Official PIPA statement - Ongoing Investigations

There are open discussions and rumours, some with false information, regarding current PIPA investigations. 

We ask people not to speculate or openly discuss current PIPA investigations, in a similar manner to the Police asking a similar request into any of their open investigations. PIPA operates a legally compliant complaints process, which follows an industry code of practice into investigations. Speculation and open discussions may have a negative impact on the complaint process and impede any potential action which can be taken as a result. 

Current investigation caseload:

In 2025, PIPA handled 45 complaints. 3 of these cases resulted in warnings being issued, and 2 of these cases resulted in a warning & suspension. The remaining cases resulted in written guidance, no further action, or the complaint being closed at the triage review.

This year, in 2026, PIPA has received 20 complaints. 7 out of the 20 cases have been closed at triage review, due to not being within PIPA's scope of enforcement, whilst the remaining 13 cases are currently going through their factfinding and investigation stages.

Did you know?

PIPA Inspection Bodies are independent businesses who have signed up to the PIPA scheme rules and code of conduct.

PIPA has a full complaint procedure to triage and review information it receives about breaches of its scheme rules. Where evidence is available, the PIPA office investigates any breaches of the scheme rules, and refers investigations to an independent 'Investigation Outcome Committee' to review and determine the sanction to be issued against members of the PIPA Scheme. Having a legally compliant procedure to investigate complaints and concerns is one of the reasons what makes PIPA different. The complaint system is to ensure the scheme rules and code of conduct are followed to uphold the integrity of the scheme. It is not a complaint service or an ombudsman, instead PIPA investigates the complaint against its member directly. This helps to ensure the PIPA scheme upholds its scheme rules in a robust manner.

What do controllers need to do?

Under health & safety law, it is the duty holder's responsibility to ensure their equipment is safe for use by members of the public. In the inflatable industry the duty holder is the controller and this is why controllers obtain annual safety inspections of their equipment. 

PIPA always recommends controllers and end users check the PIPA tag to ensure it has a current and up to date PIPA inspection. Where this does not exist, you should have an annual safety certificate to show the device has been inspected. 

If your device does not have a current safety certificate, contact your inspector in the first instance. If you are unable to resolve this directly with the inspector, please contact the PIPA office who will review the information through its triage process and provide a response.