What to Ask Your Marquee Hire Company Before You Sign Anything
Booking a marquee is one of the bigger commitments you'll make for your event. Whether it's a wedding, a corporate function, or a milestone birthday, the marquee is the centrepiece, and the contract you sign before it goes up will shape every interaction with your supplier from that point forward.
Most people don't read event contracts carefully enough. It's understandable. You're excited, the date is confirmed, the company seems great, and the paperwork feels like a formality. But as the ACCC notes in its guidance on contracts, terms and conditions can contain clauses that significantly affect your rights, and under Australian Consumer Law, your ability to dispute those terms after signing is limited if they were clearly disclosed upfront.
The good news is that asking the right questions before you sign takes no more than twenty minutes and can save you genuine stress later. Here's exactly what to ask.
1. What's Included in the Quote, and What Isn't?
This is the most important question, and it's worth asking in explicit detail.
A marquee hire quote can look very competitive until you realise it covers the structure only. Flooring, lighting, furniture, power, climate control, delivery, installation, pack-down, and site preparation are all things that may, or may not, be included depending on how the quote was structured.
Ask your marquee hire company to walk you through the quote line by line. What does the base price cover? What are the optional extras and what do they cost? Is delivery to your location included, or priced separately based on distance? Is installation charged by the hour or as a flat fee?
An acclaimed event hire company will welcome this conversation. Vagueness at this stage is a signal worth noting.
2. What Happens If the Weather Is Severe?
Australia's weather is unpredictable, and a marquee event is more exposed to it than an indoor venue. Ask your supplier directly: at what point does severe weather become a safety issue, and who makes the call?
Modern marquee structures are engineered and rated for specific wind loads, but every site is different and extreme conditions can exceed those ratings. Find out whether the company has a weather monitoring protocol, how much notice they'd give you if conditions required changes, and what options are available, additional anchoring, side walls, or in extreme cases, postponement.
Also ask about rain specifically. Does the marquee have adequate drainage? What happens to ground conditions at your site if there's heavy rain the day before? These are practical questions with practical answers, and a company that's done this before will have clear responses ready.
3. What Is the Cancellation and Postponement Policy?
This question is essential, and the answer needs to be in the contract, not just given verbally.
Under Australian Consumer Law, cancellation fees charged by event businesses must reflect genuine costs, not act as a blanket penalty. A fee that's clearly disproportionate to the supplier's actual loss can be challenged. That said, your best protection is understanding the policy before you sign, not after a cancellation happens.
Ask specifically: What is the deposit amount and is it refundable under any circumstances? What happens if you need to postpone, is there a transfer fee? What happens if the company cannot deliver the event hire for reasons on their side (illness, equipment damage, insolvency)? A solid contract will address all of these scenarios explicitly.
Be cautious of any contract that says "no refunds under any circumstances." Under Australian Consumer Law, if a supplier fails to deliver a service, you are generally entitled to a remedy. A blanket no-refund clause may not be enforceable, but disputing it after the fact is far harder than clarifying it before you sign.
4. Has a Site Inspection Been Done, or Will One Happen Before Installation?
Never sign a Melbourne marquee hire contract for a complex or unfamiliar site without a site inspection being part of the process. The quote you received should be based on the actual conditions of your site, not a general estimate.
A site inspection allows the company to assess ground conditions, access for delivery vehicles, any overhead obstacles (powerlines, trees, building overhangs), gradient issues, and any permit requirements that might apply in your local council area. Without it, the quote is essentially a guess, and surprises discovered on installation day can mean additional costs, delays, or in the worst case, an installation that can't proceed as planned.
Ask whether the site inspection is included in the quote or charged separately, and make sure any findings from the inspection are reflected in the final contract before you sign it.
5. Who Is Responsible for Permits?
In many Australian local government areas, erecting a marquee above a certain size, or on certain types of land, requires council approval. The rules vary significantly between councils, and in some cases, permits can take several weeks to obtain.
Ask your marquee hire company directly: is a permit required for my event, and if so, who is responsible for obtaining it? Some companies handle this as part of their service. Others leave it entirely to the client. Either arrangement can work, but you need to know which applies and whether any permit costs are included in the quote or additional.
Don't assume the company has handled this automatically. If a permit is required and isn't obtained, the installation may be stopped, and responsibility for that outcome, including any costs, will depend on what the contract says.
6. What Insurance Do You Hold?
A professional marquee hire company and event hire company should be able to tell you, without hesitation, what insurance they carry.
At minimum, ask about public liability insurance, this covers injury or property damage that occurs during installation, the event itself, and pack-down. Ask what the coverage limit is (a minimum of $10 million is standard for professional operators), and whether their insurance covers your site specifically, or whether any exclusions apply to rural or unusual locations.
Also ask whether there's any form of coverage for your goods or equipment if it's damaged by the marquee structure or during the installation process. And find out whether you, as the person hosting the event, need your own event insurance in addition to what the hire company carries.
If the company struggles to answer these questions or is vague about their coverage, treat that as a serious concern.
7. What Does the Contract Say About Damage to Your Property?
Installation and pack-down involve heavy equipment and vehicles moving across your property. Pegs are driven into the ground. Vehicles park on grass. Structures are anchored against walls or surfaces.
Ask who is liable if your lawn is damaged during installation, if a vehicle leaves tyre marks on a driveway, or if anchoring causes damage to a surface or structure. Look for this in the contract as well, some contracts limit the company's liability for site damage to a fixed amount, or exclude certain types of damage entirely.
This is particularly important for events at heritage properties, rented venues, or anywhere the site owner has specific conditions about how the property can be used. If your venue has restrictions, tell the hire company before you sign and confirm in writing that their installation method can comply.
8. What Are the Setup and Pack-Down Timelines?
A marquee doesn't go up on the morning of your event and come down that evening. Installation typically takes one to two days depending on the size and complexity of the structure. Pack-down happens one to two days after the event.
Ask for the specific setup and pack-down windows, and confirm these work with the timeline of your venue or property access. Also ask about what access your other suppliers, caterers, florists, lighting technicians, will have to the marquee during setup, and in what order the installation happens.
For corporate events in particular, knowing exactly when the marquee will be ready for fit-out and when it needs to be vacated is critical to scheduling everything else around it.
9. Who Is Your Point of Contact on the Day?
Confirm that there will be a named contact person from the hire company available on the day of your event, not just during installation. This is someone you can call if a side wall needs adjusting, if a lighting rig has an issue, or if anything unexpected comes up.
Find out whether this is a phone number for the crew on site, or a customer service number that may not be staffed on weekends. For weekend weddings and events, the distinction matters significantly.
Before You Sign
Once you've asked these questions and received clear answers, review the contract one more time with those answers in mind. If anything in the document contradicts what you were told verbally, raise it before signing. A good company will have no issue putting the agreed terms in writing.
Signing a marquee hire contract is a significant step, it secures your date, confirms your structure, and sets the terms of your event. Take the twenty minutes to get it right. Everything that follows will go more smoothly because of it.
