InTents June/July 2022 - 24

MEMBER BENEFIT:
LIABILITY INSURANCE
quipment and tent rental
businesses can face a
broad range of risks-from
property damage to employee
injuries to accidents related to
transporting equipment and
party supplies. And due to the
unique nature of the industry,
tent rentals can be a unique
risk to insure. " Many insurance
companies have strayed away
from offering coverage in the
tent rental space, " says Kory
Eastenson, risk management
consultant, Upper Midwest
region of Marsh McLennan
Agency LLC, Minneapolis,
Minn. " Working with an agent
that understands the industry
is crucial in obtaining the right
coverage for a business. "
Marsh McLennan Agency
E
LLC offers insurance programs
for TRD members that are
tailored to the needs of the
member. " The TRD insurance
program is not meant to be
one-size-fi ts-all, " Eastenson
says. " Marsh McLennan
Agency understands that each
business is unique and needs
a customized approach. "
180 DAYS
The line between short-term and
long-term installations is drawn at 180
days, at which time the structures are
considered permanent and are then
subject to a different set of building codes.
" An original permit for the temporary
tent expires after 180 days in most
jurisdictions, " says Paul Armstrong,
principal of Long Beach, Calif.-based Paul
Armstrong Code Consulting Services
(PACCS), a company with extensive
experience with the International
Building Code (IBC), the International
Residential Code (IRC) and the
International Fire Code (IFC). " Certainly,
during the COVID pandemic in particular,
many such permits were extended by the
local jurisdiction-so the tent doesn't
actually become permanent. Permanent
structures could need automatic
sprinkler systems, ire alarms, permanent
foundations, etc., which would be
problematic for temporary tents. "
Great Lakes Tent Co. in Detroit, Mich.,
provides event rentals, including pole
and frame tents, and often installs
and maintains long-term rentals for
commercial applications. " Because in our
locale a tent is considered a permanent
structure after 180 days, our clients
will often pull permits for a temporary
installation-less than 180 days-and
if they need to leave the tent up longer,
they'll repull a permit, " says Michael
Solomon, chief operating oficer for Great
Lakes Tent. " If you go more than 180
days, the big issue locally is that you have
to add a ire suppression system to the
tent-and no one wants to pay that price
if they don't have to. "
RISK AND REINFORCEMENT
When installing tented structures,
as the amount of time a structure is
up increases, so do the risks and the
code requirements that come into
play. " Tents are not (necessarily)
permanent structures, " says Jacob
Berardi, lead code writer for event
tent rental and fabric structure rental
company Irmarfer US, based in Las
Vegas, Nev. " And if you're going to
make tents permanent, there's a lot of
reinforcement that needs to happen, as
well as a lot of risk you need to take on. "
Much of that risk has to do with
snow and wind loads, and staking and
ballasting. " Wind, weather, earthquakes,
etc. are always a concern in the built
environment, " Armstrong says, " Because
of the temporary nature of tents, the
structural design loads are usually
reduced and the use of temporary
foundations or connections to the
ground are allowed. "
In 2015, PartySavvy fi rst installed these custom Anchor Navi-Trac® tents for the Phipps
Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Schenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pa. The team installs
the structures in the spring for wedding receptions and other events on most
weekends, and removes them in the fall. Photo courtesy of PartySavvy.
24 intents june-july 2022
InTents June/July 2022

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