Two influential trade bodies have called for national guidance for councils to ensure the smoking ban is enforced uniformly.
Business in Sport and Leisure (BISL) and the British Hospitality Association (BHA) want the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the body headed by deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, to take the lead.
Trade groups also called for looser rules on signage and expressed concern at the fines for licensees in their submissions for the consultation on the smoking ban.
BISL says the definition of what kind of smoking shelters are acceptable are "open to considerable interpretation" by councils.
BISL says it is "essential" to get guidance from DCLG, adding: "It would be good to see examples of acceptable structures in the guidance, so that industry is clear on what it can apply for and what is not acceptable."
The group is concerned that councils will have "very different approaches leading to considerable confusion".
BISL said the £2,500 fine for licensees that allow people to smoke on the premises is "disproportionate"- a view backed by BHA.
BISL wants the Lord Chancellor's Department to give guidance to courts "to ensure that fines for a first offence are considerably less".
BHA and BISL call for wording of the no-smoking sign to be "left to operators and owners of premises" claiming that "prescribing wording in such a specific way is unhelpful and over burdensome".
The groups call for a "sunset clause" so the need for signage could be removed in two years when consumers are used to the ban.
The consultation ends on Monday (9 October).
grassroots Call for later date
A group representing grassroots licensees has called for the smoke ban to start in "at least summer 2008".
In its submission, the National Parliamentary Committee of the Licensed Victuallers Association expressed fear that the smoking regulations will not pass through Parliament until spring 2007.
This would give pubs just a couple of months to secure planning and consent and vary their licences to include smoking shelters. Council elections in May 2007 will delay planning and licensing applications, the group said.
The body also calls for "heavier penalties for smokers" to "greatly assist in general compliance".
welsh ban date is 'immovable'
Trade groups have been told that the 2 April 2007 start date for the Welsh smoking ban is "immovable".
Trade leaders stressed opposition to the date at a meeting between the Welsh Assembly and the task and finish group, looking at practical issues around the ban.
Ministers and civil servants said the date will not move.
"There's a clear indication that 2 April is an immovable date despite a number of parties saying we need more time for planning applications to be lodged," said SA Brains retail director Philip Lay after the meeting.
Lay and representatives of the Licensed Victuallers Association of Wales, the Confederation of British Industry and the Welsh Tourist Authority called for the date to be pushed back. Lay had previously criticised Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan for announcing the ban's proposed start date before the task and finish group's first meeting.
This week the Welsh Assembly said businesses will be sent information on what the ban will mean for firms in mailshots in early November.