If you want to insure your event for the day then please

PIPA is an inspection scheme set up by the inflatable play industry to ensure that inflatable play equipment conforms to recognised safety standards.

The scheme is supported by the HSE who were consulted at every stage of its development. The other HSE supported scheme is the Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme (ADIPS). To see the HSE’s guidance on inflatables, click here.

When contacting Lily’s Bouncy Castles and Soft Play Hire limited whether it’s through a telephone call or a message through our Facebook Page etc. regarding the hire of a bouncy castle for a garden at the back (or front) of your house, one of the first questions we ask is "what is the surface type? grass?". Quite often the response will be "no it’s slabs" or "it's concrete, tarmac or astro-turf". Unfortunately, if the surface type is hard-surface in an outdoor environment we are unable to set up a bouncy castle (or other type of play inflatable) and will explain this to the customer and the reasons why. It often shocks us to hear the response from the customer or client, such as: "another company did it last year" or "I'll find someone else that will". Safety has always been our first priority at Lilys Bouncy Castle and Soft Play Hire limited for the last 10 years and rightly so as it’s likely the most precious people in your life who will be using the bouncy castle, yours or your families/friends children. So, why can't we set up a bouncy castle on an outdoor hard surface? Bouncy castles are required by the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) which is the Law, to be appropriately anchored down with an equivalent weight of 163kg per anchor point. For grass surfaces this will be accomplished by using metal anchor stakes hammered into the grass that should be minimum size 16mm thick and 380mm long with rounded top which resembles a "shepherds crook" (preferably galvanized ribbed steel). For hard surfaces like slabs, mono-block, concrete, tarmac, shingle or any other outdoor hard-surface such as astro-turf, this isn't possible but the requirement for 163kg's of weight per anchor point is still in place. Can you not just use sand bags? Yes we could but each anchor point would require 7 x 25kg sandbags for one of our 12ft x 15ft bouncy castles, a total of 42 sand bags or 1,050 kg of weight (assuming each sandbag is 25 kg and the bouncy castle has 6 anchor points). These 42 heavy sandbags would be required to be delivered in a separate van and take around 30 - 90 minutes to bring the sandbags onto the setup site!! One sandbag per anchor point is NOT suitable, adequate or safe! Why does the bouncy castle need to be anchored down with 163kg of weight? The 163kg's of weight comes from scientific trials by those who created the EN14960 British Standard. 163kg is the exact amount of resistance it takes to break the cohesion between the peg and soil and pull a peg out of ideal grass at a 45-degree angle on just one of the inflatable anchor points. Exceed this figure and the metal peg loses its grip. 163kg is also what pull a 27mph wind has on an inflatable. This is force 5 on the Beaufort Scale which can be found on the internet at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale. Hence those figures being used for safety. It's vitally important to point out that bouncy castles should never be operated in winds (including gusts) that exceeds 24mph. Also, reducing the size of the peg from the standard size (380mm long and 16mm thick) reduces the amount of grip and as such it becomes unsafe. A tent peg, for example, is totally unsuitable. So, in the absence or grass, the law says that each of the 6 anchor points on a typical 12ft x 15ft bouncy castle must have 163kg's of weight per anchor point. Using 1 x 25 kg sandbag is almost the same as using a tent peg for a direct comparison and is totally inadequate. Anything less than 163kg per anchor point is non-compliant and will lead to issues regardless of any bouncy castle test status or public liability insurance. I hope that you have found this post informative and understand that when we say "Sorry we can't set up the bouncy castle outdoors on a hard surface" you now understand the reasons why. At the end of the day it's yours, your families or friends children's lives at risk, don't risk it please!!