Annual inspection

January 27, 2018 - Hilliard Inflatables had their annual inspection of our 7 large inflatables (including our new addition, the Dragon bounce/slide combo) by the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is a requirement in the state of Ohio to be able to rent inflatables that people actually have to get on - i.e., a bounce house, a slide, an obstacle course, etc. It costs $254 per inflatable to have this done. (If you wonder why an inflatable that you are renting may not be properly licensed, this might be why.)

You may wonder why the Ohio Department of Agriculture does this. The answer is they inspect all such rides in the state of Ohio, including Cedar Point, Kings Island, county and state fairs, etc.

You may have heard about the accident on the ride at the Ohio State Fair in 2017. A lot of people immediately started pointing fingers at the inspectors. I, for one, do not believe this, and here is why.

This was our fifth such inspection since we took over the company in 2014. I can tell you that the inspectors we had to work with over the years have all been very professional, and very thorough. If something was wrong with our inflatables, I guarantee you they would have found it. It is all about having rides that are as safe as possible for the kids who get on them. Ohio has maybe the most stringent oversight of inflatables in the country.

Hilliard Inflatables has always welcomed and cooperated with our inspectors. We are all about safety as well. We want you to know we have done everything humanly possible to ensure this.