The Venue Graphics-Rules Index
What convention venues actually allow for signs, graphics and rigging — and the laws those rules stand on — compiled from the venues' own published exhibitor documents and the adopting jurisdictions' codes, cited per row. Las Vegas in full depth, major U.S. venues alongside. The rules live scattered across show-specific PDFs; this is the one place they sit side by side.
Every cell below cites the public document it came from. Rules are show-specific and change per kit: your show's official kit governs — use this index to plan and to know which questions to ask, then verify against the kit for your dates. Not affiliated with any venue.
The fast answers (Las Vegas)
Who owns rigging?
Encore at Venetian Expo, Mandalay Bay and Caesars Forum; Freeman at LVCC (per these kits). At Mandalay Bay, GSCs may hang non-electrical signs under 200 lbs, and Edlen owns ground-supported LED/video wall installs.
The universal hanging-sign band
18-24 ft to the top of the sign, minimum 400 sq ft island/peninsula space — the same numbers at Venetian Expo, LVCC and Caesars Forum. The trap is the ceiling: Hall G (13 ft) takes none, Central 1-2 at LVCC (25 ft) has almost no band, and Caesars Forum's 23 ft 10 in chandelier zones can't take a 24 ft top.
The deadline that bites first
LVCC truss plans: 90 days out, DWG only (PDF/VectorWorks refused; conversion billed hourly). Mandalay Bay permits: 30 days out, and signage diagrams need venue approval before the Fire Marshal sees them. Everything else typically rides the show-kit deadlines.
Can I put vinyl on their floor?
Show floors: professional floor covering is mandatory at Venetian Expo and LVCC (90% coverage or forced carpet rental). Mandalay Bay allows carpet decals only in specific areas and bans most aggressive tapes — ask before printing.
The laws behind the rules
Every kit rule stands on a legal floor. Knowing which layer a rule comes from tells you whether it's negotiable (contract terms sometimes are), whose signature you need (the AHJ's never is), and what applies in every building regardless of what the kit says.
The show kit is a contract
Exhibitor rules are license/contract terms the venue and show organizer set on top of the legal minimums — which is why the same building can have different rules show to show, and why the kit for YOUR dates governs.
NFPA 701 — why everything must be 'fire-retardant certified'
The Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Propagation of Textiles and Films. Every kit line requiring fire-retardant, certified display and decorative materials traces to NFPA 701, invoked through the adopted fire code's exhibit and decorative-materials provisions.
The adopted fire code + the AHJ — why a fire marshal can reject your booth
Most jurisdictions adopt the International Fire Code (IFC) with local amendments (some big cities keep their own codes). The local fire department is the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ): permits, plan walks, covered-booth and multilevel exhibit rules, and sprinkler thresholds (per the adopted code and locally amended NFPA 13) are enforced under that authority.
ADA — why every kit has the 1:12 ramp line
The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design: raised floors must ramp at no steeper than 1:12 with headroom and reach rules — the accessibility lines in every kit are federal law, not venue preference.
OSHA — why crews must be lift-certified
Aerial and scissor lift work falls under OSHA (29 CFR 1926.453 and related provisions): operator training/certification is federal, which is what 'lift-certified crew' requirements trace to.
ANSI/ESTA E1.21 and engineering stamps — why truss plans need an engineer
Entertainment-industry temporary-structure standards (invoked by venue rigging rules, e.g. LVCC's) plus venue requirements for a licensed structural/civil engineer's stamp on overhead structures.
Union jurisdiction — contracts, not codes
Who may install what (and the exclusive-contractor rules) comes from collective bargaining agreements and venue service contracts under federal labor law — it varies building to building and is the least portable rule of all.
Las Vegas / Clark County, Nevada
Clark County has adopted the 2024 International Fire Code with Clark County amendments (replacing the 2018 IFC and the Southern Nevada Consensus amendments), codified in Clark County Code Title 13 ch. 13.04, alongside locally amended NFPA standards (incl. NFPA 13 sprinklers). The AHJ for the Strip corridor and the LVCC is the Clark County Fire Department — the CCFD references in every Vegas kit trace here. [Clark County Amendments to the 2024 IFC (adopted; pub. Dec 2025)]
Venetian Expo
Halls A-G plus the Venetian Ballroom. Rules below are from a 2025 show kit at this venue; your show's kit governs.
