ASTM F2970 Compliance for Trampoline Parks, What Operators Actually Have to Do

ASTM F2970 is the standard practice for trampoline courts, and complying with it means doing what the edition your state names requires: a daily pre-opening inspection, periodic checks at the intervals your manufacturer sets, trained and documented court attendants, and records of all of it. The annual third party inspection most parks talk about comes from state law and insurers rather than from the standard itself.

Search for ASTM F2970 and the first result will try to sell you the standard for $104. The rest are law firms, equipment makers and the odd unrelated page. That is a poor state of affairs for an operator who has been told by an insurer, a landlord or a state inspector that they need to comply, and who reasonably wants to know what complying involves before spending the money.

This article sets out what is publicly documented about the standard, what states actually require, and where the two differ. It is written for people running parks rather than for lawyers.

One thing to be straight about up front. The standard is copyrighted and paywalled, and we have not reproduced it. The section level detail below comes from the 2013 edition, cross checked against state rules that adopt the standard by reference. The 2013 edition is superseded. Where we rely on it, we say so, and you should treat those points as a guide rather than as the current text. Buy the edition your state adopts before you build a compliance program on any of it.

State rules and the standard’s listing were checked in October 2026.

What it is

A voluntary ASTM standard practice for trampoline courts

Current edition

F2970-25

When it is law

Only where a state adopts it, and those states name older editions

Daily inspection

Before opening, using the manufacturer’s procedure

Annual inspection

Comes from state law and insurers, not the standard itself

What the standard is

ASTM F2970-25, Standard Practice for Design, Manufacture, Installation, Operation, Maintenance, Inspection and Major Modification of Trampoline Courts.

It has been revised five times since the 2013 edition, through the -15, -17, -20, -22 and -25 editions.

It covers institutional trampoline courts in amusement, entertainment and recreational facilities, such as trampoline parks, gyms and municipal parks, which is broader than dedicated trampoline parks alone. Consumer trampolines, trampolines used on water, and single user trampolines used mainly under the direct supervision of a trainer or coach are not in scope.

One correction to a common misconception. Patron education and patron responsibility are sections inside F2970, not a separate companion standard. The standard that sits closest alongside it is ASTM F770, covering ownership, operation, maintenance and inspection of amusement rides generally, which F2970 points to for attendant training and signage. Netting is covered by ASTM F2375.

The edition problem, which matters more than anything else here

This is the single most useful thing to understand, and almost nothing written about F2970 mentions it.

States that require compliance with F2970 name a specific edition, and they are all naming older ones.

The current edition is -25.

So “we comply with ASTM F2970” is an incomplete sentence. What matters is whether you comply with the edition your state adopted, and buying the newest edition does not automatically satisfy a rule that names a thirteen year old one. If you operate in more than one state you may be holding two different obligations.

Start by finding out which edition your state names. That decides which document you buy.

What operators are actually required to do

The daily pre-opening inspection

The standard does not hand you a checklist. It requires the manufacturer to supply a daily pre-opening inspection procedure, which you then carry out.

In the 2013 edition that procedure covers, among other items, obstructions, the condition and placement of padding and its covers, the trampoline beds, the suspension system, the frame, the containment system and netting, the condition and placement of signs, the foam pit, and fluffing the foam blocks.

Two honest notes. The 2013 text does not say who is qualified to perform the daily inspection, and we could not confirm that any later edition does. Do not assume a certified inspector is required daily. Separately, some states require the daily inspection on their own. Colorado’s amusement ride rules require operators to perform and record daily inspections, keep the records available where the ride operates, and keep them for three years.

A written walk-through like our trampoline safety checklist is a useful starting point, but the manufacturer’s procedure is the one you are measured against.

Periodic inspections

Here is a claim you will see repeated online that does not survive checking. F2970 does not set monthly or quarterly inspection intervals.

The 2013 edition requires the manufacturer to supply periodic service and component inspection checklists, and requires the operator’s written procedures to state an “established time interval” for each court. The intervals themselves come from the manufacturer.

The widely repeated advice to inspect beneath the beds weekly traces to manufacturer guidance rather than to the standard. It is good practice. It is not a standard requirement, and you should know which is which when an inspector asks. Our guide to trampoline park maintenance best practices covers the routine side.

The annual third party inspection

This is the biggest correction in the article.

We found no public evidence that ASTM F2970 itself requires an annual third party inspection. That obligation comes from state law, and only in the states that have it.

Insurers commonly require an annual inspection regardless of what your state says, so most parks end up doing it either way. But knowing whether the obligation is in law or in your policy changes who you answer to and what happens if you miss it.

Court attendants and the 1 to 32 ratio

The 2013 edition sets two numbers: at least one court attendant while the court is in operation, and a ratio of attendants to active participants that “shall not exceed 1:32 at any time”.

Illinois, which adopts the -20 edition, writes the ratio into its own rules: “At no time shall the ratio of participants to attendants and assistants exceed 32:1.” Illinois goes further, requiring court managers to be 21 or older and to hold a current Red Cross first aid certificate and CPR certification, or the equivalent, with at least one court manager on site at all times during operation.

A caution on the ratio. A CPSC published log of the ASTM task group meeting on 15 September 2022 records the group revisiting proposed “supervision plan” language after the 2022 ballot, with commenters worried it could let operators use fewer court monitors than the manufacturer recommends. The log says consensus was not reached on those comments. So treat 1 to 32 as verifiable for the 2013 edition and as live law in Illinois, rather than as a flat statement about the current standard.

