The American Rental Association (ARA) announced its efforts to establish a new code in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) exclusively for the event rental segment.
On Feb. 18, 2025, ARA filed a robust set of regulatory comments with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as it considers proposed NAICS revisions.
An NAICS code is a six-digit number used to classify businesses by industry across North America (U.S., Canada and Mexico), aiding in economic data collection, market research, analysis and reporting.
“The NAICS system tells the story of almost every industry in North America using data,” says Matthew Hite, ARA vice president, federal advocacy. “The event rental industry is currently lumped in with other non-related industries and it’s almost impossible to get specific data for the event rental industry.”
ARA’s comments focus on the need to have event rental broken out from other industries, such as NAICS 532289 — which currently includes items like rental carpet, furniture, musical instruments, etc. “Our comments make a very strong case that the event industry needs and deserves it very own NAICS industry code to ensure proper representation,” Hite says, adding that ARA offered numerous examples and legal arguments to make its case.
The OMB is currently reviewing ARA’s comments and will decide what changes it will make. A decision could be reached as soon as this fall as the OMB works through its process, but a final rule is expected by March 2026.
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