| Ceilings & height limits | Maximum height of exhibit fixtures, components and signage is 16 ft for standard island configurations (20 ft backwall in some configurations). Hall G's ceiling is only 13 ft — everything must fit under it. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs — where | Permitted in Halls A, B, C and D only, for peninsula/island spaces of at least 400 sq ft. NOT permitted in Hall G. Venetian Ballroom has very limited hanging points — check availability for specific locations before designing. [source] |
| Hanging signs — how high | Must hang higher than 18 ft and no higher than 24 ft to the top, subject to each ceiling location's capability. Split-island signs and graphics set back 5 ft from adjacent booths. [source] |
| Who rigs | Rigging is exclusive to Encore. Overhead structures attached or tied off to the ceiling need a licensed structural or civil engineer's stamp. Exhibitor-supplied hanging signs ship to the advance warehouse in a separate, labeled container. [source] |
| Booth graphics & setbacks | Double-sided signs, logos and graphics set back 10 ft from adjacent booths. No logos, branding or signage may face into an adjoining booth; exposed backwall structure must be finished in a neutral color without graphics. [source] |
| Floors | Professional floor covering is MANDATORY in Halls A, B, C, D and G and not included with the space — under 90% coverage by the deadline and the venue's contractor installs carpet at the exhibitor's expense. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Display materials should be fire-retardant and certified. Covered areas over 1,000 sq ft require sprinklers; no storage behind back drapes; vehicles on display fall under Clark County Fire Department rules (1/8 tank, locking or taped cap, extinguisher, overnight fire watch). [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Freeman is the official show contractor in this kit; hiring anyone else requires a Notice of Intent for an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor by the deadline — miss it and you're hiring Freeman labor instead. [source] |
Sources: RE+ 2025 Exhibit Rules & Regulations — Venetian Expo (Sept 2025 show)
Las Vegas Convention Center
West, North and Central halls. Rules below are from a 2026 show kit plus the facility's rigging regulations; your show's kit governs.
| Ceilings & height limits | Ceiling heights differ by hall: West 42 ft; North 1-2 35 ft; North 3-4 33 ft (exceptions under skywalks/entrances); Central 1-2 just 25 ft; Central 3 31-35 ft; Central 4-5 35 ft. Island fixtures/signage max 20 ft (16 ft in some configurations). [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs — where | Permitted in Central, North and West halls for peninsula/split-island/island spaces of at least 400 sq ft. Peninsula and split-island signs: front half of the booth only, set back 5 ft from the neighbor. [source] |
| Hanging signs — how high | Raised higher than 18 ft and no higher than 24 ft, subject to the specific ceiling location (Central 1-2's 25 ft ceiling leaves almost no band). [source] |
| Who rigs | Rigging handled exclusively by Freeman in this kit. Truss plans go to LVCC Safety & Fire Prevention 90 days before the show (boothplans@lvcva.com) and must meet ANSI E1.21. Rigging drawings must be DWG — VectorWorks and PDF are not accepted, and conversion bills at $126.25/hour. Catwalk loads capped at 25 lbs/sq ft. [source] |
| Booth graphics & setbacks | Double-sided signs, logos and graphics set back 10 ft from adjacent booths; no branding facing into an adjoining booth; exposed structure finished neutral without graphics. [source] |
| Floors | Professional floor covering is MANDATORY and not included — under 90% coverage by the deadline and carpet is installed at the exhibitor's expense. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Covered areas of 1,000+ sq ft require sprinklers. Tents over 400 sq ft and canopies over 700 sq ft need a Clark County Fire Marshal permit; temporary structures over 2,500 sq ft need a permit. Fire-retardant, certified materials; 36 in clearance around fire cabinets and extinguishers. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Freeman is the Official General Service Contractor; drayage, rigging, hanging truss, electrical, plumbing and custom cleaning are exclusive services. Outside labor requires a Notice of Intent (EAC) by the deadline. [source] |
Sources: RE+ 2026 Exhibit Rules & Regulations — Las Vegas Convention Center (Nov 2026 show) · Freeman / LVCC Rigging Regulations (2024 kit copy)
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
The facility's own contractor/vendor production policies (July 2022 edition) — the most material-specific rulebook on the Strip. Confirm current edition with your CSM.
| Who rigs | Encore is the exclusive rigging provider (labor, truss, chain motors, cables, span sets and all rigging equipment) in the convention center and meeting rooms. Exception: general service contractors may hang non-electrical signage under 200 lbs. Nothing may be hung in any air-wall track. [source] |
|---|---|
| LED & video walls | Installation and removal of monitors and ground-supported video/LED walls is an exclusive service of Edlen Electrical — plan the labor line accordingly. [source] |
| Adhesives & tape — allowed | Approved: ECHOtape double-sided tape, chalk, masking tape, gaffer tape, non-adhesive visqueen. Adhesive booth numbers are okay ONLY on aisle carpet. Carpet protection: low-tack visqueen products (Carpet Mask / Carpet Shield / Gymguard) or carpet-over-visqueen. [source] |
| Adhesives & tape — banned | Prohibited on surfaces: crayons, pens, duct tape, BT 105 tape, BT 99 tape, heavy-duty polyester tape and red tape. Carpet decals are allowed only in specific areas of the convention center — ask before printing floor graphics. [source] |
| Signage approvals | Signage and public-area diagrams must be approved by Mandalay Bay BEFORE they go to the client or the Fire Marshal. [source] |
| Fire & permits | Diagrams are walked on property with the on-site Fire Marshal. Permit items go to the CSM in writing 30 days prior. Fire-watch requirements apply (witnessed by the Fire Marshal); exits, extinguishers, hose cabinets and sprinkler closets stay visible and accessible. [source] |
Sources: Mandalay Bay Convention Center — Contractor & Vendor Production Policies (July 2022)
Caesars Forum
Ballroom-style halls with chandelier zones — the building where hanging-sign plans go wrong most often. Rules from a 2025 show kit; your show's kit governs.
