Fee Tariff
The Accounts department can be contacted on 020 7440 0371 / 0389 or at finance@bbfc.co.uk
Use our fee calculator to estimate the total cost for classifying your content.
Type of work ......................................................................................... | Fees ............................................................................................. | |
Theatrical | Submission fee: £108.47 + per-minute fee: £7.56* | |
Video (Features, trailers and advertisements) | Submission fee: £81.22 + per-minute fee: £6.49* | |
VOD (Watch & Rate for digital-only ratings) | Submission fee: £26.45 + per-minute fee: £3.07* | |
| All PBE works receive a same-day decision. You must book PBE slots in advance. All slots are subject to availability. See here for more information about PBE, and here for details of cancellation/withdrawal charges. - Please note, once a Premium PBE is booked, any change to the booking will incur a cancellation/withdrawal fee. - Please note, we round up the running time of any PBE work to the nearest 15 minutes. We round works of under 5 minutes to 5 minutes. This is for scheduling purposes. | ||
Theatrical | Standard submission fee (as above): £108.47 + per-minute fee: £7.56* PBE: 20% uplift on this fee. Premium PBE (Trailers only): 50% uplift on this fee | |
Video (Features, trailers and advertisements) | Standard submission fee (as above): £81.22 + per-minute fee: £6.49* PBE: 10% uplift on this fee. Premium PBE: 50% uplift on this fee. | |
VOD (Watch & Rate for digital-only ratings) | Standard submission fee (as above): £26.45 + per-minute fee: £3.07* PBE: 10% uplift on this fee. Premium PBE: 50% uplift on this fee. | |
| See note above on running time calculation. | ||
Advice Services | ||
Any Advice Viewing (Theatrical, Video and VOD) | Submission fee: £81.22 + per-minute fee: £5.68* | |
Script Advice | Per page: £7.56 (Minimum fee: £108.47) | |
Theatrical Fees | ||
Standard work | Submission fee: £108.47 + per-minute fee: £7.56* | |
| Withdrawal Fees (Including cancellations and rescheduling) | ||
These fees are only levied for withdrawals and cancellations made under certain conditions. Full details of these can be found here. | ||
Standard Film work (incl. PBE works) | £211.61 withdrawal fee | |
Film trailer (PBE) | £105.80 withdrawal fee | |
Film trailer (non-PBE) | £52.90 withdrawal fee | |
| Other Theatrical Fees | ||
| 50% of the standard fee | ||
DCP file containing both 3D and 2D versions for classification | 3D version: fee for standard theatrical work (incl. per-minute fees) 2D version: plus an additional £108.47 | |
As Live | £108.47 | |
Student Short Films | Running time: 0-20 minutes: £54.24 21-40 minutes £108.47 | |
| Modern Film Classification for films classified: | ||
| Prior to 1 Nov 1982 | 75% of standard fee | |
From 1 Nov 1982 to 31 July 1989 | 75% of standard fee | |
| From 1 Aug 1989 onwards | Where a viewing is needed 50% of standard fee | |
| Charged at full standard rate if the film contains previous cuts or additional material | ||
| 1 Aug 1989 onwards | Where a viewing is not needed £108.47 | |
| Where a film is confirmed as identical and does not need a viewing | ||
| Charity rate - standard work | 50% of standard fee | |
Video Fees | ||
| Standard work | Submission fee: £81.22 + per-minute fee: £6.49* | |
| Withdrawal Fees (incl. cancellations and rescheduling) | ||
These fees are only levied for withdrawals and cancellations made under certain conditions. Full details of these can be found here. | ||
| PBE Video works | £211.61 withdrawal fee | |
All other withdrawals/ cancellations | £105.80withdrawal fee | |
| Other Video Fees | ||
| Video - identical content of theatrical feature | 75% of standard fee | |
resubmision | £26.72 | |
Submission fee: £81.22 + fee for works under 25 mins: per-minute fee + fee for works over 25 minutes: £162.43 | ||
Video work previously rated under W&R1 | Standard Video fee minus the original Watch & Rate fee2. | |
Composite Video works that includes elements previously rated under W&R1 | Standard Video fee minus ONE Watch & Rate submission fee and the combined per minute fees2. | |
| Preschool content | 30% discount of standard fee | |
1where the work is identical and is in the BBFC archive. 2Any original PBE fees are not discounted. | ||
| Charity rate video | 50% of standard fee | |
| Reactivation | £162.43 | |
Other Fees | ||
| Video game works | Submission fee: £81.22 + per-minute fee: £5.68 | |
