Guide
Choosing exhibition stand builders: what to ask before you sign
Updated
Two quotes for the same stand can differ enormously and both be honest, because they include different things. Your job is to force them onto the same basis.
What a complete quote itemises
- The floor plan and stand dimensions the price was built against, with open sides marked.
- Design fees, and whether the design is yours if you go elsewhere to build it.
- Structure and build: walls, flooring, storage room, counters, any raised or double-deck elements.
- Graphics: print area, substrate, and what a reprint costs after artwork sign-off.
- Furniture and AV hire, itemised, with delivery, collection and damage terms.
- On-site labour: number of crew, number of shifts, and whether breakdown is included.
- Transport both ways, and on-site handling from the loading bay to the pitch.
- Storage between shows, priced annually, if you are buying rather than hiring.
- Which organiser and venue services they are ordering on your behalf, and which they are not.
- Any structural design, calculations or approval submissions required by the organiser.
- Project management, and who your named contact is during build-up.
- Payment schedule and the deadline after which changes are chargeable.
Questions that reveal how they actually work
- Have you built at this venue before? Venue knowledge shows up in the build schedule, the handling costs and the number of surprises.
- Who is on site during build-up and breakdown, and how do I reach them at 8pm? Build-up is when things go wrong, and a project manager who answers is worth more than a discount.
- What happens if artwork is late? Get the deadline and the consequence in writing before you commit, because artwork is always the item that slips.
- What is your quote excluding? Ask it directly, in those words. It is the single most useful question in the procurement, and it is what makes two quotes comparable.
Comparing on scope, not on the bottom line
Put both quotes side by side against the ten cost drivers and mark every row as included, excluded or unclear. If a cheaper quote has four excluded rows, it is not cheaper, it is shorter. Where a row is unclear, one email fixes it, and the answer tells you as much about the builder as the price does.
Build-up and breakdown involve working at height, temporary structures and vehicle movements in a busy hall. Reputable builders will talk fluently about method statements and risk assessments; the HSE's event safety and working at height guidance is useful background (HSE working at height).