| Ceilings & height limits | Ceilings run 23 ft 10 in to 30 ft — the low point is mid-hall where chandeliers hang (26-30 ft in the other hall). Island fixtures/signage max 16 ft (20 ft backwall in some configurations). [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs — reality check | Hanging signs and two-story booths are permitted BUT hanging points are very limited in the Forum ballrooms — most hanging signs will require truss. Peninsula/island spaces of at least 400 sq ft; front half of the booth, 5 ft setback from neighbors. [source] |
| Hanging signs — how high | Raised higher than 18 ft and no higher than 24 ft where the ceiling allows — with a 23 ft 10 in low point, parts of these halls cannot take a 24 ft sign. [source] |
| Who rigs | Encore is the exclusive provider for rigging (and internet and electrical). Overhead structures attached or tied off to the ceiling need a licensed structural or civil engineer's stamp. [source] |
| Booth graphics & setbacks | Double-sided signs, logos and graphics set back 10 ft from adjacent booths; no branding facing an adjoining booth; exposed structure finished neutral. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Booths with a covered ceiling of 1,000+ sq ft require automatic sprinklers; single-level covered displays escape sprinklers only under specific conditions including a fire extinguisher within reach (one per room if divided). [source] |
Sources: RE+ 2025 Exhibit Rules & Regulations — Caesars Forum (Sept 2025 show)
Resorts World Las Vegas
The strictest install regime on the Strip, and the clearest: Resorts World publishes its own contractor guidelines rather than leaving rules to show kits. Read the labor row first — an outside graphics crew cannot affix anything to a resort surface here.
| Who may install graphics — read this first | FedEx Office is the EXCLUSIVE installer for all branding and anything affixed to resort-owned surfaces or structures; outside vendors may not attach or affix any item to a wall or surface. Exclusive services also cover electrical, plumbing, rigging and theatrical lighting labor, truss, cleaning (United National Maintenance for exhibit space), internet and motor-equipment rental. Décor, security, AV equipment rental and transportation are non-exclusive. [source] |
|---|---|
| Signage & adhesives — the blanket ban and its exception | No signage may be affixed with nails, staples, tape or adhesives anywhere in conference space; airwalls are magnetic, so lightweight items may hang from magnets only. All signage needs pre-approval for content AND location, and must be removed within 6 hours of event close or the resort disposes of it and bills removal. Drilling or anchoring into concrete is prohibited in all rooms; asphalt anchoring needs prior approval; painting signs or booths anywhere on property is not allowed. Adhesive wall, glass and floor graphics exist here only as branding installed by the exclusive vendor. [source] |
| Floor graphics & carpet | Carpet decals are allowed only in designated Convention Center areas — never on marble or on the walkways from the casino and hotel elevators — with resort approval, installed by the exclusive vendor. Floor marking is white freight tape only. Carpet over carpet requires a low-tack visqueen barrier (Carpet Protection, Carpet Mask, Carpet Shield or Gymguard) with the tape applied to the visqueen, not the house carpet. [source] |
| Published branding surfaces & rates | Unusually for a Strip property, Resorts World publishes per-day sponsorship pricing for surfaces: meeting-room entryways from $500 per area per day; large foyer walls and glass surfaces from $1,000 per area per day; floor clings from $500; tabletop branding $50 per table; bar branding $100 per bar — each exclusive of the vendor's own production and install charges. The exclusive vendor's catalog covers wall, floor, column, elevator, stair and glass graphics, bollard covers, pool-floor graphics and outdoor banners. [source] |
| Ceilings & floor loads | Ballroom ceilings: Lotus and Orchid 16 ft; Blossom and Jasmine 18 ft; Lily 19 ft; Rose 20 ft; The Complex 24 ft across 70,000 sq ft. Floor loads run 100 PSI in the casino and meeting rooms, 150 PSI on the theater stage, 350 PSI on the pool deck. Rose Rooftop and Rose Terrace take no lifts or pallet jacks on the floor tiles, cap distributed weight at 200 lbs per sq ft, and require an engineering stamp plus rigging-vendor approval for any built structure including LED walls. [source] |
| Rigging | Encore Event Technologies is the exclusive rigging, theatrical-lighting-labor, power and truss provider in the meeting spaces and The Complex — but not in the Theater, Zouk or Ayu. Nothing may be hung anywhere in the facility except from approved rigging points, and rigging plans go to the vendor's portal at least 30 days before first load-in. Ground-supported structures need approval and may require ballast or safety ties. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Decorations, drapes, signs and banners must be flame retardant with a manufacturer's fire-resistance certificate; oilcloth, tar paper, sisal paper, nylon, orlon and some plastics cannot be made flame retardant and are prohibited outright. Exhibit programs file flame-retardant certificates and material samples with Clark County Fire and keep them on site. Functions of 300 or more need a Fire Marshal-approved diagram — permit coordinated 30 days out, approved plan filed 21 days out, fees $400 to $1,200 by room size — or the event does not proceed. Displays are capped at two levels with no enclosed second-level roof. [source] |
