How to write a wind management plan

Who asks for one

MUTA's Best Practice Guide 2026 says a wind management plan, incorporating wind action levels, should be developed and provided to the user of a fabric structure. It lists the plan among the evidence a contractor should be able to produce.

An ADIPS safety bulletin from November 2024 says the emergency services and local authority can demand through the safety advisory group that a wind management plan is in place.

Bute Park in Cardiff says all events should have one.

Sources: MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026; ADIPS: Safety Bulletin SB 001-24: message to controllers about high winds, 29 November 2024; Bute Park, Cardiff: Event guide: wind management plan

A limit for every structure

Bute Park says the plan should list the maximum wind speed for each structure. Merton Council's published plan for Diynamic Festival London (2018) says each structure should have its own wind action plan.

The figure belongs to the structure. For an inflatable, HSE says no inflatable should be used in winds above 24mph and its manual may give less. For a marquee, a stage roof or a gazebo, check your certificate or manual.

ADIPS adds a warning: just because a structure can withstand a certain wind speed, it does not mean it can be operated with customers on at that speed.

Sources: Bute Park, Cardiff: Event guide: wind management plan; Merton Council: Appendix N: Wind Management Plan, Diynamic Festival London, 2018; Health and Safety Executive: Inflatable play equipment guidance; ADIPS: Safety Bulletin SB 001-24: message to controllers about high winds, 29 November 2024

Action levels

Bute Park asks for the action to be taken at 60% and 80% of each structure's maximum wind load capacity. It says effective action must be taken before any operating limit is exceeded.

For a site with many structures, ADIPS suggests putting every device's written threshold in a matrix and setting agreed tiers for the event as a whole. That gives the public one consistent decision rather than some attractions closing while others stay open.

Two published examples show how levels are written. Each is an example for its own event, not a standard to copy.

• ADIPS example, level 1: gusts over 8 m/s (18mph) with the wind rising. Staff go on alert, flags, scrims and signage may be lowered and anchorage points are checked.
• ADIPS example, level 2: gusts over 9.83 m/s (22mph) with the wind rising. All staff are warned that rides may have to close and inflatables are evacuated safely and deflated.
• Merton example: 12 to 18 m/s (27 to 40mph) checked every 30 minutes, 18 to 22 m/s (40 to 49mph) every 15 minutes and over 22 m/s (49mph) monitored constantly, with site evacuation at that level.

Sources: Bute Park, Cardiff: Event guide: wind management plan; ADIPS: Safety Bulletin SB 001-24: message to controllers about high winds, 29 November 2024; Merton Council: Appendix N: Wind Management Plan, Diynamic Festival London, 2018

Who decides

Bute Park says a competent person must monitor the plan against the operating limits of each structure. In the ADIPS example the event safety officer decides when to move from one level to the next.

ADIPS says the safety manager should make the collective call for a fair. Write down who that is for your event and who stands in when they are off site.

Sources: Bute Park, Cardiff: Event guide: wind management plan; ADIPS: Safety Bulletin SB 001-24: message to controllers about high winds, 29 November 2024

Measure and log

• Hastings Borough Council's event management plan template asks for wind speeds to be monitored throughout with an anemometer and for weather forecasts to be monitored continually from installation to the end of derig.
• The same template asks for appropriate ballasting of gazebos, marquees and other temporary structures, competent sign off for staging and a contingency plan for evacuating structures or the site.
• ADIPS says each controller should have a working anemometer for their device. The safety manager should have their own to record wind speeds through each day.
• ADIPS says forecasts and the gusts actually reached should be logged in a documented wind measurement log book. Readings should become more frequent as the risk worsens.
• MUTA says to refer continually to weather forecasting services, particularly for structures put up in winter or on exposed sites.

Sources: Hastings Borough Council: Event management plan template and guidance notes, version 7; ADIPS: Safety Bulletin SB 001-24: message to controllers about high winds, 29 November 2024; MUTA: Best Practice Guide 2026

Build and derig

The plan covers more than show days. Merton's example stops the use of access equipment and roof climbing if gusts become continuous above 12 m/s (27mph). Hastings asks for forecasts to be watched from installation to the end of derig.

Sources: Merton Council: Appendix N: Wind Management Plan, Diynamic Festival London, 2018; Hastings Borough Council: Event management plan template and guidance notes, version 7

Where a forecast fits

A forecast tells you days ahead which days are likely to reach an action level, so staff and contractors can be booked. On the day, the anemometer reading at the structure is the one the plan acts on.