| Classification of linear content including TV material created for video games; video rewards for completing certain tasks or levels within a game; or other video content which does not contribute to the narrative drive of the video game will be submitted by the VSC on behalf of games publishers. | ||
Digital Fees | ||
Standard VOD work (Watch & Rate for digital only ratings) | Submission fee: £26.45 + per-minute fee: £3.07* | |
| Online Music Video | First 5 minutes: £29.09 + £3.20 per minute thereafter. | |
Pre-booking Express (PBE) - Faster turnaround | Submission fee: £26.45 + per-minute fee: £3.07* PBE: 10% uplift on this fee. Premium PBE: 50% uplift on this fee. | |
All running times are rounded up to the nearest 15 minutes; works under 5 minutes rounded up to 5 minutes. See note above on running time calculation. | ||
| Withdrawal Fees (Including cancellations and rescheduling) | ||
These fees are only levied for withdrawals and cancellations made under certain conditions. Full details of these can be found here. | ||
Any VOD work | £52.90 withdrawal fee | |
| VOD PPBE | £105.80 withdrawal fee | |
| Other W&R Fees | ||
| Charity rate | Please note we do not offer a charity discount for Watch & Rate works. | |
Technical comparison | £162.43 + £26.45 fixed fee | |
Distributor change | ||
| BBFC Digital Services - Annual License Fee | Based upon estimated number of BBFC-rated titles live on service over the annual period: | |
Up to 100 titles: | No fee. | |
101 to 250 titles: | £581.93 p.a. | |
251 to 1,000 titles: | £1163.87 p.a. | |
1,001 to 5,000 titles: | £2327.75 p.a. | |
| More than 5000 titles: | £4655.50 p.a. | |
Licence runs from 1 January to 31 December. Those joining outside January are charged a pro-rata fee. | ||
| All fees are subject to VAT if applicable. | ||
| *Per minute for full length work | ||
Withdrawal fees
Theatrical features / theatrical short films
For each booked viewing slot, we will charge a withdrawal fee of £211.61 if any of the following occurs:
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking later than 12pm two working days before the viewing date
- Non-delivery of playable, finalised content by 3pm one working day before the viewing date (or 9.30am on the morning of a p.m. PBE viewing slot)
- Non-payment by 3pm one working day before the viewing date (or 9.30am on the morning of a p.m. PBE viewing slot)
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking later than 12pm two working days before the viewing date where the runtime exceeds the booked slot and cannot be accommodated in our theatre. Please see further details below.
Theatrical trailers
For each booked viewing slot, we charge a withdrawal fee of £52.90 if any of the following occurs:
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking later than 12pm one working day before the viewing date
- Non-delivery of playable, finalised content by 3pm one working day before the viewing date (or 4pm one working day before an a.m. PBE viewing slot or 11am on the morning of a p.m. PBE viewing slot)
- Non-payment by 3pm one working day before the viewing date (or 4pm one working day before an a.m. PBE viewing slot or 11am on the morning of a p.m. PBE viewing slot)
Video
For regular PBE bookings, we charge a withdrawal fee of £211.61 if any of the following occurs:
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking later than 6pm two working days before the viewing
- Non-delivery of playable, finalised content by 3pm one working day before an a.m. viewing slot or 9.30am on the morning of a p.m. viewing slot
- Non-payment by 3pm one working day before an a.m. viewing slot or 9.30am on the morning of a p.m. viewing slot
For Premium PBE bookings, we charge a withdrawal fee of £211.61 if any of the following occurs:
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking any time after we have confirmed the booking
- Non-delivery of playable, finalised content by 9.30am on the morning of the Premium PBE viewing slot
- Non-payment by 9.30am on the morning of the Premium PBE viewing slot
For non-PBE submissions, we will charge a withdrawal fee of £105.80 if any of the following occurs:
- Withdrawal of a work at any pre-viewing stage of the classification process
- Non-delivery of content within 30 days of completing your submission form (This will also require you to submit a new form if you wish to continue with this submission)
- Non-payment within 30 days of Accounts issuing a pro forma invoice (This will also require you to submit a new form if you wish to continue with this submission)
Please note we will not progress new submissions until we receive payment of the withdrawal fee.
