On This Page:
Hours of room availabililty Priority of room availability Administrative fees General use regulations Clean-up and damages Large parties/noise/alcohol Force majeure Use outside of normal building hours Making a reservation

Hours of room availability

(These may change during winter & spring breaks, summer, and holidays) :

MONDAY through FRIDAY from 9 am to 9 pm

SATURDAY from 5 pm to 9 pm

SUNDAY from 5 pm to 9 pm

The Bechtel International Center serves the Stanford Community and makes its facilities available to Stanford organizations.
Events scheduled at the I-Center are generally PUBLIC.

Due to heavy demands for I-Center space, the specific order of priorities is listed under "Availability".

Priority of room availability

On rare occasions, a reserved room may be needed for an I-Center event, In such cases, you will be contacted ahead of time and offered either the use of a different room or you may be asked to reschedule your event.

Permission for use of I-Center facilities and space will be given on a case-by-case basis, subject to availability, and keeping in mind our specific order of priorities.

International Center programs and functions
Meetings and functions held by Stanford international groups and associations
Educational/cultural functions which are international in nature, open to all, and are sponsored by Stanford groups or departments
Non-internationally related events sponsored by Stanford groups or departments
Internationally related functions sponsored by non-Stanford groups

Top of page

Administrative Fees

The I-Center reserves the right to charge administrative fees (in addition to other fees such as cleaning fees and host fees) for events held on its premises.

Groups and individuals holding private functions are subject to this administrative fee.
Other groups subject to an administrative fee include but are not limited to: companies who use the I-Center to contact students; recruiters; Stanford departments holding events for which a fee is charged; events held through the Summer Conference Office, Continuing Studies, the Alumni Association, or, in certain cases the I-Center’s Office of International Visitors; local civic organizations; the Health Improvement Program; non-Stanford organizations in general.
All groups (even student groups and Stanford departments) holding events for which the I-Center determines that a work order will be necessary for clean-up, must pay a $20 fee in addition to the cost of the work order. (The I-Center submits the work order.)
You will be notified of the amount of other, non-work order administrative fees, which may range from $50 to $500 depending on the nature of the event, and the date by which it must be paid in full.
All groups holding events for which the group is charging any sort of fee (for food, admission, etc) MUST provide the I-Center with a written budget detailing the charges, expenses, and amount of money generated by the event that will be retained by the group.

Top of page

General Use Regulations

Groups using the I-Center will be expected to maintain order and to follow the regulations outlined on these pages at all times.

Please note: I-Center staff are not available to handle details of the event such as meeting with caterers, supplying equipment, delivering messages to participants, etc. DO NOT give the I-Center office number to participants as a contact or information number.

Clean-up & Damages:

The organization using the space is responsible for all cleaning and/or damage costs incurred by the event.
If the organization does not pay for the costs, the individual reserving the room is responsible for all charges not borne by the organization.
All groups must follow the regulations listed on the Clean-up/Inspection Guidelines.

Tables & Chairs:

Groups are responsible for setting up and putting away tables and chairs as well as wiping clean the tabletops

Interior furniture may NOT be removed from the building for outside use or moved between rooms.

If you use the chairs and tables in any of the I-Center rooms, you are responsible for returning them to their original configuration.

If you use the chairs and tables in the Assembly Room closet, you MUST return them to the closet when your event is over. This is important because the janitors will not clean the room if the tables and chairs have not been put away.

Kitchen Usage:

The kitchen is only to be used to prepare food for private events and events by invitation only. This means that the kitchen can only be used if you are cooking for yourself and your invited guests and will eat the food at the I-Center.

Catered food may not be reheated, kept warm or altered in any other way in the kitchen.

If your group uses the kitchen, you must wash and put away all utensils, kitchen equipment and dishes that you use. Your group, NOT the janitors, is responsible for this, even if a work order has been placed.
Please follow the instructions posted in the kitchen.
DO NOT leave leftover food in the refrigerator or anywhere else at the I-Center.

Electrical Equipment:

Non-I-Center electrical equipment may not be hooked up to I-Center electrical equipment without prior approval at the time the room reservation is confirmed.

Large Parties/Noise/Alcohol:

Groups holding large parties and/or serving alcohol must follow the SAL party planning guidelines. Contact Student Activities and Leadership for more information.
The University Noise Policy and Alcohol Policy must be followed for all events:
- Noise Policy
- Alcohol Policy
  - Groups serving alcohol must notify OSEP – Office of Special Events & Protocol. Contact Ruth Mikusko email (Mikusko@stanford.edu) prior to the event.
  - All groups serving alcohol and charging either an entrance fee or a fee for alcoholic drinks MUST have an alcohol permit. (These permits take about 1 month to process.)
Noisy events and amplification of sound or music is not permitted anywhere in the building or outside in the lawn, patio and courtyard weekdays, between 9am and 5pm, between 1am and 11am on weekends, and after midnight on weeknights.
We have neighbors on both sides of Bechtel and groups need to be aware of noise concerns. Staff members and the house couple who live on-site can ask groups to moderate music and noise levels.

Force Majeure

We are delighted that you are interested in holding your event at the I-Center. While we do our best to ensure that all of the events, which are held at the I-Center are successful, happen on time and without incident, the I-Center assumes no responsibility for any liability, which may arise from the use of the I-Center’s facilities or equipment, or any failure or cancellation of service due to an act of nature or other cause beyond our reasonable control. This includes mechanical, electronic or communications failures.

Top of page

Use outside of normal building hours:

Groups must vacate the reserved facilities by the hour indicated on the Room Reservation Form. The I-Center MUST be vacated by closing time.
Groups are STRONGLY DISCOURAGED from requesting the use of the I-Center outside of the building’s normal open hours.
We require at least TWO WEEKS' notice to process a request for an event outside of normal building hours.
On very rare occasions, when use of the facilities is granted outside of the normal open hours, a fee of $25 per hour for each extra hour or portion thereof must be paid to the I-Center at least 4 working days IN ADVANCE of the planned event so that a student host may be employed by the I-Center.
Under no circumstances can the use of the building extend later than 1am.
Please note: Groups requesting the use of the I-Center outside the normal open hours should know that their use of the building is contingent upon the room scheduler’s ability to find an I-Center host willing to work the extra hours. If such arrangements cannot be made, the reservation may be cancelled.

Making a reservation

To reserve the use of Bechtel International Center’s facilities, please take the following steps:

Read ALL of the page above (General Guidelines For Use of I-Center Facilities) and bookmark for future reference.
Check availability of our rooms via our Events Calendar.
Submit the Room Reservation Form (web form) • ***Please avoid using Safari to fill in this form as people have reported problems with it. We recommend using Firefox etc. ***
Please allow 2 business days for processing of your request.

• PHONE CALLS: Reservations cannot be made or confirmed by phone.
• PROCESSING TIME: You will be notified within 2 business days as to whether or not the space you have requested is available for your use.
• FEES: If space is available, you may be asked to pay an administrative fee, a fee to cover cleaning costs, and/or a host fee, depending on the size of your group, the nature and hours of your event, and whether or not your group is Stanford affiliated.
• NOTE: Clean-up Guidelines and General Use Rules must be followed! If not, the offending group may not be permitted to book I-Center space in the future.

Top of page