How to plan a bump-in and bump-out in a shopping centre

In a shopping centre, your display goes in and comes out while the centre is closed. The window is short, security controls the doors, and the centre expects the floor to look as if you were never there. A bump-in that runs late holds up your opening, and damage found after bump-out can end up on your bill.

Here's how to plan the evening or early morning so it runs to time. The examples come from casual leasing, contractor and fit-out guides that centre owners publish on their own websites, checked on 4 October 2026. Every centre sets its own rules and some of these guides are a few years old, so always work from your centre's own bump-in pack. For the display rules themselves (height, signage and power), see our guide to shopping centre display rules.

#1 - Get the bump-in pack and lock in your window

Ask for the bump-in pack as soon as the booking is confirmed (at Vicinity Centres it comes attached to the booking confirmation, according to its May 2024 fit-out guidelines). Read it before you book a crew or a truck.

In these packs the window is before trade or after close, and it can be shorter than you expect:

• Macarthur Square (Lendlease pop-up pack, saved January 2025): 6.30am to 8am before trade, or 7pm to 11pm after trade (after 9pm on Thursdays).
• Smithfield Shopping Centre, Cairns (Lendlease pack, saved August 2023): 6.30am to 8am, or 6pm to 8pm (after 8pm on Thursdays).
• Dalby Shoppingworld (online terms, current in 2026): set-up between 8am and 9am, and take-down no earlier than 5.30pm on most weekdays, 7.30pm on Thursdays and 4pm on Saturdays.
• Harbour Town Gold Coast (casual leasing guidelines, February 2021): bump-in and bump-out outside the centre's core trading hours.

A 6.30am to 8am slot gives you 90 minutes, including the walk from the dock. Time a test build at the workshop with the crew you'll use. If it won't fit a morning slot, book an evening window instead.

#2 - Book the dock, the lift and security

The loading dock is shared and closely managed, so book it, and plan to unload and move off quickly.

• Time limits. Harbour Town's contractor rules (PDF last saved January 2023) set a 30 minute limit on its loading docks; if you need longer, you contact centre management or, after hours, security.
• Nothing left behind. The same rules say no goods, materials or rubbish are to be left in the dock or common areas without approval, and that centre management won't accept, hold or sign for goods. Don't send freight to the centre ahead of your crew.
• Security sign-in. Lendlease's packs ask you to "coordinate after hours access with Security and sign-in prior to bumping in and out". Send security the crew names, vehicle and arrival time the day before.
• Lifts and doors. Ask for the dock clearance height and the goods lift size, and measure the route on your site inspection. Check them against your vehicle and your largest packed case.
• Vehicles on display. Vicinity wants a vehicle bumped in outside trading hours at a prearranged time, with security called at least 10 minutes beforehand, as centre management or security supervise the move. Mount Sheridan Plaza (June 2025) wants vehicles set up before 7.30am, with drip trays and tyre mats.

#3 - Sort out approvals and inductions before the night

Nothing should be decided at the dock. Vicinity says any equipment you bring yourself must be sighted and approved by the centre before bumping in, so get the display approved well ahead. Our guide to the paperwork a shopping centre needs covers the insurance, SWMS and contractor documents.

If an installer builds your display, the centre may treat the crew as contractors, with a site induction before they start and a sign-in each day. Get the inductions done in the days before, and make sure the names on the crew list match the names at the security desk.

#4 - Keep the noise down and the public out

Harbour Town's contractor rules say work that makes noise, vibration or dust is done outside trading hours, at times confirmed with centre operations. Centre management can stop work if it affects the "quiet enjoyment" of the public, tenants or staff, and noisy work outside may also face council time limits.

• Do the loud work off site. Cut, drill and pre-wire at the workshop, so the night is assembly only. Many of our portable display systems need no tools at all.
• Move kit the right way. Harbour Town bans shopping trolleys for moving goods, and pallet trolleys in the mall after 10am. Bring your own trolleys.
• Fence off the work area if anyone else is in the mall. For contractor work zones, Harbour Town wants barriers that are clearly marked, signed and don't create a trip or slip hazard.

#5 - Protect the floor

Floor repairs can be charged back to you:

• Dalby Shoppingworld makes the casual lessee fix any floor damage at their own cost, and bans tape on its floors.
• Mount Sheridan Plaza charges repairs to flooring to you, and suggests cable protectors or anti-slip mats.
• Vicinity wants wheels on display units hidden behind kicker panels and locked once the unit is in place. Raised flooring is for sites with cables to conceal, and Vicinity recommends a maximum height of 32 mm with non-slip ramped edges.

Use soft-wheeled trolleys and lay protection boards under anything heavy until it's in position.

#6 - Power up safely

• Cables. Use centre-approved cable covers, not tape (Vicinity says any kind of tape is not enough). Harbour Town wants leads held 2 m clear of the floor, or run through protective covers where they cross the mall.
• Tags. Lendlease's packs ask for all cords to be tagged and tested by a certified electrician.
• RCDs. Harbour Town wants every appliance protected by an approved residual current device (RCD).

Switch everything on before the crew leaves. A screen that doesn't work at opening is much harder to fix in trading hours.

#7 - Bump-out: leave the site as you found it

Vicinity says that on departure you remove all fittings, fixtures, signage and rubbish (including from any storage area) and make good any damage. Rubbish rules differ, so ask:

• Harbour Town's contractor rules say waste is removed daily, not during trading hours, and fit-out rubbish must not go in the centre compactor. If you leave rubbish, the centre charges a fee to remove it.
• Vicinity wants rubbish taken to the loading dock and separated as the centre's guidelines require, and cardboard boxes disposed of straight away.

Harbour Town's contractor rules include inspections for cleanliness, rubbish removal and damage once work is complete. Photograph the site at the end of bump-in and again after bump-out, so you have a dated record if a mark is queried later.

Your bump-in night checklist

1. Bump-in pack read, window confirmed in writing.
2. Dock and goods lift booked; vehicle and largest case checked against them.
3. Security has the crew names, vehicle and arrival time.
4. Display approved, inductions done, documents on hand.
5. Loud work done at the workshop.
6. Own trolleys, floor protection and cable covers packed.
7. Leads tagged; everything switched on and tested.
8. Rubbish removed or sorted as the centre asks.
9. Photos taken at bump-in and bump-out.
10. Centre and security contacts saved in every crew phone; find yours in our shopping centre managers directory.

We work with all the major shopping centres and know their compliance and logistics rules. Our installation and pack-down team manages the install, comes back for the pack-down, and we can store your kit between campaigns. If you're using equipment we supplied, we can also help on site or after hours on the day. Call us on 1300 240 250 with your centre, dates and bump-in window.