What a Site Inspection Is
A site inspection is a visit to a venue made before a contract is signed, to check in person what is about to be committed to on paper. Its purpose is verification rather than persuasion: which rooms, on which dates, in what condition, with what already scheduled to happen to the building, and what mandatory charges have not yet been mentioned. It is not a familiarisation trip, which is hosted by the seller to encourage a booking.
What it is for
A site inspection is a visit made to a venue before the contract is signed. Its purpose is to verify, in person, what the paperwork is about to commit the buyer to.
That framing matters, because it decides what a useful inspection looks like. A visit spent admiring a ballroom has produced nothing. A visit that comes back with the room names, the set-up times, the list of mandatory charges and the schedule of building works has produced the contract.
The meetings industry’s own accepted-practices document, published by what was then the Convention Industry Council, sets out the clauses a venue contract turns on. Almost every one of them describes something a buyer can check while standing in the building.
It is not a fam trip
The two get confused, and they are close to opposites.
A familiarisation trip — a fam trip — is a curated visit hosted by the seller. The destination, hotel or supplier covers most of the cost, and the purpose is to acquaint buyers with what is on offer so that they recommend and book it. It is a marketing instrument, and a perfectly legitimate one.
A site inspection is a buyer’s own visit, against a live brief, usually at the buyer’s cost, to test a specific venue for a specific event. The questions are adversarial in the mild sense that they are meant to surface problems, and a good venue answers them without flinching.
A visit can be both, and often is. It is worth knowing which one is being paid for, because it changes who sets the itinerary.
What to check, and where it lands in the contract
Six things, each of which corresponds to a clause that will otherwise be agreed blind.
The function space itself. Agree rooms by name, or by their position on a floor plan. Settle the dates and times the space is held, which is not the same as the dates and times of the event — set-up and breakdown need their own hours, and holding a room overnight between two days is a 24-hour hold and is charged as one. Then ask the question buyers forget: under what circumstances may the venue move us, and does that need our consent?
The condition of the building. A condition of premises clause covers material deterioration between signing and the event. On the visit, note the state of what you are contracting for, precisely enough to be a baseline. Normal wear is not the point; a material change from what you were shown is.
What is scheduled to happen to the building. Renovation and construction during an event is a known risk with its own clause. Ask directly what works are planned for your dates and for the months before them, including work on public areas you will pass through rather than book.
Every mandatory charge. Accepted practice is that a venue discloses mandatory fees, surcharges and exclusive contractors that materially affect the group at the time of contracting. Ask for the complete list in writing. Exclusive contractors matter twice over: they are a cost, and they are a constraint on who you may bring.
The rules and regulations. A venue’s operating rules are usually a separate document, and the contract incorporates them by reference — which makes them binding whether or not anyone read them. They routinely cover floor weight limits, rigging and hanging of banners, hours of operation, noise, security procedures, waste removal, utility rates and which suppliers may work in the building. Ask for the document on the visit rather than after signature.
Whether the rates are commissionable. Rates may be commissionable or net, and a commission may be payable to an agent, a site-selection firm or a housing bureau. Accepted practice goes further than disclosure: it suggests writing in that no commission will be paid that has not been disclosed to and agreed by the group.
What an inspection will not tell you
Three things, and expecting them from a visit is how buyers get caught.
How the venue performs under load. An empty ballroom on a Tuesday in March says little about the same room at capacity in June with a full kitchen behind it. Ask to visit during a live event of comparable size, or ask for references from one.
Who will actually be there. The people on the inspection are frequently not the people working the event. Ask which named individuals will be on site, and whether they are employed by the venue or subcontracted.
What the contract says. A visit is not a substitute for reading the agreement and the documents it refers to. It is what makes reading them useful.
What to bring back
An inspection is only worth the record it produces. Four things should come home in writing.
- The space, named. Room names or marked-up floor plans, with the held dates and times, set-up hours and any overnight holds.
- The charges, listed. Every mandatory fee, surcharge, service charge and exclusive contractor.
- The works, dated. Any construction or renovation planned before or during the event.
- The rules, attached. The operating rules document the contract will incorporate.
Get those four and the negotiation is about price. Miss them and it is about surprises.