Custom app development for inspecting grandstand and stage assembly
A grandstand can be erected in a morning and host an audience that same afternoon. The permit that allows this does not come from building regulations but from the mayor, under the local bylaw. That bylaw sets out what you must demonstrate structurally, and you remain ultimately responsible for safe installation and safe use.
Which regime applies
Event permits are granted under the local ordinance and fall within the authority of the mayor, who supervises public gatherings and entertainment. For the structural assessment, many municipalities incorporate the guideline of the Central Consultation on Building Structures (Centraal Overleg Bouwconstructies), November 2018 version, in full in their event policy. That guideline does not refer to buildings but to temporary structures: a marquee, grandstand, stage or other construction brought onto a site or built there to function on a short-term basis.
The guideline also sets out what you must submit: drawings of all structures with dimensions and materials, product certificates, structural calculations that explicitly state the wind speed applied, a justification of fire safety and a description of control measures. This must be submitted to the permitting authority at least three weeks before the start. The minimum safety level is consequence class CC2 under NEN-EN 1990, and each type has its own standards: NEN-EN 13200 for spectator facilities, NEN-EN 13782 for tents, and NPR 8020-50 and 8020-51 for stage structures.
Alongside the structure runs fire-safe use. The Decree on Fire-Safe Use and Basic Emergency Response for Other Premises applies to an event site and requires a use notification for a space intended for more than 150 people at the same time. That notification lapses if an event permit is required for the same location and the details are already included in it. During use, someone must be present or on call who will carry out instructions from inspecting officials on first request.
How we build this
Assembly happens early, often in the rain, by people seeing this structure for the first time that day. What cannot be done in a few steps there either happens later or does not happen at all.
Grandstand, stage, tower, canopy: each with its own certificate, calculation and wind limit. A code on the frame opens exactly that file and not your neighbour's.
What you check follows from the product certificate or assembly manual and from the standard for the type. A generic checklist misses precisely the point where this type fails.
A structure stays blocked until someone releases it, with a name and a time recorded. If defects are seen that are not corrected immediately, it does not go into use.
Wind speed and control measure belong on the structure itself, so it is clear on site when it must be cleared.
What the app does in practice
The assembly inspection carries the whole. The rest depends on the number of structures and on whether you work with fixed crews or changing suppliers.
Open the structure by scanning
A code on the frame opens the right checklist with the certificate alongside, as in our equipment inspection log for work equipment.
Assembly checklist per type of structure
Locking pins and wedges, bracing, anchoring or ballast, levelness, bearing capacity of the ground and fall protection.
A picture of the securing
A wedge hammered in, a ratchet strap to an anchor peg, an underpinning. Details that cannot be reconstructed afterwards and that are the first topic in an investigation.
Blocking and releasing
A finding that affects commissioning keeps the structure blocked. Release is a separate step with a name attached.
The wind limit and what you do with it
For each structure, the assumed wind speed, the measure, and the moment you apply it, with the forecasts you monitor during the event.
Works on site
In a field or a hall there is no coverage, and on a full site there is none at all. Everything is recorded locally and synchronised later, with the original timestamp.
Who we build for
Your role determines who you are held accountable to. Four situations.
Organisers and festivals
You hold the event permit and are therefore ultimately responsible for every structure on your site, including those supplied by your contractors. That requires visibility of what is standing, alongside your event planning.
Rental companies for grandstands, marquees and stages
Your equipment is with someone else and moves on to the next job. Certificates, manuals and history belong with the set, just as with lifting and hoisting equipment.
Stage and truss builders
You build on what a structural engineer has calculated, with lean and dynamic loads as the pitfall. See also software for steel structures and the app for contractors.
Structural engineers and safety advisers
You assess on behalf of municipalities or advise event organisers. A defined scope per assignment keeps findings with the right party. See also our inspection app and software for performing arts.
