UNSPSC 82161500: Theatrical set design, property and costume services

Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether or not the item was custom-made or is, in fact, the genuine item, appropriated for theatrical use.

UNSPSC 82161500 Theatrical set design, property and costume services is a Class code representing work that state and local governments buy for event production, theatrical costume fabrication, staging services, and related labor. Recent opportunities reveal significant scope mismatch with the code's nominal definition: the opportunities tagged to this code span irrigation system improvements, planning services, fine arts uniforms procurement, and rigging equipment and labor rather than theatrical set design or costume services in any traditional sense. Only two of the ten opportunities in the dataset—the City of Tarpon Springs' single-source stagehand labor award to UTP Productions, Inc., for $16,000 and the Community College of Rhode Island's RFQ for Knight mascot costume design and production—align directly with theatrical or costume work. The remaining eight opportunities (irrigation, planning services, fine arts uniforms, and rigging) are plainly unrelated to theatrical production. State and local issuing bodies across the dataset include cities (Tarpon Springs, Dallas, Stockbridge), counties (Volusia), school districts (Dallas ISD, Northside ISD, Community College of Rhode Island), and park departments.

The geographic spread of relevant activity is concentrated in Florida and Georgia, with isolated activity in Texas and Rhode Island. The two substantive theatrical-services opportunities are the City of Tarpon Springs' stagehand labor notice of intent (posted September 24, 2026, responses due October 16, 2026) for temporary IATSE-represented labor, and the Community College of Rhode Island's RFQ for mascot costume design and production (posted September 8, 2026, due October 5, 2026, requiring 15 percent minority business enterprise participation under Rhode Island law). The CCRI opportunity calls for modular costume accommodating performers 5'4" to 6'0", with ventilated helmet, detachable cape, foam shield and weapon, armor, tunic, boots, gloves, and moisture-wicking underlayer in college colors, flame-retardant materials, two-year warranty, and a contract term of approximately six months from November 1, 2026, with an optional one-year renewal. The code shows little relevant recent activity; the data suggests significant miscoding of unrelated work under this UNSPSC designation.