| Access, docks & insurance | Docks run 5 AM-2 PM weekdays and 5 AM-1 PM weekends with three slips at the main dock, two hours per vehicle, $250 per extra half hour. There is no marshalling yard on property. A freight-elevator operator is required for load-in and out at $95/hr, four-hour minimum. Every crew member must appear on the vendor access spreadsheet and badge in, or is denied entry. Insurance: $1M per occurrence / $2M aggregate general liability, $1M auto, $2M umbrella, statutory workers' comp, carrier rated A- VII or better, filed 14 days before arrival. [source] |
Sources: Resorts World Las Vegas — Contractor Guidelines for Conferences & Events · Resorts World Las Vegas — Sponsorship & Branding Guide (06/24) · FedEx Office — Resorts World Las Vegas Signs and Graphics Capabilities (2024) · Resorts World Las Vegas — Floor Plan & Specs (ballroom dimensions and ceiling heights)
San Francisco, California
California layers a regime no other state has: beyond the 2022 California Fire Code (Title 24 Part 9 — the 2021 IFC with CA amendments), Health & Safety Code 13115-13126 and Title 19 CCR make it unlawful to use decorative materials in assembly occupancies unless nonflammable or flame-retardant treated — and the State Fire Marshal REGISTERS the approved chemicals, applicators and treated fabrics. That is why Moscone accepts only California flameproof certificates. San Francisco adopts the CFC with its own amendments (2022 SF Fire Code); the AHJ is the San Francisco Fire Department, with a venue-appointed Fire Marshal on site. [OSFM Flame Retardant Laws & Regulations · 2022 SF Fire Code]
Moscone Center
North/South halls plus Moscone West. Unusually, the venue publishes its graphics, rigging and union rules on its own site — rows cite venue pages, with show-kit rules marked as such.
| Ceilings & height limits | Halls A-C run 37 ft column-free; Hall D drops to 24 and 18 ft; Hall E 24 ft; Hall F 28 ft; Moscone West Level 1 is 27 ft. Booths taller than 16 ft need Fire Marshal approval — as do platforms over 500 sq ft, canopied/covered booths, and anything two-story. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs | Show-kit rule (FanExpo SF 2025): ceiling-hung signs only for 20x20 ft or larger island/peninsula spaces; anything hanging 10 ft or more off the floor needs Show Management approval and is ordered through the venue. Venue rules: sign cables capped at 25 lbs per sign on the hall arches; airwall tracks may never be used for rigging. [source] |
| Who rigs | No single exclusive rigger — only venue-approved contractors may rig, under a venue-appointed House Head with complete authority over all hanging regardless of jurisdiction. Items of 1,000 lbs or more: plans 30 days ahead. Freestanding structures 12 ft and taller need an engineer-stamped drawing or rig-point tie-off; rigged banners keep 18 in from sprinkler heads and hang at least 8 ft clear or run to the floor. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics — the approved-product list | The venue names exact products: floor graphics FLEXmark V400 on carpet, 3M IJ40 on terrazzo/concrete, 3M IJ180c on stairs, 3M 3662-10 on sidewalk; tape BRON BT100/BT-4001 on terrazzo, BRON BT279 on carpet; glass takes removable non-residue films only; walls PhotoTex Original S. New substrates: submit 90 days ahead for a 10-day on-site test. Damage repair is billed to the contractor. [source] |
| Fire & materials — California certificates only | All decorative material must be flame-retarded and carry a California flameproof certificate or tag, prominently attached — only California certificates are accepted. Flame-resistant certified foam core (PVC), no exceptions. Covered/two-story booths: engineer-stamped plans, banned where ceilings are under 24 ft, UL battery smoke detectors underneath, possible fire watch. Show floor plans reach the Fire Marshal 60 days out; SFFD operational permits for open flame, propane, tents over 700 sq ft. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Sign & Display Workers Local 510 covers installation and dismantle of displays, floor coverings and all sign/graphic applications; Teamsters 2785 freight; IATSE 16 staging/rigging; IBEW 6 booth electrical. The venue's graphics page states install must be executed by qualified union labor. [source] |
Sources: Moscone Center — Graphics and Décor (venue site, read 2026) · Moscone Center — Rigging Rules (venue site, read 2026) · Moscone Center — Flame Retardant Materials (venue site, read 2026) · Moscone Center — Union Jurisdictions (venue site, read 2026) · FAN EXPO San Francisco 2025 — Moscone West Operating Guidelines (show kit)
Anaheim, California
Same California core (California Fire Code plus the Title 19 CCR / HSC 13115-13126 flame-retardant registration regime — CSFM certificates). Anaheim Municipal Code ch. 16.08 adopts the California Fire Code with city amendments. The AHJ is Anaheim Fire & Rescue's Community Risk Reduction Division, which runs a dedicated trade-show inspection program — a permit is required for any show with more than 10 tables or booths. [Anaheim Municipal Code ch. 16.08]
Anaheim Convention Center
City-owned. The Facility Guide bundles venue rules with Anaheim Fire & Rescue's own trade-show specifications; show-kit rows (NAMM) marked as such.
