Playground Advisory

9 Recommendation – The bid/tender documents will have the terms of the warranty clearly stated and the corporate history of each supplier required. To limit liability on future claims and potential failure of the system, the contract will require a minimum of $2 million of comprehensive insurance. General There are financial considerations to every playground pro- tective surface. The supplier must invest in the development, manufacture and marketing of a system that must meet all of the requirements and is exposed to not being paid should the system not comply, or the cost of repairs during the warran- ty. Alternatively the owner/operator is often investing in a highly technical system they do not understand and are not sure of the long term performance to the battery of legal, standards and liability requirements. This is not child’s play, it is a partnership that must last 15 to 20 years depending upon the replacement cycle for the playground. Ultimately care must be taken on both sides to reduce the risk of serious financial consequences. The ultimate outcome for the play- ground with and without the accessible route could well be a combination of surface materials in a number of locations within the playspace. Recommendation – There are a number of laws, standards and industry practices that can be used to develop protective sur- face systems with positive long-term performance. The pru- dent manufacture/supplier would develop a product mix that meets the various performance requirements across the play- ground. The manufacture will also be very cautious in their claims for ADA or ASTM compliance when the compliance issue is more complex than just a single test. Recommendation – The owner/operator must become familiar with all aspects of the standards and laws that they are being required to meet. They in turn will write specifications, perfor- mance requirements; testing programs, maintenance proce- dures all with financial consequences for their suppliers should the systems not perform as promised in literature, internet and contracts. The owner/operator would be wise to develop a hold harmless where the supplier who claims compliance to the ADA or the CSA Z614-07, Annex H, that should the owner/ operator be faced with a claim for non-compliance, that the supplier will absorb any legal or remedial costs that the owner/ operator must pay. Conclusion The mandated compliance to measurements and standards at the time of installation and over the life of the playground will force both the owner/operators and industry to work to better understand and provide the sustainable protective playground surface. This will be a benefit to everyone involve www.PlaygroundAdvisory.com The Bogyman is not accessibility