Free operator toolkit
Free bounce house weather policy template (rain and cancellation terms)
A complete weather and cancellation policy you can attach to your contract, copy, or save as a PDF. It covers what conditions stop a setup, who makes the call and by when, what a weather cancellation gets the customer, how rain checks work, what happens if the weather turns mid-party, and how you will reach them. Fill in the brackets and make it yours.
This template is general information, not legal advice. What a document like this can and cannot do varies by state, so have a local attorney review your final version before you use it.
Updated August 2026
Weather and Cancellation Policy
This template is a starting point you fill in and adapt. Replace every bracketed field with your own terms and numbers. Attach it to your rental agreement, or paste it in as a numbered section.
1. Why this policy exists
Inflatable equipment is affected by wind, lightning, rain, and ground conditions in ways that cannot be worked around. This policy sets out, in advance, what [Operator / business name] ("Operator") will do when the weather turns, so that both sides know the answer before the day rather than during it.
Safety comes before the party. Where this policy and a safety decision pull in different directions, safety wins.
2. Conditions under which Operator will not set up, or will stop use
Wind at or above the manufacturer’s maximum operating wind speed for the unit booked. Manufacturers commonly cite a limit in the range of roughly 15 to 25 mph, and the figure that governs your booking is the one on that unit’s label: [limit for the unit(s) booked].
Lightning, thunder, or an active storm within [distance / time] of the site. Use stops immediately and does not resume until [your resume rule].
Heavy or persistent rain, or rain forecast for most of the rental window, for units not rated for wet use.
Saturated, flooded, or frozen ground, where stakes will not hold or ballast cannot be safely placed.
Temperatures outside [range], or any other condition Operator reasonably judges unsafe for the equipment or the participants.
This list is not exhaustive. Operator may decline setup or stop use for any condition it reasonably judges unsafe.
3. Who decides, and when
The decision to set up, to stop use, or to cancel for weather rests with Operator. It is a safety judgment and it is not delegated to the Customer or to a forecast.
Operator will make the go or no-go call by [time] on the day of the event where conditions allow, and will contact Customer immediately at [phone / the number on the booking].
Conditions can change after the call is made. If weather deteriorates after setup, Section 6 applies.
Customer may not overrule a weather decision, and may not use the equipment after Operator has stopped its use.
4. If Operator cancels for weather
The booking becomes a rain check. It reschedules to a mutually available date, subject to availability, at no additional charge.
Rain checks are valid for [90 days / through the end of the season; state which] from the original event date.
If no mutually available date can be found within that window, [state what happens; for example, the amount paid beyond the deposit is refunded].
A weather cancellation by Operator is not treated as a Customer cancellation under Section 7 and does not trigger the cancellation charges there.
5. Deposits and refunds
Attorney review recommended
HAVE YOUR ATTORNEY REVIEW THIS SECTION. What a business may keep when it cancels, when the customer cancels, and when nobody is at fault is governed by consumer-protection rules that differ from state to state, including whether a deposit may be described as non-refundable at all.
The deposit of $[amount or %] holds the date. [State whether it is refundable, and in what circumstances.]
On a weather reschedule, the deposit and any payment made carry to the new date in full.
Where a refund is due under this policy, Operator will issue it within [__] days to the original payment method.
6. If the weather turns during the rental
Everyone exits the unit, the blower is switched off, and the unit is deflated or secured. Nobody re-enters until Operator or the responsible adult confirms conditions have improved and the unit has been re-checked.
If use can safely resume within the original rental window, the booking continues with no adjustment.
If use cannot resume, the rental ends at that point. Operator will [state your terms; for example, apply a partial rain check of [__]% for a mid-event shutdown before the halfway point of the window].
Operator may collect the equipment early where leaving it is unsafe, regardless of the time remaining in the window.
7. Customer cancellations, including cancellations for forecast
A Customer cancellation follows the cancellation terms of the rental agreement, not this policy. A forecast is not a weather cancellation.
If Customer cancels more than [__] days before the event, [terms]. Within [__] days, [terms].
Customer may ask to move the date on the strength of a forecast. Operator will accommodate that where it can, subject to availability, on these terms: [your forecast-move terms; for example, a one-time move requested more than [__] hours ahead].
This distinction is the point of the section. Operator calling off an unsafe setup and Customer calling off a party they are worried about are different events with different terms.
8. Notice and contact
Operator will contact Customer by [phone call · text · email; list the methods you actually use] at the details on the booking.
Customer will keep a phone reachable from [time] on the day of the event.
Where Operator cannot reach Customer and conditions are unsafe, Operator will not set up, and this policy applies as though notice had been given.
9. Events outside anyone’s control
Attorney review recommended
HAVE YOUR ATTORNEY REVIEW THIS SECTION. A force-majeure clause decides who bears the cost when neither side is at fault, and how far it can go varies.
Neither party is liable for failure to perform caused by events beyond its reasonable control, including severe weather, flood, wildfire, power failure, road closure, or an order of a public authority.
Where such an event prevents the rental, [state what happens to amounts paid: reschedule, credit, or refund, and on what terms].
10. Acknowledgment
This policy forms part of the rental agreement between Operator and Customer dated [date]. Where the two differ, [state which controls].