Records

The standard is thin here. The 2013 edition requires operators to have written operating procedures and to verify and document attendant training, but we found no record retention period for operators in it, and we cannot confirm one exists in any edition.

The retention rules you can actually cite come from state law:

• Colorado requires daily inspection records to be kept for three years and to be available where the ride operates.
• Arizona, under A.R.S. section 37-1424, requires operators to keep for at least two years records of government actions relating to the court, including operation permits, insurance certificates, inspection reports, emergency service calls, and maintenance and operational records. Records of emergency service calls also go to the state forester within ten days.
• New York requires the annual inspection to check maintenance, inspection and staff training records and up to date injury logs.
• Utah requires the operator to give the inspector maintenance, inspection, staff training and injury logs, plus the emergency response plan.
• Illinois requires an operating manual on site that covers maintenance, testing, incident reporting and record keeping.

The practical reading across all of them is the same. The inspection itself is not really the test. The records of everything you did between inspections are the test.

Patron briefing and signage

The 2013 edition requires rules instructions to be given to patrons before they jump when required by the manufacturer, owner or operator, and allows almost any delivery method, including video, audio, a recorded announcement, a written document, signs or verbal instruction.

Note the condition. In the 2013 text the briefing becomes mandatory once the manufacturer or operator has called for it, rather than being required in every case. We could not confirm whether later editions tightened that.

State sign rules are firmer. Michigan requires operators to post the duties of trampoliners and spectators in conspicuous places and to keep required signs legible and stable. Utah requires safety, warning and instruction signs displayed prominently throughout the park.

Which states regulate trampoline parks

Three groups, and it is worth knowing which one you are in.

States that name F2970 in their rules. Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Virginia and Louisiana. Michigan is unusual in that its Trampoline Court Safety Act sets duties for operators, jumpers and spectators, with no permit, no inspection regime and no state agency running it. Illinois is the most demanding, with permits, annual third party inspections, an operating manual and staffing qualifications.

States with trampoline park law that does not name F2970. Arizona, Utah and New York all regulate trampoline parks specifically but do not name the F2970 designation. Arizona refers to ASTM standards in general, and New York and Utah to industry safety standards. Arizona requires liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 for bodily injury. Utah requires $1,000,000 in the aggregate and $500,000 per incident, a working AED, and at least one employee certified in first aid and CPR on site during operating hours.

States with no trampoline park regulation, as far as we could establish. Texas, Wisconsin, California, Ohio, New Jersey and Indiana. In some of these, bills have been filed and failed. Texas House Bill 2252, filed in 2023, did not become law, and Wisconsin Assembly Bill 740 failed to pass in April 2024.

Pennsylvania is genuinely unclear. Its amusement ride rules incorporate the ASTM F24 committee standards by reference, and F2970 is an F24 standard, so it is arguably swept in by the general reference. But trampolines are not named in those rules. If you operate in Pennsylvania, ask the Department of Agriculture directly rather than relying on an article.

What good compliance looks like day to day

Strip away the numbering and the obligation is simple to describe and hard to keep up.

Someone walks the courts before opening, against a written procedure, and records what they found. Someone records the periodic checks at the intervals the manufacturer set. Attendant training is documented rather than assumed. Injuries are logged as they happen rather than pieced together later. Replacement parts come from the original manufacturer or meet the manufacturer’s minimum specification, and you can show which. When the annual inspector arrives, or a lawyer does, the file covers every day rather than the days somebody remembered.

1. Pre-opening walkCourts checked against the manufacturer’s procedure, and recorded
2. Periodic checksRecorded at the intervals the manufacturer set
3. Training and injuriesTraining documented, injuries logged as they happen
4. Annual inspectionThe inspector reviews the records of every day in between

The failure is almost never a park that does not inspect. It is a park that inspects and cannot prove it, because the paper went into a drawer and half of it is missing.

That is the part MaintainIQ, an operations app for single and multi-location operators, is built for. The daily pre-opening walk becomes a digital checklist with the name of whoever completed it and the time on every submission, with photos as proof where a pad or a net needs recording. A failed item becomes a work order that someone has to close, rather than something mentioned to someone. Periodic checks run on the schedule you set through preventive maintenance, with reminder emails, so the monthly and annual items come due without relying on memory. When the annual inspection comes round, past records for any date range are a PDF report or an Excel export rather than a filing exercise. See how it works for trampoline parks.

Sources

• ASTM F2970-25 listing, ASTM International
• ASTM F2970-13, superseded edition
• Michigan Trampoline Court Safety Act, Public Act 11 of 2014
• Louisiana State Fire Marshal rules, Chapter 25, Amusement Attractions and Rides, section 2503 (F2970-15)
• 56 Illinois Administrative Code 6000.353
• 7 Colorado Code of Regulations 1101-12
• Virginia Amusement Device Regulations, 13VAC5-31
• New York General Business Law section 225
• Utah Code Title 11 Chapter 63, Trampoline Park Safety
• Arizona Revised Statutes section 37-1424
• Pennsylvania, 7 Pa. Code section 139.41
• Texas House Bill 2252 (2023)
• Wisconsin Assembly Bill 740 (2023)
• CPSC published log, ASTM F24.61 Trampoline Court Task Group meeting, 15 September 2022
• ISO 23659:2022, Trampoline parks, Safety requirements