Banquet houseman duties

What a houseman is

The houseman sets up and breaks down the room: tables, chairs, staging, the dance floor, room flips between functions and strike afterwards. They turn the diagram on the event order into a room that is ready when the captain walks it. What housemen own varies by hotel. In some properties they also handle linens or AV; in others those belong to servers or an outside vendor. Ask your manager where the line falls in your hotel.

Working from the BEO

A houseman reads four things on the event order:

1. Setup style and diagram. Rounds, classroom, theater, with the table and chair counts. See banquet room setup styles for what each looks like.
2. Setup time and strike time. When the room is available to set, and when it must be cleared.
3. Counts. The set count tells you how many seats go out, which can be a little over the guarantee.
4. The next function in the same room. If another event follows, the strike for one and the setup for the next may be the same job: a flip.

The day

• Before setup time: pull equipment, read the diagram, set the room as the order says: tables and chairs, head table, staging, dance floor, skirting where the order calls for it.
• Flips between functions: clear the first set, reset for the next, and check the next order for what changed.
• Readiness before doors: the room matches the diagram and the captain has walked it. If something doesn't match, say so early. A short note beats a surprise at doors.
• Strike: break the room down as the order says, return equipment and report damage or lost items.

Working across rooms

Housemen may cover several rooms in the same stretch of day, so their shifts can overlap events in a way servers' shifts don't. A houseman on a flip might be in the ballroom at nine and a breakout at ten. Treat the shift as one working period rather than as one shift per room, and watch how many rooms one person is covering at once. Past about three rooms at a time, check that the work can actually be done.

Job description template (copy and edit)

Banquet Houseman (Setup Crew)

Purpose: Set, flip and strike banquet rooms so each function is ready on time and as ordered.

Reports to: Banquet Manager or Banquet Captain (or the title your hotel uses).

Responsibilities

• Read the event order and room diagram; set tables, chairs, staging and dance floor to the setup style, counts and times on the order.

• Flip rooms between functions on schedule.

• Strike rooms after events and return equipment to storage.

• Report missing, damaged or lost items and any room that doesn't match its order.

• Support the captain with readiness checks before doors.

• Follow your hotel's safety training and procedures at all times.

Requirements: Ability to work on your feet during long setup and strike windows; comfort reading a room diagram; teamwork with servers, captains and the kitchen. English and Spanish a plus.

Add pay, schedule and location in your own posting. This template has no real job posting text and no pay.

In Hotelwright

On the Team plan, Hotelwright keys housemen's call and out times to the event's setup and strike, not its start: a houseman's call is the setup time and their out time is the strike time (when the event has them). The houseman count comes from a table by setup style and guest count (for example, rounds with 101 to 250 guests start at 2), which you can edit. Houseman shifts that overlap on different events count as one working period and aren't flagged as double-booked, and Hotelwright raises a schedule check when one person is on more than three events at once (you can change the limit). See staff banquets from the BEO.