House rigger

At most large venues, attaching to the structure is exclusive work. The production company may build and load its own truss, but the slings, shackles and motors that connect that truss to the building are installed by the venue’s riggers or by a contractor the venue has appointed. An outside crew does not touch the steel.

This is a labour arrangement rather than a judgement about competence, and it is near universal in convention centres and arenas. Hotels vary widely: some have an in-house production partner with the same exclusivity, some have no rigging provision at all.

The consequences are practical. House rigging labour is ordered in advance against the approved plot, it is charged by the venue rather than by the production company, and it is scheduled — a rig cannot go up before the riggers are called, and a call that is short by two people is a load-in that runs late.

Many venues also require riggers to hold industry certification and name a supervisor who signs for the installation. That is a contractual requirement of the venue rather than a legal one, and it is worth confirming early, because a production company that is permitted to rig in one building in the same city may not be in the next.

The question to ask at the site survey is simply who attaches to the building, and what notice they need.

Staging and rigging — owned inventory, our own crew, and a site survey before anything is specified.

• Rigging plot The drawing that says what hangs where, how heavy each point is and how high it trims — submitted to the venue weeks ahead, not produced on the day.
• Rigging point One place where a load is attached to the building — counted and rated individually, because the building cares where the weight is, not how much is in the room.
• Load-in Getting the show into the building — decided by the dock, the door, the lift and the route, none of which appear on a floor plan.