Wind Mitigation Plans

Making sure that an event is as safe as it is memorable – for our partners in the event and rental industries, ensuring the safety of everyone at the event while protecting the company from any liabilities for weather-related dangers are two priorities that go hand-in-hand. At Tent Renters Supply, we provide guidance to our partners on these subjects and more, as well as providing the signed documentation for engineered tents, should our clients request it.

In this blog, we will explore the topic of Wind Mitigation Plans, as outlined by the American Rental Association.

What is a Wind Mitigation Plan?

Matt Perra, owner and product engineer at Tent Renters Supply, explains that a wind mitigation plan is a document that outlines the process for shutting down an event during certain weather conditions.

“Essentially, it is a statement of best practices, in the case of emergency evacuations for tent teams at events,” he says.

“What it involves is coming up with a guidance document of how a rental company, or a tent installer, will need to take down their tents under certain conditions. This is more on an operational side more than anything. Let’s say the winds get to a certain speed, then the guidance document will advise things like, how many people will do what and how, to make sure that procedures are in place for safe evacuation.”

A document of this nature ideally would outline specific responsibilities for parties, for instance, requirements on behalf of the tent installers, requirements on behalf of the promoters, event sponsors, event runners, or any involved sub-contractors.

Does My Tent Rental Company Need a Wind Mitigation Plan?

Even though tents, as temporary structures, aren’t always compliant to the building code as defined by the American Society of Civil Engineers, there is a growing prevalence for wind mitigation planning documents, especially for large-scale, major events.

“Many municipalities are asking for wind mitigation plans as part of the event submission process now,” says Mr. Perra. “They want to know what you’ll do if the wind progresses, to know that you have a process in place for conditions like this, and a plan for how and when to shut down, if needed.”

Whether or not your company elects to create this documentation, depends on the size and scale of the event.

“They can be extremely detailed. They can be extremely simplistic. A simple backyard party may still want to have a wind mitigation plan that can be as simple as: “when the wind gets here, we shut the event down.”

“That’s easy because the installer can make the decision. The customer knows about what those conditions are up front. You get into something like the National Championship and get a severe weather event, that obviously gets more complicated just because of the scope and the scale of the event and the number of people involved in it,” Mr. Perra says.

Contact Tent Renters Supply – a Leader in Engineered Tents

At Tent Renters Supply, we can help our clients determine what kind of documentation can assist with their projects, allowing them to be equipped with the documentation to support their decision processes in unique event situations. If you would like to obtain information about our products and services, contact us today at Tent Renters Supply, a choice tent manufacturer supplying custom tents for more than thirty years.