We will charge a withdrawal fee and automatically withdraw works if we do not receive a response to our emails.
If any work has progressed through the process beyond the initial stages the fee payable may be higher than the withdrawal fee to cover the work performed.
**Our Charity rate is available only to charities registered in the UK.
Watch and Rate
For regular PBE bookings, we charge a withdrawal fee of £52.90 if any of the following occurs:
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking later than 6pm two working days before the viewing
- Non-delivery of playable, finalised content by 3pm one working day before an a.m. viewing slot or 9.30am on the morning of a p.m. viewing slot
- Non-payment by 3pm one working day before an a.m. viewing slot or 9.30am on the morning of a p.m. viewing slot
- Withdrawal or rescheduling of a booking any time after we have confirmed the booking
- Non-delivery of playable, finalised content by 9.30am on the morning of the Premium PBE viewing slot
- Non-payment by 9.30am on the morning of the Premium PBE viewing slot
- Withdrawal of content at any pre-viewing stage of the classification process
- Non-delivery of content within 30 days of completing your submission form (This will also require you to submit a new form if you wish to continue with this submission)
- Non-payment within 30 days of Accounts issuing a pro forma invoice (This will also require you to submit a new form if you wish to continue with this submission)
New Customers
All new companies submitting content for DVD release are required to send payment with their submission(s).
All new companies requiring classification for cinema release are required to have funds in place with our Accounts team before making a booking.
Works that are longer than the booked slot
This relates to all theatrical and PBE video submissions.
Theatrical
If our measurement of your content is longer than the running time stated on your submission form, we require payment of the difference before we inform you of the outcome of the viewing.
If we learn that the running time exceeds the booked slot by 12pm two working days before the viewing date, and we are unable to accommodate the viewing in our theatre, we will reschedule the viewing for another date.
If we learn that the running time exceeds the booked slot later than 12pm two working days before the viewing date, and we are unable to accommodate the viewing in our theatre, we charge a withdrawal fee.
PBE video
If our measurement of your content is longer than the stated time and requires a longer regular PBE viewing slot, our Accounts team will contact you with the following three options:
- Remain in the PBE scheme and pay the difference
- Remove the submission from the PBE scheme and pay the difference (if required) for a standard viewing
- Withdraw the submission (This will be subject to a withdrawal fee)
If our measurement of your content is longer than the stated time and requires a longer Premium PBE viewing slot, our Accounts team will contact you with the following options:
- Remain in the Premium PBE scheme and pay the difference (subject to available space)
- Remove the submission from the Premium PBE scheme and either pay the difference (if required) for a standard viewing or a regular PBE
- Withdraw the submission (This will be subject to a withdrawal fee)
Theatrical works that are shorter than the booked slot
This relates to non-PBE theatrical submissions only.
If our measurement of your content is shorter than the running time stated on your submission form, we will charge a fee that reflects the originally stated running time.
The following exceptions apply:
- If you are able to notify us of the correct running time by 12pm two working days before the viewing, we will only charge the measured running time.
- If your content has a running time of one minute less than the booked time, we will not charge for this minute.
Incomplete theatrical submissions
If we find a content to be incomplete, unfinished, or in any other respect not the version you will be releasing, we reserve the right to convert the submission to an advice viewing. For this we charge the advice viewing fee. We ask that you submit the content again in its finished version for another full viewing, and we charge this in full. The company must cover the costs of a rescheduled outside screening room.
Theatrical bookings made for external venues
Classification screenings that take place outside of the BBFC premises must be paid for at the same time as the classification fee. The cost of the outside screening room will be invoiced at the time of your booking. If a classification screening scheduled to take place at a venue away from the BBFC’s premises is cancelled, the venue will often charge a cancellation fee. When you are responsible for the cancellation of such a viewing, we will pass on any cancellation fee from the venue to you, in addition to our own withdrawal fee.
Watch & Rate
Standard costs for digital age ratings are offset if (1) the same content is later submitted for a DVD/Blu-ray age rating under the VRA and (2) we have the original Watch and Rate submission in a format that makes it possible to compare it with the VRA submission.
Where a video submission consists of several elements that have each received individual VOD classifications, only one of the original fixed fees are included in the discount.
PBE fees are not offset during subsequent VRA submissions.
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