstances visitors may, subject to approval from the Committee, continue to attend periodically as visitors without applying for membership. Any approval granted will be kept under review and may subsequently be withdrawn.

6. If membership is full the applicant may be offered Waiting List Visitor status. Waiting List Visitors may play on both Monday and Thursday sessions in the Main Hall. Numbers on the waiting list will be kept under review and if necessary, the Committee will have discretion to amend this provision for dual attendance. Waiting List Visitors may be offered full membership when vacancies arise. Priority shall be determined by the number of attendances as a Waiting List Visitor or by the length of time served as a Waiting List Visitor.

7. Where there is a risk that the capacity of the venue will be exceeded the Committee may impose special conditions such as requiring pre-entry prior to the session. For this purpose, the capacity of the Main Hall shall be 24 tables and of the Harrison Room 14 tables.

8. Should the conduct of any member in the opinion of the Committee be injurious to the interests of the Club or if any complaint about a member’s conduct be made to the Committee, the matter shall be dealt with in accordance with Appendix A: Complaints Procedure (attached).

9. Members should be prepared to act as Spare Partners as requested. In particular, members are requested not to use this facility unless they are prepared to reciprocate by acting as spare partner.

10. The player seated North is responsible for entering and checking player numbers and names and ensuring that the correct boards are played. North should also enter the lead card and ensure that the correct scores are entered on the Bridgemate or traveller. The player seated East should check the entry. Any errors notified after the session has ended may be dealt with in accordance with the BABC Policy on Scoring Errors and Correction Period.

11. The amendment of these Rules in any respect may be determined by a simple majority of the votes cast by members in a General Meeting. In the event of an equality of votes the matter shall be decided by the casting vote of the Chairman.

Approved at the BABC Annual General Meeting 16th October 2023