Waivers

The AMS has a policy requiring all members of every club and society to sign a ‘release of liability’ form. This process informs members of potential risks and dangers of club activities, and protects the club from claims of loss or liability.

Clubs are not considered legal entities, therefore their parent organization, the AMS, and their insurer have a policy requiring all members of every club to sign a ‘release of liability’ form. There are many rules about waivers, so please make sure you read this carefully! Click on any of the links to skip to a section:

General Membership Waivers
Rules About General Membership Waivers
Event Specific Waivers
Rules About Event Specific Waivers
Constituencies and Resource Groups
Deadlines

Every member of the club is required to sign a General Membership Waiver, regardless of the nature of the club and its proposed activities. This form protects the club and the AMS from liability in the event that a member of the club is physically harmed and/or incurs property loss or damage.

For the convenience of both executives and members, the Finance Commission has incorporated the Membership List and General Membership Waiver. This means when new members sign the Membership List they are also signing the Waiver! It is recommended prospective members complete a General Membership Waiver at the time of membership enrolment. Please use the table that has been created for you, available for download on the right.

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If the club already has a General Membership Waiver drafted either on their own or provided by an external organization (parent organization), it will first need to be approved by the Finance Commission (similar to contracts). However, it is highly suggested that clubs use the waivers provided by the AMS, available for download on the right.

All waivers must be submitted to the Finance Commission (see deadline below). They will be kept on file until the end of the fiscal year (April 30), and archived with the AMS for future reference.

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Clubs that organize events outside of their regular day-to-day activities where potential physical injury may occur (e.g. skydiving, bungee jumping, paintball, sailing, skiing, etc) must have all participants complete an Event Specific Waiver, in addition to the initial Membership Waiver.

For example, if the Star Wars Club decided to go water-skiing, all participants would need to fill out an Event Specific Waiver because water-skiing does not fit within the mandate and/or regular activities of the club. However, if the Water-Skiing Club decided to go water-skiing, participants would not be required to fill out an Event Specific Waiver because water-skiing is an activity that fits within the club’s mandate and/or regular activities.

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If the club already has an Event Specific Waiver drafted either on their own or provided by an external organization (parent organization), it will first need to be approved by the Finance Commission (similar to contracts).

All waivers must be submitted to the Finance Commission (see deadline below). They will be kept on file for at least a year after the event has taken place, and archived with the AMS for future reference.

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Constituencies and resource groups are not required to fill out or submit waivers to the Finance Commission. This is because all members of constituencies and resource groups are UBC students and all UBC students are automatically AMS members.

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Though General Membership Waivers are a rolling process, the Finance Commission requires a majority of the General Membership Waivers to be submitted by October 9.
Event Specific Waivers must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the specified event.

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