The Telure Standard for a auditorium fly system

Rope lock, operating line and tension block check: set by set

Walk the locking rail with the sets at rest and put a hand on every one. Rope lock fixed to the rail with nothing loose in its mounting, handle and cam moving through their full throw and returning, the ring or trigger not worn round, and the lock holding its own set at rest with nobody's hand on it. Then the operating line for the reach you can honestly get at: glazing, fuzzing, flat spots, cuts, chemical staining, or a length gone hard, and no knot, splice or wrap of tape doing a repair's job. Finish at the tension or floor block at the bottom of the run: fixed down, sheave turning freely, line sitting in the groove rather than riding the flange, and the keeper or guard in place. A rope lock holds a set that is in weight at rest; it is not a brake for a set that is not, so nothing found here is ever a reason to run one out of weight. Weekly because these are the parts the house touches most: every rehearsal, every performance and every load-in runs through this rope and this lock, so they wear on the show calendar and not on the year. A lock that will not hold its set takes that set out of service now, not at the end of the week. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Line set index and out of weight check at the rail

Set by set along the rail with the index cards or the rail sheet in hand: what the card says is hanging, what is actually on the batten, and whether the two agree. Then the set itself, read at rest: does it stay where it is put, or does it want to run one way. Record every set you find out of weight, which way it is heavy and roughly by how much, and record anything on a batten that the card does not know about. Weekly because this state is made by a production and not by time: a load-in, a strike, or one electrician hanging two more units changes it inside an afternoon, and a rail sheet that has not been touched since the last show is the most convincing wrong document in the building. A set that is heavily out of weight is flagged, made off and left for the crew who can load it, not walked past and not "just brought in quickly". Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Counterweight arbor, brick retention and spreader plate inspection

Arbor by arbor, from the loading gallery and again from the rail floor. Counterweights stacked flat and full width with none standing proud of the rods or turned on edge; spreader plates fitted and spaced through the stack rather than all pushed to the bottom; rods straight, with their retaining nuts, pins and top plate present and tight; top and bottom plates uncracked and the lift line terminations at the top plate secure; and the arbor running true in its guides, T track or guide wires with no rubbing, no binding, no scoring and no rust in the run. Look at the bottom stop and into the arbor pit under it. Monthly because arbors are loaded and stripped for every production: the parts that hold weight in an arbor come off and go back on a dozen times a season, so a spreader plate left out or a nut left finger tight is made by that handling rather than by wear, and it is invisible from the deck. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Lift line and wire rope inspection: arbor to batten

Every lift line on every set, along whatever run you can honestly reach and see: broken wires, kinks, flat spots, corrosion, birdcaging, heat damage, or a section that has picked up a set from sitting in a block. At both ends, the terminations, swages, thimbles, clips and shackles for tightness, deformation and the right number of turns wherever a line is clamped. Where a line sits on a block, look at the groove it is running in as well. Say plainly which lines you could not see properly from where you were, and send those to the yearly inspection instead of passing them. Monthly because wire rope fails progressively and announces itself: one broken wire, then several at the same lay, and monthly gives you several looks at that sequence before it matters. The replacement figures for a lift line come from the manufacturer's documentation, not from this cadence. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Batten, trim chain and hanging hardware inspection

Bring each batten to a working height and go along it: pipe straight and unbent, splices and sleeves tight with their hardware present, end caps in place, and no drilled, cut or welded modification nobody can account for. Then everything hanging on it: trim chains, turnbuckles, shackles, safety cables on fixtures, clamps and their fasteners, and cable runs tied off to the pipe rather than pulling on a connector. Nothing hung from a batten by a knot, a zip tie or a length of tie line doing a shackle's job. Monthly because a batten's load resets at every load-in: what is hung, how much of it and by whom all change in one afternoon, and a clamp left half turned is made at that moment and stays that way until somebody looks at it. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Stage curtain, traveler track and soft goods inspection

Run the main curtain and each traveler through its full travel and watch the whole way: carriers running freely with none missing or jammed, track straight and fixed at every hanger, the operating line on its pulleys and not fouling, master carriers meeting and overlapping at center, and the drape hanging plumb with the bottom pipe or chain in its pocket the full width. Then the goods themselves: webbing, grommets, ties and snaps attached and unbroken, no tears or pulled seams, and the treatment label or certificate still on the goods and still legible. Monthly because both failures that matter here build over cycles rather than happening at once: a carrier working loose, and a tie or grommet pulling out of the webbing a little more each time the drape is run. Where a soft good's treatment carries a retreatment or expiry date, register the goods and let that date count down on the record instead of on a label nobody reads. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Powered line set and winch observation

Every powered set in the house, whether it is a single winch, a motorized batten or a point hoist left in place from a production. Run each one through its full travel with somebody watching the whole run rather than somebody pressing a button on the way past: it stops at both limits on its own instead of being caught by the operator, it holds when the control is released, the drum spools evenly with no slack and no crossed wraps, and nothing binds, drifts, hesitates or sounds different from last month. Then the operating position: emergency stop reachable and unobstructed, the key or enable control secured against a set being run by somebody who should not be running it, and the travel visible from where the operator stands. Monthly because a limit or a brake going out of adjustment gives a long warning through noise, drift and hesitation, and a deliberate monthly full travel run is what turns that warning into a record. Service intervals and any load test come from the manufacturer's documentation; file it against the unit. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Head block, loft block and mounting inspection from the gridiron