Test your idea first: a working prototype in 1 day
With OneDayBuild, we turn your idea into something tangible in one day for €1,150, so you can see whether further development is worth the investment. Decide to go ahead with the full build? Then we credit the full cost.
Explore OneDayBuild →Technology and integrations
Structures get added, suppliers change, and a manufacturer revises its manual. Types, checklists and wind limits should be configurable and not hard-coded into the app.
Why Appfront
The certificate belongs to the structure
For every structure you must have a product certificate or calculation on hand that can be produced immediately on request. We attach it to the code on the frame.
Releasing is an action
We turn blocking and releasing into recorded steps with a name attached. Otherwise, afterwards, all that remains is the recollection that someone had a quick look.
A wind limit without a measure is just a number
At the assumed wind speed we record what then happens and who makes that decision. That is what the control measure must contain.
We don't calculate anything
The calculation and the assumed wind speed come from your structural engineer, the assessment from the municipality. We build the recording of erection and release.
Security and privacy
An erection file shows who checked what and when, and what was not in order on that day. In the event of an incident, it is the first thing people ask for, yet it is of no use to every supplier on site. We set access by role and by event, give a rental company access only to its own structures, and log every view. Integrations run through secure integrations.
For this subject, immutability is the whole point. An erection checklist that has been filled in after the fact is not evidence but a problem. We record findings, blocks, releases and weather decisions immutably, with time and person, including on later synchronisation, and any correction is a visible correction alongside the original entry. How we handle security ourselves is set out in our information security policy; reports from outside go through our CVD policy.
Frequently asked questions about temporary structures
Under the event permit based on the local ordinance, a power of the mayor. For the structural assessment, many municipalities include the guideline of the Central Consultation on Building Structures in their event policy. For fire-safe use, the Decree on Fire-Safe Use and Basic Emergency Response in Other Places also applies. Whether an environmental permit is also required depends on the structure and on your municipality.
That is different legislation. A fairground ride or play device falls under the Trade Goods Decree on Attractions and Play Devices 2023, with a certificate of approval, a designated body and the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority as supervisor; the guideline for events refers to it explicitly. A grandstand or stage is not a device but a structure, and for those the municipality is the competent authority. For devices there is our device inspection app and software for inspection and records.
A site plan, drawings with dimensions and materials, product certificates for standard structures, structural calculations stating the explicitly specified wind speed, a justification of fire safety and a description of the management measures. These documents must be submitted to the permit issuer at least three weeks before the start.
What the certificate and the standard prescribe per type: couplings that cannot come loose with a single movement, bracing in both directions, anchoring or ballast, a level floor with stable packing, the bearing capacity of the ground and fall protection. For a floor edge of one and a half metres or more, a barrier of at least one metre high applies.
The permit holder is ultimately responsible for safe installation and safe use. A nationally prescribed release declaration does not exist. The competent authority may inspect and issue instructions, up to and including taking the structure out of use or removing it. For that reason, we make the release a deliberate action with a named person attached to it.
Wind loading follows NEN-EN 1991-1-4. Because of the temporary nature, a lower wind speed may be assumed, but not with a design working life under ten years. Each structure comes with management measures: the conditions under which it may be used, when it must be closed and what then happens. The permit holder follows the forecast and carries out those measures.
Yes. Sites are located outside built-up areas or in halls, and during the event the network becomes congested. Everything is recorded locally and synchronised afterwards, retaining the original timestamp. That moment matters for the record, especially for a decision based on the weather.
That depends on the number of structure types, whether you work with external suppliers and whether integrations with your planning are needed. The erection checklist with blocking and release is usable first; integrations follow afterwards. We give a reasoned estimate after the discovery phase.
Up to what wind force may your grandstand remain in use?
For one structure from your most recent event, ask what wind speed was assumed and which measure goes with it. If that is recorded nowhere, there is nothing to base a decision on. We build this as a standalone app and as part of a broader building custom software project.