New Sample Equipment Storage Agreements

| PERG News: March 2023 |

It is always good idea to have a formal agreement for crew gear stored on your premises. With the possibility of a writer’s strike, PERG has developed two sample Equipment Storage Agreements that are now available for download. One agreement states that the crew member is responsible for insuring their own property while on your premises. The other agreement has the equipment rental company agreeing to insure the crew gear while on the rental house premises.

There is a condensed and an expanded version of each sample agreement. We are providing the shorter document because, as a practical matter, the requirements of the longer document may be unnecessary given the context in which the documents are used.

Every time the industry faces a major work stoppage or slow down, due to a strike for example, it raises issues regarding who is responsible for property of crew and customers while that property is stored on the rental house premises. During such times, rental companies are likely to see their own inventories swell, as well as those of crew who store their own personal property at the rental house. In short, the dollar value of equipment located at the rental house will increase and there is a good chance that this sum will exceed the insurance limits on the policy. Which party is responsible for the risk of loss should the property be damaged or stolen? The agreements also address the risk of loss should that property ever be placed on a rental agreement through your company as well as when crew use the gear for their own projects.

As the laws vary amongst the various jurisdictions and there is no single answer to whether you can limit your liability for the negligence of your staff as respects property of others stored on your premises, the best answer is to have the individuals storing their property free of charge on your premises responsible for insuring their property. The sample AICP/ESTA terms and conditions document specifies that property stored on the rental house premises is solely at the Customer’s risk of loss.