Last week at Riverfront Civic, we were told 2,000 lb per point, then structural revised the upstage beam to 1,250 after I’d scheduled sixteen 1‑tons and a 60’ LED wall, which wrecked our risk assessment and timeline… How are you securing stamped drawings and sign-offs early enough to lock rigging requirements before holds?
stamped drawings and sign-offs early enough to lock rigging requirements before holds? We put it in the hold letter: PE-stamped structural due 21 days pre-hold and the hold stays soft/provisional until received; if it slips, change costs and reschedule fall to the venue, which stopped last-minute beam derates on our last arena. Can you get @venue_struct to sign that milestone before you commit the 1‑tons?
Short answer from my side: I’m seeing the same pattern — one concrete thing that helped was writing down the exact handoff and timebox it to 15–20 min. Does that match what you’re running into?
We add a ‘point‑load matrix’ to the RFP and require a PE/EOR‑stamped capacity letter tied to the rev set; any later down‑rating auto‑triggers a change order for time/cost, and we run a conservative interim cap until the stamp lands — like a rental‑car walk‑around for beams… @c_chapman75’s hold deadline is solid; citing ESTA/ANSI E1.6 in the scope helps backstop it (https://tsp.esta.org/) — would your GC sign that freeze clause?
I tie the stamp to insurance: no hold or COI until the EOR emails a one‑page stamped capacity table, and if they miss the date we default to 1,000 lb/pt and flip to the alternate plot. When a “2,000 lb per point” becomes “1,250,” we split the 60’ LED into two hangs and pre‑price the extra motors/truss so the GC sees the burn. If they push back, I ask for the steel shop drawings on that upstage beam or we show up with load cells and hard‑cap live; https://tsp.esta.org backs the policy.
Quick example: we set a design‑freeze date in the advance tied to a PE/EOR‑stamped capacity one‑pager for the current rev, and take a refundable design‑freeze deposit that converts to a change‑order credit if they miss it — a prenup for the roof… Building on @jordan_mac82, we also book a paid pre‑rig walk with the EOR about 30 days out to verify as‑builts and issue that one‑pager on site. If they won’t commit, we pre‑price a light/heavy rig plot and lock the delta before holds.
, been burned by that swing too; my fix is a scheduled RFI at T‑30 to the steel fabricator for their shop drawings/connection schedule (not the arch set) so we can confirm reactions by member and hole pattern before you lock those sixteen 1‑tons and the 60’ LED wall. If that stalls, our contract auto‑converts to Plan B: a pre‑priced mothergrid with towers/spreaders and a revised crew day, and we notify the GC within 24h. Can you route the ask through the GC to the detailer instead of waiting on structural, @Riley?
But i add a ‘change-threshold’ clause in the advance: if any point drops more than 15% after T‑21, we auto-shift to the backup plot and the venue covers the delta on rehang labor — keeps everyone honest and no surprises at trim. Building on @karina_roth84, I also schedule a quick three‑way with the steel fabricator and their PM and send minutes that state ‘no revisions pending’ so there’s a dated paper trail. Would your venue sign that addendum, or do you need it tied to the hold to get traction?