Fairs abroad
Working rules at European venues
Ömer Faruk Süer · Senior Sales Manager · 3 min read · Last updated:
Short answer
What rules are common across European venues?
Six headings appear at every venue: maximum stand height and setback, how the face towards a neighbour must be finished, fire behaviour certification for materials, rigging permission and structural sign-off, permitted working hours for build-up and tear-down, and site passes. The headings repeat, the detail does not; it varies by venue and even by hall. Read the manual afresh for each show rather than relying on last time.
- Technical drawings and approval
- the service step that prepares the approval file
Same headings, different detail
European manuals follow a similar shape: general conditions of participation first, technical rules next, order forms at the back. That similarity is a trap, because the same structure invites the assumption that the detail matches too.
How the rules are applied varies as well. At some venues inspectors walk the floor throughout the build and step in the moment they see a gap; at others there is a single check before opening. The same rule is enforced at two speeds, and the plan should account for it.
It does not. Maximum height differs between venues and can differ between two halls at one site. So can closed-ceiling conditions, sprinkler clearances and floor loading limits. A drawing prepared for Frankfurt is re-checked for Cologne.
The practical method is a short checklist per fair. Write the venue’s figure against each of the six headings and design to that list. We produce it as the first output of the stand design process.
Working hours and site access
The permitted working hours for build-up and tear-down frame the whole schedule. Some venues allow night work and some do not; where it is allowed, it can still need a separate notification and a fee.
There are rules about tools inside the hall too. Dust-producing cutting, welding and any open flame are either banned or subject to separate permission at most venues. That means the cutting has to be finished in the workshop; a plan that assumes cutting on site runs into the hall rules.
Site passes are their own subject. Every crew member is notified in advance, passes are collected from the venue, and some sites issue them with a photograph. Adding a person on the last day makes getting them a pass slow.
Vehicle access runs on passes and time slots too. Large venues marshal trucks into a holding yard, call them forward by number and cap the unloading time. That is why the crew has to be standing ready in the hall.
Waste, cleaning and the floor
The condition in which the hall is handed back is regulated. Timber, metal, carpet and cardboard are separated, and unsorted material can be charged for. Some venues will not accept certain materials being left behind at all.
Sustainability requirements are spreading as well. Some venues recommend hired or recyclable flooring instead of single-use carpet, report waste volumes and ask exhibitors to declare theirs. Those requests can be met at the design stage; they cannot be met on strike night.
Damage to the floor is treated separately. Tape marks, paint, drilled holes and adhesive residue are compared against the pre-build and post-strike record. Photographing the floor before the build heads off the argument that follows.
Cleaning during the show is normally a separately ordered service. Daily cleaning of the stand belongs to the exhibitor, and arranging it on the day is difficult if it was not ordered in advance. The deadlines sit on the order forms at the back of the manual.
Do the rules change every year?
Not wholesale, but they are updated. Venues publish new editions, and working from last year’s file carries risk.
What happens without approval?
The hall inspection can stop that part of the stand. A ruling on build day usually ends with the element being made smaller.
Sources
- Venue technical regulations — Messe Frankfurt
- Venue information — Messe Düsseldorf
- Exhibitor information — Koelnmesse