| Ceilings & height limits | Halls range widely: Hall A 18'6"-24 ft, Halls B and D 20'6"-25 ft, Hall C 25 ft — and Hall E only 13'8". Rigging steel runs 13'6" to 38 ft. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs | Show-kit rule (NAMM): signs only over peninsula/island/split-island booths, max 16 ft floor to top of sign — 12 ft in Hall E because of the ceiling; double-sided signs set back 10 ft from adjacent booths; aerial truss needs a structural engineer's stamp. [source] |
| Who rigs | ETCP-certified riggers must oversee all rigging. Encore holds exclusivity in designated areas (ballroom, arena, meeting rooms, ACC North) and for all rigging hardware and any rigged object over 100 lbs; the GSC may hang signs up to 100 lbs on non-motorized points. Intent due 60 days out, full sign plot 30 days out — miss the deadlines and the work defaults to Encore. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics — the approved-tape policy | One approved tape for carpeted spaces: 3M Clear Scotch #3565 — no other tape permitted. Gaffers on exhibit-hall concrete; painter's tape on terrazzo. Floor clings approved on carpet only — none on terrazzo. Black-mark and residue removal is billed to the contractor. [source] |
| Fire & materials — the CSFM certificate | Drapes, fabrics, netting, booth-separation materials, tents, inflatables and cardboard walls must be flame resistant with a California State Fire Marshal flameproof certificate provided to Anaheim Fire & Rescue — no certificate means a sample goes for fire testing, and failures are removed before opening. Covered structures: one smoke detector per 900 sq ft; displays 18 in below sprinkler heads. [source] |
| Fire — permits & plan review | A trade-show permit is required for any show with more than 10 tables or booths. Plans reviewed BEFORE booth space is sold and at least 30 days out — under 21 days doubles the plan-check fees. Tents over 400 sq ft need an AFR permit with the flame-retardant certificate. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | ACC hourly staff are union-represented but the venue does not require union labor — most GSCs use it. Exclusives: Encore rigging in designated areas, ARAMARK food, Smart City internet. EACs can be held off property until an hour after show close on move-outs. [source] |
Sources: Anaheim Convention Center Facility Guide (City of Anaheim, incl. Anaheim Fire & Rescue trade-show specs) · The NAMM Show — booth display & rigging guidelines (Anaheim CC show kit, 2026 cycle)
Dallas, Texas
Dallas adopted the 2021 International Fire Code with local amendments as Chapter 16 of the Dallas City Code, effective February 2023. The AHJ is Dallas Fire-Rescue's Inspection and Life Safety Education Department (Special Events Section) — the convention center's own resource guide carries DFR's fire-code attachment for exhibits. Texas is a right-to-work state: no unions are associated with the KBHCCD itself. [City of Dallas 2021 IFC adoption]
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
Mid-rebuild: Halls D/E/F are decommissioned for the master-plan construction. Venue guide plus a 2025 show kit; show-kit rows marked.
| Ceilings & height limits | Hall A: 35 ft ceiling, 350 lbs/sq ft floor load. Show-kit display cap: 16 ft throughout for islands; corner/peninsula displays over 4 ft keep 5 ft off the main aisle and 10 ft off neighbors. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs | Show-kit rule: 400 sq ft minimum booth (island/split-island/peninsula/double corner) — none for in-line booths. Signs allowed up to 20 ft from the floor with the top no higher than 25 ft. Installed exclusively by Freeman; rigging plans to the Freeman rigging manager 3 weeks before move-in, in DWG format. [source] |
| Who rigs | Freeman Audio Visual is the venue's exclusive provider of chain hoists, trusses, rigging lifts and rigging labor (ballrooms, arena, all exhibit halls); rigging is subject to KBHCCD inspection with fees. Rooftop access prohibited — nothing hangs from the roof. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics | Floor decals are not permitted in lobbies, ballrooms or meeting rooms. Nothing may be taped, nailed or affixed to doors, ceilings, walls, floors, painted surfaces or columns; metal, wood or adhesive may not touch the terrazzo or epoxy floors; banners hang from existing eye-bolts only. Tape comes off the floor before handback. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Dallas Fire-Rescue's exhibit attachment rides inside the venue guide: flame-retardant materials with certification (bring the fireproofing certificate to the show); a 2A-10BC extinguisher within 75 ft of travel or every 3,000 sq ft; multilevel booths need suppression inside the first floor or a defined equivalency; indoor tents of 400+ sq ft need a Fire Marshal permit. Final floor plans to DFR's Special Events Section 60 days out. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Texas is a right-to-work state — no unions are associated with the KBHCCD. Service contractors need ESCA/WIS-compliant credentials for access. Exclusives: Freeman AV production rigging, Sodexo Live! food, Smart City telecom. [source] |
Sources: KBHCCD Event Resource Guide 2024 (incl. Dallas Fire-Rescue exhibit fire-code attachment) · Manufacturing Technology Series Southwest 2025 — KBHCCD hanging-sign & display rules (show kit)
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago keeps its own code: Municipal Code Title 14F (the Chicago Fire Prevention Code) adopts the 2018 International Fire Code only to the extent specified and as modified by Chicago's own provisions — a partial adoption, plus the City of Chicago Electrical Code for anything powered. The AHJ is the Chicago Fire Department and its Fire Prevention Bureau: covered/multi-level booth blueprints go to CFD 60 days before show open, engineer-stamped. [Municipal Code of Chicago Title 14F §14F-1-001]
McCormick Place
South, North, Lakeside and West buildings. Venue fire regulations plus the venue sections carried in a 2025 show kit; show-kit rows marked.
