Stage technology · SERVICE · REV 2026-10-06
Stage rigging
What hangs over heads has a written working load, a rope path that does not pile on the drum flange, an operator who can see the move or who has a spotter, and an inspection of this configuration, not of a certificate from last year. Architectural steel was sized for the building. Its appearance is not a rating.
Definition
A rigging system is equipment intended to carry scenery, lighting, and drapes: a batten or a hoist, blocks, a drum or a motor, rope, and a place to operate it. The working load is a property of that rated system for the stated load case, static or moving. Architectural steel — a roof beam, a catwalk hanger, a concrete soffit — was sized for the building, not for a show. Looking strong is not a rating. A point added to it becomes rated only if the engineer of record and the applicable standard accept the assembly: the connection, the path down to the foundation, and the load.
Fleet is the path of the line from the drum to the head block and across the loft blocks to the batten. The fleet angle is the angle between the rope and the plane perpendicular to the drum axis. The limit sits in the hoist manual and the applicable standard. Past it, the rope piles against the flange and the sheave wears. This page does not publish the degree. The operator is a named person trained on this system, who can see the path or who has a spotter, and the cue is agreed with the stage before the move. A key is not a qualification. Inspection is of the hang as it is today: terminations, rope, sheaves, and the lock. A certificate from a previous installation is not permission. The safety factor is defined by the applicable standard and the engineer of record. This page does not quote a factor as if it were code text, and the factor is not spare capacity for the user to spend.
When is this service needed?
Before anything is welded to building steel
The point is either part of a rated system or an assembly the engineer of record accepts. The nearest beam is not an argument.
When scenery, a Line Array, or a screen is hung
Each one is a load, and a moving piece has a peak that is not its static weight. Loads on the same beam are added.
When no operator is named
A rail with no trained person and no view or spotter is not handed over. A key on the wall is not a procedure.
When a point is requested for one week
A short calendar does not cancel a load over heads. Inspection and rating are for this assembly, not for the intention to strike it.
Where it is used
A proscenium fly tower
Linesets or hoists on a designed grid. A short tower is a scenery decision, not an excuse to hang at random from the roof.
A black box grid
Distributed points that are rearranged. Every point has a working load. Black paint does not carry load.
A hall with a dedicated rigging grid
The load goes on the rated grid, not on the adjacent roof structure because it is closer to the fixture.
An exhibition hall
Only if the hall manual and a rated system allow it. Many halls forbid hanging from the building structure. The render does not hold the permission.
Parts of the solution
The point and its path
From the load to the connection to the member the calculation accepted, not to the nearest steel.
The hoist or the lineset
A drum, blocks, rope, and a fleet limit from the manufacturer’s manual. This page does not give the degree.
The batten or the truss
Its rating is the maker’s for that span and load case. The colour of the aluminium is not a working load.
The operating position
A rail, a pendant, or a desk, with a view or a spotter, and an agreed cue with the stage.
The record of this configuration
What was hung, where, and who inspected it. Last year’s certificate for another installation is not this record.
Engineering considerations
Static is not the peak
The weight of a piece on a scale is not the force of stopping it or of its swing. The load case is named in the calculation.
The bridle and the fleet angle
The leg angle increases tension. A fleet angle past the hoist manual piles the rope. There is no degree on this page.
The factor is not capacity to spend
The applicable standard and the engineer of record define it. The user does not fill the factor with extra load and then say the calculation still holds.
Architectural steel has no implied working load
The look of the section produces no figure. A rating is a calculation of connection and path. This page infers no kilonewton from the shape of a beam.
Loads add
Scenery, lighting, and a Line Array on the same member are calculated together. Each trade hanging as if alone does not cancel the sum.
Materials
The rope
Wire or fibre. Retirement comes from the rope standard and the manufacturer’s manual: broken wires, a loss of diameter, or visible damage. This page sets no ratio to copy.
Locks and shackles
They are installed as their maker requires, at the written working load. This page does not teach a clip spacing or a pin size.
The truss or the batten
Span and loading come from the maker’s table for that case. Lengthening the span on site and then talking the load down does not change the table.
Related systems
Stage design
What flies above the useful depth, and where the crossover passes under the move. The piece’s path does not sweep the passage.
Lighting
Fixtures on the batten are a load. DMX and power are other cables. They do not carry weight and they do not replace a rating.
Sound
A Line Array hang is a rigging load with a point and a path, not a question of shape. The safety factor comes from the standard and the engineer of record.
A fire curtain if the code requires one
Coordination with protection and egress. Whether it exists is the adopted code, not this page.
Design sequence
- 01
Write down everything that hangs and its case: static, moving, or stopped suddenly.
- 02
Draw the load path to a rated system or to an assembly the engineer of record accepts. Not to the nearest beam.
- 03
Match the fleet angle to the hoist manual. Do not copy a degree from another page.
- 04
Name the operator and the spotter, what they can see, and the stop cue.
- 05
Leave the safety factor to the standard and the engineer of record, and write the inspection of this configuration, not of the building in general.