From the gridiron, set by set, with a light. Head block sheaves turning freely and true with no wobble on the shaft, grooves not worn to an edge and not picking up wire, keepers and guards fitted so a line cannot jump a groove, and the block's own bolts, beam clamps and hardware present, tight and unmodified. Then the loft blocks and mules along the run: the same look at each, plus the line running dead center in its groove and no block sitting out of line with the lift line it turns. Look at what the blocks are fixed to as well: fresh rust streaking at a connection, movement, a dropped nut or washer lying on the grid. Quarterly because none of this is visible or reachable from the deck, so it costs a deliberate trip up, and quarterly is an interval that keeps the habit of going up alive in a building whose crew is one or two people rather than pretending a monthly grid call is real. Do it on the same trip as the loading gallery and grid deck check. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Loading gallery, grid deck and access route inspection

The trip up itself, and what has collected where nobody goes. Ladders, stairs, gates and hatches to the gallery and the grid secure, latching and unobstructed; gallery rail, toe boards and kick plates present along the full run; the grid deck with no missing, sprung or loose section and nothing lying loose on it; and counterweights racked on the loading rail rather than stacked on a walking surface or balanced on a beam. Then look for what has been stored up there because it is out of the way: scenery, cable, ladders, tools and anything else that could go over an edge onto a stage full of people. Quarterly for the same reason as the block pass: the gallery and the grid are visited at a load-in and then not at all, so what collects there collects over months rather than days, and the same trip covers both checks. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Dead hung suspended equipment check over the stage and house

Everything hanging over the stage and over the seats that is not on a line set: dead hung electrics and pipes, loudspeaker clusters and delay boxes, projectors, followspot and house lighting positions, valances, signage, and anything hung once for a production and never taken down. For each one: the hardware carrying it present and tight, safety cables or secondaries fitted, no rust streaking or cracking at a connection, nothing sitting out of line with its neighbors, and no load added since it was hung. Answer only what is honestly visible from where you are standing and say which items you could not see properly. Quarterly because dead hung loads move slowly or not at all, so the value here is keeping the habit of looking up alive; anything doubtful goes to the yearly inspection and somebody in a lift with a wrench, not to a ladder tonight. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Fire curtain, smoke pocket and release path observation

Look at the curtain and at the path it has to travel. Smoke pocket and guides clear the full height with nothing stored, taped, wedged or hung in them; the curtain hanging square with its bottom bar level and both guides engaged; the release line, its links and the manual release station present, reachable, unobstructed and clearly identified; and the stage floor along the curtain line clear of scenery, cable, cases and anything else that would stop it seating. Record the state you found each of those in, by name, and photograph anything in the pocket. Where your own jurisdiction, your district or your insurer, or the curtain's own documentation, sets a drop or release test, that governs the test and who performs it: file the report against this task and open a corrective-action item for every cited deficiency. Quarterly because the failure here is almost never the curtain. It is a run of scenery parked in the pocket during a production and never moved again, which happens on the production calendar and is invisible from the house. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Full fly system inspection (qualified person)

Book a qualified person for the whole system once a year and have them work it set by set from the grid down: head and loft blocks and their mountings, lift lines and their terminations, arbors, guides and stops, rope locks and operating lines, battens and hanging hardware, tension blocks, the fire curtain and its release, and any powered sets, against the manufacturer's documentation for the equipment actually installed rather than against a generic form. Have the evaluation include sets run through their full travel in weight rather than looked at standing still. File the report against this task, record who performed it and the qualification they hold, and open a corrective-action item for every cited deficiency, naming who owns it and when it is due in the item note, so each closure is on the record. Where your own jurisdiction, your district or your insurer sets the frequency or the inspector's qualification, that governs. Telure records the inspection; it does not issue, verify or endorse anybody's qualification. Yearly because this is the one pass that reaches what a house crew cannot: the top of a head block, the inside of a swaged termination, an arbor guide behind a run of loaded arbors. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.

Line set tag and posted load figure check at the rail

In the days after the yearly inspection, walk the rail and look at what is physically posted there. The inspection tag, placard or sticker on the system: present, fixed where an operator can see it, legible, and carrying the date and the inspector that this year's report actually shows. The arbor capacity and batten load figures posted where the loading crew works, still readable and not painted over. And the line set numbering at the rail, on the arbor and on the batten agreeing with each other and with the rail sheet. It is only ever correct immediately after the inspection, which is why it sits here rather than on a weekly walk, and it is a physical fixture you stand in front of and answer pass or flag, not a piece of paperwork. Copy what the tag says onto the registered system as well, so the history survives a tag that fades, gets painted over or goes missing. Part of the Telure Standard: the manufacturer's manual governs all equipment intervals.