Annual Inspector of Inflatable Play Equipment

Bouncy Castle Tester

We are an annual inspector of inflatable play equipment, accredited by the Register of Play Inspectors Internation (RPII).

You can check this independently on the RPII's website, here: https://www.playinspectors.com/inspector/?i=27846

Want to book your bouncy castle testing? You can contact us for a quote or call on 07946 293597

For customers that hire inflatables from us, it should provide a great deal of reassurance that not only have we received industry recognised qualifications from PIPA making us qualified PIPA operators, but we are also accredited RPII Inspectors - The very body that accredits to the levels of competence required by PIPA (Pertexta Inflatable Play Accreditation).

Every commercial play inflatable needs to be inspected by someone the HSE deems competent - An initial inspection and then subsequent annual inspections, based on BSEN:14960. You can find references to the RPII on the HSE website, here: www.hse.gov.uk/entertainment/resources.htm

We carry out inspections and provide reports based on the standards laid out in BSEN:14960: 2019 and it's various subsequent releases. Where applicable we also include elements taken from various other standards, such as BSEN 1176-10:2023 and other relevant standards, such as BSEN: 71-3, BSEN 1177, BSEN 60529, BSEN 2307 referenced in BSEN 14960.

We don't just carry out bouncy castle inspections, we are accredited to perform inflatable safety inspections on all inflatable play equipment and can issue reports confirming that they meet the requirements of BSEN 14960; From Inflatable slides, bouncy castles, ball pools to gladiators, assault courses, shootouts and more.

Our issued reports based on the safety inspection carries our official RPII member seal, these reports are provided as digital PDF files so that they can easily be added to your website, printed out or shared via email by yourself to your customers who require the documentation.

We provide reports that are court ready and meet the requirements of BSEN 14960, recognised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

If you require an annual inspection of your inflatable play equipment then please feel free to contact us for a quote or discussion based around your requirements. We're able to offer day rates, prices for individual items, a place to inspect them or travel to your preferred venue - Nation wide.

We're based in Welling, Kent - However, we cover customers in London (for inflatable inspections) and will travel to most mainland parts of the UK for a travel expense.

Bouncy Castle Tester Kent

What is a bouncy castle tester?

Well, technically there's no such thing as a "bouncy castle tester", the correct term would be an annual inflatable inspector - But it's become an industry term amongst bouncy castle hire companies, leisure centres and even swimming pool owners (despite swimming pool inflatables not even being designed for bouncing).

A bouncy castle tester is someone who inspects the inflatable and provides a report identifying whether the inflatable meets the criteria of BSEN 14960; The standard used for bouncy castles.

There are several revisions and parts to the standard and it is regulary updated to include additional clarifications and scope of inflatables. Sometimes inflatables do not fully fall under this specific standard, in which case the bouncy castle inspector will use other standards, perform a risk assessment and apply the relevant parts of the standard along with guidance notes to form their report.

What is the RPII?

The Register of Play Inspectors International (RPII) is the official UK body for examining, accrediting and certificating inflatable, indoor and outdoor play inspectors.

The RPII are trusted by councils, leisure centres, schools and PTA's across the UK, with accredited RPII inspectors issued reports being the usually accepted documentation for inflatable play equipment.

There are two main inspection bodies for commercial inflatables; PIPA and the RPII. While we are qualified PIPA operators, we are also an accredited RPII annual inflatable inspector. The Register of Play Inspectors International (RPII) are who actually provides accreditation to the competence levels required by PIPA.

Why do I need a bouncy castle test?

Well, again it's not really a "test"; This is another industry term that everyone uses - It's an inspection report.

However, you'll be forgiven for calling it a bouncy castle test as the reports that we issue do provide a clear indication of "passed" or "failed" based on the findings from the inspection.

