COI tracking for event venues

Load-in is a bad time to read an ACORD form

Read the certificate when it arrives, and record the expiration before the week of the event. General liability is the line almost every venue asks for. Workers' compensation matters when the vendor brings employees, which caterers and stagehands do. Automobile liability matters when a box truck is in the dock. Umbrella shows up on production and rigging contracts more than on a florist. If a line is missing, the status is missing, not current.

A one-day vendor is still a party. You will hire a similar caterer next month, or the same one next year, and you should not depend on remembering the thread. Leave them on the board. If their policy expires between events, the reminder fires even though no event is on the calendar. That is the point. The next inquiry should start from a known date.

Clients who hire their own vendors

Some contracts say the client's vendors must name the venue as certificate holder. You may not control those vendors, but you can refuse load-in until the certificate is in Review and accepted. The update link can go to the client's planner or straight to the caterer. They upload. You check the holder name and the date. A certificate that names the client's home address and not the venue is not the document your contract described.

Your building's own policies are a separate record, useful when a client asks you for proof. Do not mix the venue's certificate with the caterer's in one upload. Reminders at 30, 14, and 7 days are a calendar, not a legal review. Additional insured and waiver language still need a human and, when the contract is picky, the additional insured checklist plus your broker.

• Collect certificates before the week of load-in.
• Keep one-time vendors on the list.
• Check the certificate holder against the venue's legal name.
• Split liability and workers' compensation so a lapse in one is visible.

A small events office

A single ballroom with a short preferred-vendor list often fits Starter, 25 parties and 3 seats. A venue that hosts several events a week, with a long production and catering bench, is usually Pro, 100 parties and 10 seats. Business is 300 parties and 25 seats if coordinators across rooms all need access. Annual billing is two months free, same limits. The 7-day trial is for first-time subscribers only. The product will not stand at the dock and turn a truck around. It will show you, on Tuesday, that Thursday's rigger is already expired.