What a Site Inspection Is
A site inspection is a visit to a venue before the contract is signed. The buyer checks in person what the contract is about to commit them to: which rooms, on which dates, in what condition, what building work is planned, and which mandatory charges have not yet been mentioned. It is different from a familiarisation trip, which the seller hosts to encourage a booking.
What it is for
A site inspection is a visit to a venue before the contract is signed. The buyer goes to check, in person, what the paperwork is about to commit them to.
This decides what a useful inspection looks like. A visit spent admiring a ballroom produces nothing. A visit that brings back 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 has its own accepted-practices document, published by what was then the Convention Industry Council. It 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 are often confused, and they are close to opposites.
A familiarisation trip, or fam trip, is a planned visit hosted by the seller. The destination, hotel or supplier pays most of the cost. The aim is to show buyers what is on offer so that they recommend it and book it. It is a marketing tool, and a legitimate one.
A site inspection is the buyer’s own visit, made for a real event that is being planned, usually at the buyer’s cost. It tests a specific venue for a specific event. The questions are meant to bring problems to the surface, and a good venue answers them without hesitation.
A visit can be both, and often is. Know which one is being paid for, because that decides who sets the itinerary.
What to check, and where it lands in the contract
Check six things. Each one matches a clause that would otherwise be agreed without anyone having seen it.
The function space. Agree rooms by name, or by their position on a floor plan. Settle the dates and times the space is held. These are not the same as the dates and times of the event, because set-up and breakdown need their own hours. Holding a room overnight between two days is a 24-hour hold, and it is charged as one. Then ask the question buyers forget: when may the venue move us, and does it need our consent?
The condition of the building. A condition of premises clause covers serious deterioration between signing and the event. On the visit, record the state of what you are contracting for, in enough detail to serve as a baseline. The clause is about a material change from what you were shown, not about normal wear.
Planned building work. Renovation and construction during an event is a known risk with its own clause. Ask directly what work is planned for your dates and for the months before them. Include work on public areas you will walk through but not book.
Every mandatory charge. Accepted practice is that a venue discloses, when the contract is made, any mandatory fees, surcharges and exclusive contractors that materially affect the group. Ask for the complete list in writing. An exclusive contractor is a supplier the venue requires you to use. It matters twice: it is a cost, and it limits who you may bring.
The rules and regulations. A venue’s operating rules are usually a separate document. The contract includes them by reference, which makes them binding whether or not anyone has read them. They often cover floor weight limits, rigging and hanging banners, opening hours, noise, security procedures, waste removal, utility rates and which suppliers may work in the building. Ask for the document on the visit, not after signing.
Whether the rates are commissionable. Rates may be commissionable or net. A commission may be payable to an agent, a site-selection firm or a housing bureau. Accepted practice goes further than disclosure. It suggests the contract should state that no commission will be paid unless the group has been told of it and has agreed to it.
What an inspection will not tell you
A visit cannot show three things, and buyers who expect it to are often caught out.
How the venue performs when full. 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 similar size, or ask for references from one.
Who will be there on the day. The people on the inspection are often not the people who will work the event. Ask which named individuals will be on site, and whether the venue employs them or uses subcontractors.
What the contract says. A visit does not replace reading the agreement and the documents it mentions. It makes reading them useful.
What to bring back
An inspection is worth only the record it produces. Bring back four things 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 that the contract will include.
With those four in hand, the negotiation is about price. Without them, it is about surprises.