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Just a quick note to thank you all at TIPE for all your help over the past 12-months. All the staff at What a Giggle have found you excellent over the year and more importantly you have saved us time and money in every aspect!

What A Giggle - Devon Tuesday, June 13, 2023

Best 50 pounds I spend each year and really great value for money. Information and assistance is first class and accurate

Huff N Puff - Hertfordshire Monday, October 16, 2023

We are very impressed by TIPE and glad we joined up

Castles R Us - Surrey Monday, December 11, 2023

TIPE has been most valuable to our company, it keeps us up to date with industry news, provides quick appropriate impartial advice and is working for the good of the industry

Big Fun Uk - Norfolk Tuesday, October 24, 2023

TIPE offers a great line of support and information. A very valuable service for anyone in the play industry!

Innovents Leisure - Berkshire Tuesday, July 11, 2023

Information for those looking to hire bouncy castles

We have all read the horror stories in the press regarding various incidents on bouncy castles.

To find out the the true perspective and how to safely enjoy read the TIPE Information Sheet

Insurance

Many customers will ask whether or not an operator has bouncy castle insurance.

The fact of the matter is that any hire companies do have insurance cover but this DOES NOT cover you if you are supervising the unit yourselves. Any operator telling you otherwise is not telling you the truth.

Always ask to see a copy of their insurance anyway.

Operators are also required to have their equipment tested annually. Failure to do so will result in their insurance being void anyway. Good operators will always produce copies of their insurance and safety certificates if asked.

Operators are also required to issue 'Operating Instructions' to a customer.

Public Pages

To find out more about hiring inflatable equipment safely.

Additional Help

Industry Jargon Buster

BS EN 14960

European Standard for bouncy castle manufacture, bouncy castle sales, bouncy castle testing, bouncy castle operation, bouncy castle supervision.

Information Sheet 49 Following the withdrawal of Entertainment Sheet 7 TIPE worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive to produce an Information Sheet to cover the basic requirements of all. ETIS 7 is currently under review by HSE and will be available here when released.

To Buy or Hire

In recent months Bouncy Castles have become readily available through various stores and warehouses.

At first glance these units look just like the ones that you see at events and the pricing would indicate the advantage of buying as opposed to hiring.

You need to be aware that most of these units are rated as 'toys' and whilst they are suitable for home use, if you follow the instructions, they are not suitable for commercial use. Most packaging will carry a warning to that effect.

This year we had a number of inquiries from schools who had had one of these units donated by a parent and needed to get insurance cover. They were extremely disappointed when we told them that it would not be possible to get cover for a non commercial unit.