| Ceilings & height limits | Wildly hall-dependent: South A 40 ft; North B1 40 ft but B2 just 18 ft; Hall C1 26-29 ft (19.5 ft at the Y columns), C2 as low as 10-20 ft; Lakeside D 50+ ft but Hall E 15 ft; West F 40 ft with 20-ft low zones. Show-kit display caps: linear 12 ft, peninsula 20 ft, island 25 ft — no variances. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs | Show-kit rule (C2E2 2025): islands/peninsulas of 400+ sq ft (at least 20x20) only; peninsula signs to 20 ft, island to 25 ft; two-sided peninsula signs hang 5 ft off the back wall with the rear face clear of copy. Venue rule: items of 500 lbs or more need drawings stamped by a licensed structural engineer; nothing hangs from electrical, water, gas, fire-protection or communication lines; Octanorm-style component systems may not be used to hang signs. [source] |
| Fire & materials — the triple standard | Fabrics pass NFPA 701, all other construction/decoration materials pass NFPA 703 plus the UL-1975 test; wood is pressure-impregnated by a certified specialist. Covered/multi-level booths run a five-format system keyed to 225 sq ft with engineer-stamped blueprints to the venue's Fire Safety Division AND the Chicago Fire Department 60 days before show open; sprinklers avoidable only under limits (max 2 levels, 30 ft, 5,000 sq ft enclosed); extinguisher per 500 sq ft of enclosure; fire guard whenever the show is closed. Glitter is prohibited in the building; adhesive decals may not even be distributed. [source] |
| Labor & who can install — the trades | Union town, by trade: Decorators hang signs and handle taping of flags, banners and signs; Carpenters build and dismantle; Teamsters move freight; Electricians (via an approved utility provider) own anything powered including electric signs; IATSE 110/2 cover AV. Rigging performed by the show GSC (Freeman in this kit). [source] |
| Labor — exhibitor rights (the 2010 reform) | Since the MPEA reforms (Aug 2010), exhibitors may work their own booth of ANY size with their own ladders, hand and power tools — including installing all signs, graphics and props — and move material on non-motorized hand trucks. Straight time runs 6 AM-10 PM weekdays. EACs hire their exhibit labor through the GSC, register 30 days out, and enter via BEEP credentialing. [source] |
Sources: McCormick Place (MPEA) Fire Safety Regulations (rev. 2021) · C2E2 2025 Exhibitor / McCormick Place Rules & Regulations (show kit carrying the venue sections)
New York City, New York
New York City runs its own Fire Code (Title 29, NYC Admin. Code) — IFC-based but heavily amended; the current 2022 Fire Code (Local Law 47 of 2022, effective April 2022) draws on the 2012/2015 IFC with selected 2018 provisions. The AHJ is the FDNY — which certifies the flameproofers themselves (Certificate of Fitness) and can close an exhibit on a failed field flame test. Double-deck booths and solid overhead structures over 120 sq ft additionally need a NYC Department of Buildings permit with NYS-licensed architect/engineer drawings. [FDNY — NYC Fire Code]
Javits Center
The most venue-controlled labor regime in the country: with few exceptions you must hire the Javits Center's OWN employees. Show-kit rows (NY Auto Show 2026) marked as such.