By signing, Customer confirms they have read this policy, understand that a weather decision rests with Operator, and agree to the reschedule and refund terms above.
Customer signature: ______________________ Date: __________
Operator signature: ______________________ Date: __________
How to use this template
The weather policy is the term you will use more often than any other, and the one customers are most likely to read for the first time on a bad morning. Getting the wording right is half the job; getting it in front of them early is the other half. Here is how to use this one. For the reasoning behind each choice, including why reschedules beat refunds and how the policy protects your reviews as well as your calendar, read the companion guide on writing a rain and cancellation policy.
Attach it to the contract, do not email it separately
A policy the customer never opened is a policy you cannot rely on. Paste this in as a numbered section of your rental agreement, or attach it and reference it by name in the agreement, so the signature covers both.
Then say the important part out loud at booking, in one sentence: if it is unsafe we will not set up, and you get a rain check rather than losing the day. Customers who hear that at the start almost never argue about it later. Customers who discover it on a rainy Saturday almost always do.
Put the decision on you, in writing
Section 3 is the clause that matters most on the day. It says the call is yours, it says roughly when you will make it, and it says the customer cannot overrule it. All three parts are load-bearing.
Operators who leave the decision vague end up negotiating safety in a driveway with a host who has forty guests arriving. Operators who wrote it down are simply enforcing a term the customer signed, which is a much shorter conversation, and a much safer one.
Fill in a real time, and a real wind number
Two blanks in this template do more work than the rest combined. The first is the decision time in Section 3. Pick an hour you can actually hold to, early enough that the customer can tell their guests. The second is the wind limit in Section 2, which comes from the manufacturer’s label for the unit you are sending, not from a policy template.
Write that limit into the policy for each booking, or state that the applicable limit is the manufacturer’s for the unit booked and keep the labels where you can read them. What you must not do is invent a round number and then find yourself defending it.
Lead with the rain check, not the refund
A reschedule keeps the revenue and keeps the customer’s party. A refund loses both, and it loses the Saturday you already turned other bookings away for. Most operators make the reschedule the default and treat a refund as the fallback when no date works, which is exactly how Sections 4 and 5 are laid out.
Give the rain check a real expiry and say whether it survives the season. An undated rain check is a liability that turns up eighteen months later, and a rain check with a date is one both sides can plan around.
Keep the customer’s cancellation separate from yours
Section 7 exists because these two get blurred constantly, and the blur always costs the operator. You calling off an unsafe setup is a safety decision covered by this policy. The customer calling off because the forecast looks bad is a cancellation under the agreement, with the agreement’s terms.
Say so plainly, and then be a little generous in practice about moving a date when someone asks early. A one-time move requested three days out costs you very little and buys real goodwill; the same request at 8am on the day costs you the whole Saturday.
Have the deposit and force-majeure clauses reviewed
Two sections carry a review flag. Section 5 decides what you keep, and consumer rules about deposits and refunds differ enough from place to place that a template cannot answer it, including whether you may call a deposit non-refundable at all. Section 9 decides who bears the cost when neither side is at fault.
Take both to a local attorney once. They are short, they change rarely, and they are the two clauses most likely to be tested by the customer who is genuinely upset rather than merely disappointed.
Watch the forecast on purpose, not by accident
The policy only works if somebody is actually looking. Check the forecast for the rental window the evening before and again at your decision time, and write down what you saw and when. A note that says which forecast you read at 7am is worth a great deal in a disagreement about whether the call was reasonable.
That is the shape BounceDay takes on weather too: on Pro and up it shows you the raw National Weather Service forecast for the booking, when it was pulled, and your own threshold beside it. It flags; you decide. It never cancels a booking for you, and no software should.
Keep your paperwork in one signed place
On Solo and up, BounceDay builds your own contract, waiver and weather policy into one document your customer e-signs, then takes the deposit at signature by card or bank transfer, or on your own payment links. Your templates stay yours. Adapt them, send them, and keep every signed copy on the booking it belongs to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this bounce house weather policy template free to use?
Yes. The full policy is on this page and you can copy it or open a printable version to save as a PDF. No email required. Fill in the brackets with your own times, numbers, and terms, and have a local attorney review the deposit and force-majeure sections.
Should a weather cancellation be a refund or a rain check?
Most operators lead with a rain check and keep a refund as the fallback. A reschedule keeps your revenue and the customer’s party, which is a better outcome for both sides than a refund that loses a Saturday you had already turned other bookings away for. Give the rain check a real expiry date so it does not turn up eighteen months later.
Who decides whether it is too windy to set up?
You do, and the policy should say so in writing. It is a safety judgment based on the manufacturer’s maximum operating wind speed for the unit you are sending. Manufacturers commonly cite a limit somewhere in the range of roughly 15 to 25 mph, but the figure on that unit’s label governs, and no forecast, app, or customer makes the call for you.
What if the weather turns after the party has started?
Everyone exits, the blower goes off, and the unit is deflated or secured. Section 6 of this template is where you set out what happens next: whether the rental resumes if conditions improve, and what the customer gets if it cannot. Deciding that in advance is what stops a mid-party shutdown becoming an argument.