Delivery sequence
- 01
The parts the design named are installed. An extra clamp because the flange is available is rejected.
- 02
The rope is seated in the sheave and on the drum under movement, not only in a still photograph.
- 03
The working load is marked at the point from the calculation, not from a figure on this page, because there is none.
- 04
The named operator is trained before the first move with an audience, or above one.
- 05
The system is locked when it is not in use. A key is not an operating procedure.
Testing
The full travel
The piece runs its path. The rope is watched on the drum: piling on the flange means a wrong fleet angle or a bad lay.
The stop and the view
The operator stops the move from that position, or the spotter sees it and the cue is clear. A blind spot with no spotter is rejected.
Terminations after the first load
They are looked at again after the first loading. An inspection before tension does not replace the one after it.
Commissioning
A drawing of points, loads, and fleet
Every load with its case. Fleet is referred to the hoist manual, not to an invented degree.
A statement from the standard and the engineer of record
The safety factor and the rating come from their text. This page does not quote a ratio.
An inspection record for this configuration
Dated to what is hung today. An old certificate for another show is not a handover.
Maintenance
Before every changed hang
Terminations, rope, sheaves, and the lock. A change of piece reopens the inspection even if the point stays.
Retiring the rope
By the rope standard and the manufacturer’s manual, not by the comfort that it moved yesterday. This page sets no count of broken wires.
The old certificate
It is not permission for today’s load or for a new operator. It is kept as history, not as a permit.
Common mistakes
Hanging from a building beam
Architectural steel is not a rated rigging system. Appearance does not generate a working load.
Spending the safety factor
Adding it as a margin the show then uses. The factor is a definition in the standard and by the engineer of record, not free capacity.
Ignoring fleet
The rope climbs the drum flange and wears. The manual holds the limit. This page does not invent the degree.
Whoever holds the key operates
Operation is a named person who can see the path or who has a spotter. A key is access, not competence.
Short comparison
The comparison is a way to choose a path. It is not a product recommendation and it is not a code.
| Path | Fits when | Weakens when |
|---|---|---|
| A rated rigging system | The load path, the working load, and the load case are written, and the operator is named. | When the show passes the load plate and someone says the safety factor has room. The factor is not capacity to spend. |
| Architectural steel | It carries what the building was designed for: a roof, a catwalk, or a facade. | The moment a show hangs from it with no rated assembly the engineer of record accepts. Nearness is not a rating. |
| A manual rail | A small house, a trained rail crew, and a piece within what they can see and stop. | When the weight is beyond what they can stop safely, or the move is outside their view and there is no spotter. |
Discussion ranges
Any number here is a preliminary discussion range from practice or a named reference. Replace it with the project criterion, laboratory data, and on-site measurement.
| Item | What is discussed | Limit of this page |
|---|---|---|
| Safety factor | A ratio defined by the applicable standard and confirmed by the engineer of record for the rigging system. | No figure on this page. Copying a factor from another venue is not compliance. The factor is not extra load that is allowed. |
| Working load | What the rated system’s plate names for the load case, including movement, not static weight alone. | No kilogram and no kilonewton here. Architectural steel does not have a load inferred from the look of the section. |
| Fleet angle | The rope’s angle to the plane perpendicular to the drum axis, so it does not pile on the flange. | No degree on this page. The limit is in the hoist manual and the applicable standard. Exceeding it is damage, not an operating choice. |
| Inspection | Before every changed hang is used, then at the interval set by the standard, the manufacturer’s manual, and the venue procedure. | No count of months here. A certificate for an old installation is not permission for today’s load or for a new operator. |
What this page does not claim
No fire classification, absorption coefficient, sound pressure level, or legal capacity on this page may be copied into a quotation. Those values come from a product test report, a measurement, or the local code adopted for the project.
Questions designers and owners ask
May I hang from the roof beam?
Only if the engineer of record rates that assembly under the applicable standard. The presence of steel, and how it looks, are not a working load.
Which safety factor do I use?
The one stated by the applicable standard and confirmed by the engineer of record. This page does not quote a figure, and the factor is not spent as free capacity.
What are fleet and fleet angle?
The path of the line from the drum to the head block and then the batten, and the angle to the plane perpendicular to the drum axis. The limit is in the hoist manual, not here.
Who may operate?
A named person trained on this system, who can see the move or who has a spotter, with an agreed stop cue. A key is not a qualification.
Does last year’s certificate cover this show?
No. The configuration changed. Inspection and the record are for this hang. The old certificate is history, not a permit.
Technical sources
- The applicable standard and the engineer of record
Working load, safety factor, and load path. This page does not replace the text and does not quote a numeric factor.
- The hoist manual and the rope maker
Fleet angle and the rope-retirement limit. This page copies neither the degree nor a count of broken wires.
- The venue procedure and the local code
Who operates, when inspection happens, and a fire curtain if one is required. This page grants neither compliance nor a count of months.
Last editorial review: 2026-10-06. Review means the text was checked, not that a project was measured.
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