| Ceilings & height limits | Level 1 halls are LOW: 1A and 1E 16'9", 1B/1C 19'7". Level 3: 33 ft to the space frame (28 ft at bay borders) except 3D at just 14 ft. River Pavilion 45 ft. Show-kit sign tops (NYIAS): 31 ft in 3A/3B/3E, 13 ft in 3D, 14'6" in 1A, 16 ft in 1B/1C. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging — the space-frame load math | Venue limits: 15,000 lbs per 90x90 bay, 1,500 lbs per space-frame node, 50 lbs per frame member; halls 1B/1C threaded points take 100 lbs; halls 1A/3D/1E hang only from partition tracks at 50 lbs per point with approved devices. No planking on the space frame; nothing from diffusers, lights or sprinkler pipes. All hanging loads approved in advance by the Center. [source] |
| Who rigs | Rigging is performed by Javits employees; in the Auto Show kit the split is explicit — the GSC installs all non-electrical rigging, Javits Show Electric installs ALL electrical rigging. Exhibitors never rig. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics — the decal ban, plus who applies them | Adhesive-backed decals and flooring are strictly prohibited for any purpose in the Center — and where adhesive graphics ARE permitted work, their application is contractually Carpenters' jurisdiction. Glitter banned in carpeted areas; no painting of structure; no drilling or anchor bolts. Raised floors over 3/4 in ramp at 1:12 (ADA). [source] |
| Fire & materials — FDNY's personal touch | Everything fire retardant, proven by manufacturer's tag or a certificate from a flameproofer holding an FDNY Certificate of Fitness — certificates valid one year, with field flame tests on site; a failure can close the exhibit. Double-deck booths banned on Level 1, 3D and North Levels 4/5; where allowed, a walked-on second tier or any solid overhead structure over 120 sq ft needs a NYC Department of Buildings permit with NYS-licensed architect/engineer drawings, 15 business days ahead. Display vehicles carry a gallon of fuel, max. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | You hire the building: Javits-employed Carpenters (all exhibit erection, sign hanging, rug laying, adhesive-graphic application), Freight Handlers (Teamsters), IBEW Local 3 electricians (all electric signs and cabling), Plumbers Local 1. The self-work carve-out is narrow: your own staff, booth up to 250 sq ft, no tools or ladders. EACs supervise but hire the labor from the Center, with bonds and insurance on file. [source] |
Sources: Javits Center Operational Policies & Building Rules (NYCCOC, 2025) · New York International Auto Show 2026 — Display Rules (Javits show kit)
Orlando / Orange County, Florida
Florida runs on the Florida Fire Prevention Code (8th Edition, effective Dec 31 2023) — Florida-amended NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2021 editions), re-adopted by the State Fire Marshal every 3 years under Fla. Stat. 633.202. The AHJ at the OCCC is Orange County Fire Rescue's Office of the Fire Marshal, which reviews trade-show plans under NFPA 101 and the FFPC — and wants floor plans SIX MONTHS ahead. [Florida State Fire Marshal — FFPC]
Orange County Convention Center
West building plus North/South. The one major venue where the BUILDING itself is the exclusive rigger. Show-kit rows marked as such.
| Ceilings & height limits | West building halls run 26'10" to 40 ft (West A/B/D 40 ft, West C 33 ft, West E 30 ft, West F 26'10"); North/South halls are 40 ft. [source] |
|---|---|
| Who rigs — the venue itself | The OCCC is the exclusive provider of aerial rigging: attachment of any signage or equipment to the building by non-OCCC personnel is strictly prohibited. OCCC installs all truss and motors; assembly of the sign itself is the exhibitor's or EAC's job. Plots due a minimum of 3 weeks before first move-in; signs must carry a structural engineer's seal (2025 revision made the seal mandatory); signs/truss over 100 lbs need a chain hoist; electrical components need steel-cable backups. [source] |
| Hanging signs | Show-kit rule (MEGACON 2025): 400 sq ft island/peninsula minimum; end caps may not hang signs; anything 10 ft or higher needs Show Management approval; all banners hung through OCCC Rigging. The venue itself publishes no height bands — the show kit governs. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics | Adhesive-backed decals are not permitted in the OCCC at all (nametags excepted). High-residue tape is prohibited on terrazzo and carpet — required: low-residue carpet tape (Polyken 105C or Renfrew #174) and low-residue safety tape (Asiachem SST-736 or equivalent); leftover residue is removed by OCCC and billed. Carpeted areas get 6-mil poly protection; loads over 1,500 lbs ride on plywood. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Fabrics and films must pass NFPA 701; Styrofoam set construction is not permitted; mulch and straw can't be treated at all. Covered booths: battery smoke detector inside EVERY covered exhibit regardless of size; 300-1,000 sq ft covered needs a fire watch or extinguishing system (1,000 sq ft is the max allowed); multi-level exhibits need a fire watch/system at ANY size, with architect/engineer-signed scaled plans. Floor plans go in SIX MONTHS ahead — inside 21 days triggers an expedited-review fee. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | OCCC exclusives: rigging and event utilities. Contracted partners: Smart City internet, Centerplate F&B, FedEx Office, Xpodigital. Booth assembly belongs to the exhibitor or EAC. [source] |
Sources: OCCC Event Planning Guide (rev. Mar 2021) · OCCC Aerial Rigging Conditions (REV072025R1) · MEGACON Orlando 2025 Operating Guidelines (OCCC show kit)
Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia's State Minimum Fire Safety Standards (Rules of the Safety Fire Commissioner, Subject 120-3-3, under O.C.G.A. 25-2-4) adopt the International Fire Code with Georgia modifications plus NFPA standards including the Life Safety Code. Because the GWCC is a state authority's property, the AHJ is the GEORGIA STATE FIRE MARSHAL — floor plans go to the state 90 days out, not to a city fire department. Georgia is a right-to-work state. [Ga. Safety Fire Commissioner Rules 120-3-3]
Georgia World Congress Center
State-authority property — which changes who approves your plans. Show-kit rows (IPPE) marked as such.
