Texas bounce house insurance: the TDI requirements, step by step

Texas regulates bounce houses directly, and it does it in an unusual way. The state doesn't send its own inspectors. Instead it makes your insurance company the gatekeeper: no policy, no inspection certificate, no sticker, no legal rental.

Everything below comes from the Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 2151 (the Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act), and the Texas Department of Insurance's own amusement ride FAQ and requirements page.

Yes, a backyard bounce house counts

TDI's FAQ lists "continuous air-flow inflatable rides or devices (bounce houses, inflatable slides)" as amusement rides, right alongside go-karts, zip lines and mechanical bulls.

Things TDI says are not amusement rides include "Non-mechanized playground equipment," "Zorb or hamster balls," "Coin operated rides" and "Live animal rides." A bounce house isn't on that list, and the statute has a section written specifically for inflatables, so there's no gray area here for a rental business.

Inflatable water slides need a closer look. The statute's definition of amusement ride excludes certain waterslides, but only one that is less than 200 feet long, "substantially constructed from vinyl or vinyl coated polyester," and "not mechanically inflated using a continuous airflow device" (Sec. 2151.002). A blower-inflated water slide fails that last test, so it stays in the regulated group.

Class A or Class B, and why it matters for inflatables

Texas sorts rides into two classes (Sec. 2151.002):

• A Class A ride has "a fixed location" and is "designed primarily for use by children younger than 13 years of age."
• A Class B ride is everything else.

A bounce house you deliver to a different backyard every weekend doesn't have a fixed location, so a rental unit falls in Class B, even if it's a toddler castle. Class B is what sets your insurance minimum.

Insurance: $1 million per occurrence

For most Class B rides, the law requires either $1,000,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage per occurrence, or $1,500,000 combined single limit (Sec. 2151.101).

Inflatables get their own section. Sec. 2151.1012 applies to a Class B ride that is "mechanically inflated using a continuous airflow device" and "provides a surface for bouncing and jumping or creates an enclosed space for the purpose of amusement." For those, you need "a combined single limit insurance policy... in an amount of not less than $1 million per occurrence."

TDI's FAQ sums it up the same way: "Motorized trains and continuous air flow inflatables (Class B Rides) require limits of liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence."

The policy can come from an insurer authorized in Texas or from a surplus lines insurer. TDI also says the policy "must include a schedule of rides with the names and serial numbers of each ride insured by the policy." Keep your serial numbers somewhere you can find them. A photo of each unit's manufacturer tag, saved to a shared folder, will save you an afternoon.

One thing the statute doesn't do is set a per-person limit. Many inflatable policies cap what one injured person can collect, often at $100,000 according to Kelly Insurance Group. That can still meet the state's per-occurrence minimum and fall short of a school district contract. Read both. More on the sublimit on our coverage page.

Inspection: once a year, by your insurer

Under Sec. 2151.101(a), you can't operate a ride unless it has been "inspected at least once a year by an insurer or a person with whom the insurer has contracted," and you have a written certificate saying the ride has been inspected, meets the insurer's standards and is covered by the policy.

TDI is blunt about its own role: "TDI doesn't inspect rides. Amusement rides are inspected by the ride owner's insurance company." The FAQ adds that inspectors are licensed through the National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials (NAARSO). TDI's requirements page tells owners to "hire an inspector that your insurance company approves" and to ask the carrier for a list.

The certificate your inspector signs is TDI Form AR-100. Texas also sets a floor for the standard: covered rides "must comply with standards established by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) as of May 1, 1999," as minimums (Sec. 2151.106). For inflatables the relevant ASTM standard today is F2374.

Plan your season around it. The statute says the inspection certificate and policy "must be filed with the department before July 1 of each year." If you're inspected more than once a year, each certificate is due within 15 days of the inspection. Booking your inspector for a slow week in February beats scrambling in June when every bounce house company in Houston wants the same inspector.

Filing and the compliance sticker

TDI's requirements page lays out three steps: get insurance, get an inspection, and pay the filing fee. "We charge a $40 filing fee per ride." You pay after TDI receives the signed inspection and a certificate of insurance listing each ride's name and serial number.

Then TDI issues a compliance sticker. Per the FAQ, it's "valid for one year from the date of inspection" and "should be affixed to a major component of each ride in a location visible to the riders." On a bounce house, that usually means near the entrance where a parent will see it.

A ten-unit fleet means $400 a year in filing fees, on top of premium and inspection costs.

Paperwork that follows you to every party

Texas asks for more than a sticker:

• Schedule of Operations: mobile ride owners "must also provide a Schedule of Operations (Form AR-102) of operating locations and dates for each six-month period," according to the FAQ.
• Daily inspection record: TDI's Form AR-300 says the daily record "must be maintained for one year at the location where the ride is operated." The FAQ lists a daily self-inspection log among what police can ask to see for mobile rides.
• Quarterly injury report: you must report injuries caused by a ride that require medical treatment or result in death (Form AR-800). First aid, like a one-time bandage for a scrape, doesn't count, per Sec. 2151.103. No reportable injuries in a quarter means no report.
• Quarterly governmental action report: any government action on a ride, such as an inspection that led to a repair, goes on Form AR-801.

All of these forms are on TDI's amusement ride forms page.

Your customers and venues get copies too

This part matters for anyone who rents to parks, schools or churches. Sec. 2151.101(a)(5) requires you to file with "each sponsor, lessor, landowner, or other person responsible for the amusement ride being offered for use by the public" a copy of the inspection certificate and the insurance policy.

TDI can also ask a sponsor, lessor or landowner whether the required insurance is in place, and they have 15 days to answer (Sec. 2151.053). That's one reason Texas event organizers tend to be picky about paperwork: the law gives them a stake in it.

For how to build a certificate that names the venue as additional insured, see the additional insured guide.

Enforcement

According to TDI's FAQ, "A municipal, county, or state law enforcement official may enter a ride area without notice at any time" to check the sticker, protect public safety, or stop operation of a noncompliant ride. On request, you have to show a copy of the insurance policy, the inspection certificate and, for mobile rides, the daily self-inspection log.

Breaking the operating rules is a Class B misdemeanor, and under Sec. 2151.153 "Each day a violation of this chapter is committed constitutes a separate offense."

Anyone can report a ride they think is out of compliance by emailing TDI. So the competitor who undercuts you with a stickerless castle is taking a bigger risk than you are.

Workers' comp is optional in Texas, with strings

Texas is unusual here. TDI says private employers "can choose to carry workers' compensation insurance coverage (subscribers), but it is not required in most cases." Employers that don't carry it are called non-subscribers and have notice duties to employees and the state.

TDI also points out the trade-off: "Except in cases of gross negligence resulting in a fatality, workers' compensation insurance coverage limits your liability if an employee sues your business for damages." If your setup crew is three college kids hauling 20-foot slides in August, think hard before going without.

Texas checklist

1. Buy a liability policy with at least $1 million combined single limit per occurrence for inflatables, listing every unit by name and serial number.
2. Book the annual inspection with an inspector your insurer approves; get Form AR-100 signed.
3. File the certificate and policy with TDI before July 1 and pay $40 per ride.
4. Put the TDI sticker on each unit where riders can see it.
5. File your Schedule of Operations (AR-102) for each six-month period.
6. Keep daily inspection records (AR-300) where the ride operates.
7. Give sponsors, lessors and landowners copies of the inspection certificate and policy.
8. File quarterly injury (AR-800) and governmental action (AR-801) reports when anything happens.

Questions go to TDI's amusement ride program at 512-676-6750 or Amusements@tdi.texas.gov, per its requirements page. For how Texas compares with other states, see state and venue requirements.