Home  /  Resources

Everything you need to plan a playground

Costs, grants, compliance, procurement and planning, in one place. All of it free, none of it behind a form, and written to be useful whether or not you ever buy from us.

Start here

The four things every playground project turns on.

What it costsThe split between equipment and everything else, with three worked budgets. How to fund itWhere the grant money is and what a fundable application contains. What compliance requiresASTM, IPEMA, ADA and the surfacing rules a licensor measures. How to plan itUse zones, capacity, age separation and accessible routes.

Guides

In depth, sourced, and written to be useful whether or not you buy from us.

Procurement  ·  3 min read

How to buy a playground without going out to bid

Cooperative purchasing contracts let public agencies satisfy competitive procurement requirements without running an RFP. How they work, who can use them, and the months...

 Ownership  ·  3 min read

Playground inspection and maintenance: what actually has to happen

What a CPSI inspection covers, the checks your own staff should be doing weekly, and the maintenance failure that turns a compliant playground into...

 Planning  ·  4 min read

How to plan a playground layout before you buy anything

Measure the use zone, not the structure. Work out peak capacity, not enrolment. The planning sequence that stops a project being redesigned after the...

 Compliance  ·  4 min read

ADA playground requirements, explained without the jargon

How many accessible components your playground needs, why the route matters more than the ramp, and the surfacing mistake that makes a technically compliant...

 Surfacing  ·  3 min read

Engineered wood fiber: what it is and how not to get caught out

Engineered wood fiber is the most used playground surface in America and the most misunderstood. What it is, what it costs, how deep it...

 Surfacing  ·  4 min read

Playground surfacing options compared: cost, compliance and upkeep

Engineered wood fibre, poured rubber, tiles, turf and sand, priced honestly and judged on the two things that actually matter: whether it stays compliant...

By who you are

The same project looks different depending on who signs it off.

Schools and districtsRecess load, PO, summer window ChurchesFundraising, phasing, volunteers Daycares and preschoolsState licensing, under fives Parks and municipalitiesUnsupervised use, co-op contracts HOAs and multifamilyBoards, liability, reserves Military and federalContract vehicles, submittals Landscape architectsCAD, spec language, submittals Just browsing the catalogPrices and specs published

Buying and procurement

How the paperwork actually runs.

Cooperative purchasingSkip the RFP Purchase orders and termsNet 30 Tax exempt purchasingCertificates on file InstallationWhat it involves CertificationsASTM, IPEMA, CPSI Check a quoteStatus lookup
Free, no obligation

Or just tell us about the project

You do not have to read any of it. Send the dimensions, the age ranges and a ZIP code and we will do the work and come back with one firm all-in number, normally inside 24 hours.

  • One firm all-in price, not an equipment number you have to defend later
  • Itemised the way a board paper or a grant application needs it
  • Purchase orders, cooperative contracts and tax-exempt billing accepted

We reply from a real address and we do not sell your details. If we are the wrong supplier for your project we will say so.