Material safety

Make sure your company is buying quality tents made from quality components.

Competition in tent manufacturing raises the bar—that’s true no matter what the industry. But competition also raises the responsibility of tent rental companies to do their best to investigate the quality of the tents they’re purchasing. So how can your company do its best to make sure that the tents it’s purchasing are made to stand up to safety codes? Even if the tents are manufactured outside of the jurisdiction of those codes? The answers aren’t necessarily easy—but there are answers.

Pat Moughan, general manager of Losberger US, an international manufacturer of clearspan tent and flooring products, advises doing your homework on the manufacturer before you make a purchase. By asking specific questions on the manufacturing process you can provide safer structures for your clients’ events.

• What grade of aluminum is used in the manufacture of the product?
• Where do the components, such as rivets, bolts and fittings, originate?
• Does the way the tent is put together stand up to local codes?
• Ask about engineering during the purchasing process—not after the fact.

“Sometimes there are reasons for things costing more,” Moughan says. But when safety is at stake—it’s worth it.