You need an inspection report for a lot of reasons, but the top Four usually are:

• Safety! An accredited inspector knows and can identify risks and issues with inflatables; They are able to tell you whether the inflatable falls short or not of the requirements in BSEN 14960.
• Court ready documentation - A recognised inspector will provide you with documentation that will stand up in court, providing that you have fullfilled your obligation to have an annual inflatable inspection carried out by a person the HSE deems competent. Proving competence in court can be very time consuming and costly for the defendant and not gauranteed by any means - Having your inspections carried out by an existing recognised body is reassuring.
• It's required for valid insurance. You may be paying a premium, but without a valid inspection report for your equipment the insurance company will likely walk away from you. It will be in their small print and something over-looked by many bouncy castle companies who believe that they are "covered", but are neglecting to understand that without the inspections carried out, they cover is likely not as comprehensive as they thought.
• The law requires all equipment hired for commercial gain must be inspected by a competent person.For more information about this, check here: https://www.hse.gov.uk/work-equipment-machinery/puwer.htm Most will commonly know this as PUWER, The Provision and Use of Work Equipment (1998).

Do you cover my area?

Chances are - Yes we do. We're based in Kent near London, however we will travel to any UK mainland for a reasonable travel expense.

If you're local to us (we're based in Bexley, near Dartford) then we can arrange a suitable venue for a day of inspections, or alternatively we're happy to come on-site to your preferred location. Depending on the size and amount of inflatables we may also be able to accomodate inflatable testing where you bring the inflatable to us and we perform the inspection while you wait.

Our travel expenses are pretty reasonable and they do not impact the length of time or duration of the day rate - We're bouncy castle operators ourselves and happy to stick a shift in.

How much will this cost me?

That's very difficult to answer with a one-size fits all. We do offer a day rate and we aren't afraid of hard work - Although under no circumstances will we cut corners or "blitz through" inspections - They take as long as they take to perform safely and properly.

We're very happy to stick a good shift in and keep going on a day rate, but we also offer prices for single inflatables, you don't need to be a huge company, you may well just be starting out with a single bouncy castle or maybe just a few; We can quote for this and happy to have a discussion with you.

The trouble is, we can't provide a static cost per inspection on the website - For example, there's a big difference between a multi-part 100ft assault course and a little 10x12 bouncy castle. There's no comparisson between a leisure centre's air-park or inflatable centre's bouncy castle park and a ball pool.

Rest assured though, we do offer competative rates and for single inflatables (not as part of a day rate) can be as little as £75 for standard children's bouncy castles.

Answering how much does bouncy castle testing cost really is impossible to answer on a web page, there's a lot of factors involved - Amount of inflatables, condition and type of inflatables and whether the operator is going to exclusively manage the setting up and packing away of the inflatables and has a small team to keep feeding the inspector inflatables back-to-back.

We’re happy to provide a full day of testing on an 8 hour day rate, fully inclusive of all reports and the only additional expense would be travel (if applicable). You won't find us hanging around and chatting - We crack on and get the work done; This is by far the most cost effective way to carry out bouncy castle testing.

If you’re interested in a day rate and would like a chat about your requirements, we’d love to hear from you.

How long does it take to test a bouncy castle?

That's difficult to answer in a straight forward way. A regular child's bouncy castle in good condition and meeting the requirements of BSEN 14960 may take as little as 25/30 minutes - Assuming that the inspector doesn't have to set it up and pack it away (just the inspection itself).

That shouldn't be used as a yard stick for all inflatables though - A leisure centre's giant play park may take several hours or a whole day to inspect properly, where as a ball pool or nerf shoot-out would be a fraction of that time. Size, type, condition, complexity and other factors play a part in the duration of an inspection.

The quickest way to conduct testing while remaining safe and still performing quality inspections is for the inspector to be left to inspecting only - For example, if the inspector needs to help you set-up and pack-away the inflatables it will take them considerably longer and it isn't an effective use of your "day rate", it's far more efficient to have a hall/venue with a small team of 2-3 people who are dedicated to setting up and packing away the equipment, leaving the inspector to get on with the inspections one after another.

Do We Receive a Report?

Yes, we issue inspection reports that are court-ready and in PDF format so you can proudly display them on your website (or store offline for your records). They are comprehensive with over 140 point checks and data points in the document, they include our accreditted RPII seal and are 5 pages long! There's a sample and more details about the reports we issue, here.