Frequently asked questions

If you hire them out commercially, yes. Health and safety law requires equipment offered to the public for hire or reward to have in-service safety inspections, and HSE guidance expects amusement devices to be checked annually by a competent person.

There isn't a single line of statute that says "bouncy castles must be PIPA tested". The duty comes from the Health and Safety at Work Act and PUWER, with the detail set out in HSE's guidance, HSG175. PIPA is one of two inspection schemes named in that guidance, which is why it's the proof most venues ask for.

RPII, the Register of Play Inspectors International, registers the person. It's how you check that an inspector is qualified and current.

PIPA is the scheme for inflatable play specifically. It sets the inspection framework, runs the tag database, and holds inspectors to its rules. A PIPA inspector is RPII registered; not everything an RPII inspector tests carries a PIPA tag.

In short: RPII says who we are, PIPA says what your unit has been through.

BS EN 14960-1:2019 is the British and European standard for inflatable play equipment, covering safety requirements and test methods. It's what sets the numbers we measure against: wall heights, anchor point strength, netting mesh sizes, entrapment gaps, operating pressures and so on.

When you see "tested to EN 14960" on a report, that's the yardstick.

A privately owned inflatable used only by your own family isn't hired out for reward, so the commercial duty doesn't apply. The moment you lend it, hire it out, or use it at a fete or a club event, you're in different territory, and your insurer will very likely want to see a current inspection.

If in doubt, get it tested. It's cheaper than the alternative.

Every twelve months. The inspection remains valid for 12 months from the inspection date and must be renewed before it expires.

Book slightly early rather than slightly late, because a tag that expires mid-season is a booking you can't take.

A standard children's castle takes around 30 minutes to an hour. Larger units, obstacle courses and anything with a lot of netting take longer. On a fleet day we'll usually get through eight to twelve units depending on size and how the store is laid out.

Having units accessible and roughly in order makes a real difference to how many we can do.

Within a few days, by email, as a PDF. You're covered for bookings immediately, and the report is the paperwork that follows.

You’ll receive a PDF inspection report that you can send by email to customers, venues or insurers. If you use a BCN website, you can also upload it through the back end so a visible test certificate appears on your website.

Winter is the best time to do it. Your equipment isn't earning, we've got more availability, and you start the season with everything in date. We need a dry indoor space big enough to inflate the unit, so a village hall, a barn or a decent-sized unit all work.

Three things: a current inspection report, the unit’s identifying details and the operator’s public liability insurance.

Check that the report is still valid and that the serial number and dimensions match the inflatable that has arrived.

Yes. A PIPA tag is not a legal requirement. What is required is a current annual safety inspection carried out by a competent person to the applicable requirements of BS EN 14960. Ask to see the inspection report and check that it matches the inflatable supplied.

"It doesn't need testing" with nothing to show you is a different answer, and not a good one.

Yes. Schools, nurseries, holiday parks, soft play centres and councils all book us directly for equipment they own rather than hire. Same inspection, same report, and it goes straight into your health and safety file.

Usually, but go in expecting some remedial work. Plenty of imported inflatables are built to something the manufacturer has understood as EN 14960 rather than to the standard itself, and the things that most often come up are wall heights, anchor point strength and the size of the gaps round netting and arches.

None of that is a reason not to buy abroad. It is a reason to get an initial inspection done before the unit takes a booking, so you find out on your own time rather than a week before a school fete.

We inspect, we don't currently repair. If something fails we'll tell you exactly what it is, why it matters and what will put it right, and we'll point you at a repairer who can do that particular job properly.

Once the work is done we re-check the unit and tag it, usually without a second full inspection fee. The reason we don't do both is that an inspector who repairs the thing he has just failed is marking his own homework, and we would rather not be in that position.

They still need inspecting if you hire them out, they sit outside the PIPA scheme a RPII test is better here, so they get a bespoke inspection rather than a tag. Sealed units are a specialist item and the inspection looks at the design and the maintenance history as well as the condition, so send us the make, model and any paperwork you have before booking.

It matters more than most people expect. The manufacturer's operating instructions are what set the anchor point count, the operating pressure and the user limits for that specific unit, and without them there is nothing to inspect against.

If the manufacturer has gone, or the unit came secondhand with nothing, an operations manual can be put together for it. Sort that out before an inspection rather than finding out on the day.

Ask for the registration number and look it up yourself. RPII registration is checkable at playinspectors.com and PIPA inspectors are listed on the PIPA site. Do it for us and do it for anybody else quoting you.

The same goes the other way round. If a venue asks you to prove your units are inspected, give them the tag numbers and test PDFs without fuss. That is what they are for.