| Ceilings & height limits | Exhibit halls: 30 ft to the bottom of the grid, with 16-ft dropped-ceiling soffit areas. Floor loads 350 lbs/sq ft in Buildings A and B, 400 in Building C and the BC Hall. [source] |
|---|---|
| Who rigs | Rigging is exclusive to the in-house provider (ONSITE Audio Visual) for ballroom and general-session/production work; anything attached to the building's structure needs review and approval, with GWCC engineers (and an outside structural engineer when required) checking the plan. Banner and rigging requests go in 60 days ahead. The venue's signage guidelines exempt exhibitor installs inside/above their own booths — those ride the show's GSC under ETCP guidelines. [source] |
| Hanging signs | Show-kit rule (IPPE 2027): in-line booths get NO ceiling-suspended signage; islands/peninsulas may suspend to 24 ft max (sign face capped at 5 ft tall), set back 5 ft from neighbors, directly over contracted space; multi-level needs a 900 sq ft base. The venue publishes no height bands — kits govern. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics | Nails, tacks, glue, screws, tape or stickers may not be used to hang signs anywhere; adhesive decals prohibited; no drilling anywhere on campus. Floor graphics: none on terrazzo, ever; carpet clings need 30-day advance approval (and carry a 15% sponsorship fee for advertising). Approved carpet tapes: BRON BT279, BRON BT698, HBM Supply 1464. Terrazzo requires Masonite protection — Visqueen alone is not accepted; lifts ride on TireSocks with a diaper. [source] |
| Fire & materials | All event floor plans are approved by the GEORGIA STATE FIRE MARSHAL — submitted 90 days ahead via the state portal, with approved plans to the venue 30 days before move-in. Multi-level/covered booths: structural engineer's stamp, 60 days out; covered/enclosed areas of 300+ sq ft need a fire watch through GWCC Public Safety plus extinguishers; drapes, curtains, carpets and exhibit materials must be flame retardant. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Georgia is a right-to-work state; the authority has no union relationships, though show contractors may. The licensee decides whether exhibitors self-install, use the GSC, or bring an EAC (ESCA badge required). Exclusives: Levy F&B, Edlen electrical, CCLD IT, ONSITE AV rigging — and Coca-Cola holds pouring rights. [source] |
Sources: GWCCA Event Planning Guide (rev. Jan 2025) · IPPE 2027 Display Rules & Regulations (GWCC show kit)
Houston, Texas
Houston adopted the 2021 International Codes — including the 2021 IFC with Houston amendments — effective January 2024. The AHJ is the Houston Fire Department fire marshal: vehicle displays need HFD permits, and multilevel exhibit plans are stamped by the fire marshal and must be built without deviation. [ICC: Houston adopts the 2021 I-Codes (eff. Jan 2024)]
George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston First property. The venue's 2017 Rules & Regulations remain the posted baseline; Staging Solutions' rigging exclusivity is its own layer.
| Ceilings & height limits | Level 1 halls A-E are all 35 ft clear (547,730 sq ft combined); Level 3 halls run 30 ft; the Grand Ballroom is 28 ft center, 25 ft at the walls. [source] |
|---|---|
| Who rigs — the Point system | Staging Solutions is the exclusive contractor for all structural rigging: it alone establishes each rigging Point (the steel cabling around the building's beams) and supplies all motors; below the Point, the licensee's approved company may work. Banners and rigid signs up to 250 lbs can go to the show's decorator; anything 251 lbs and up needs venue approval of labor, location and weight. Requests 30 days ahead; plots in DXF/DWG/VWX only — no PDFs. [source] |
| Rigging — engineering & insurance | The rigging approval form requires certification that hanging-structure stress points are properly engineered and tested, plus a $1M/$2M COI at least 10 business days before work. [source] |
| Floor & surface graphics — the decal ban | Adhesive-backed decals are prohibited in the facility, full stop. Only pre-approved tapes (e.g. Shurtape PC 618 cloth, DF 642 double-faced) may be used; no tape of any kind on carpeted or painted areas. The fine print bites: $1,000 per exhibit hall if tape, residue or booth stickers are left behind. [source] |
| Fire & materials | All decorative materials flame retardant to the fire marshal's satisfaction — subject to inspection and live flame testing. Multilevel exhibits: fire marshal approval 30 days out, built exactly to the stamped plans. Vehicle displays need Houston Fire Department permits; 15+ vehicles triggers a fire watch. Floor plans to the venue 90 days out. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | No union jurisdiction stated in venue documents (Texas right-to-work). Exclusives: facility-affixed rigging, F&B, telecom, temporary utilities, booth cleaning. EACs use a Third-Party Authorization Form; only facility staff may open utility floor pockets. [source] |
Sources: George R. Brown Convention Center — Rules & Regulations (Houston First, 2017) · GRB Exhibitor Guidelines (venue site, read 2026) · Staging Solutions at GRB — Exclusives Overview & Rigging Forms
Boston, Massachusetts
Massachusetts does not run on the IFC at all. It adopts 527 CMR 1.00, the Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code, built on NFPA 1 (2021 edition) with state amendments. Authority at the convention centre is layered: the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety holds jurisdiction over safety matters at the MCCA and works with the Boston Fire Department — and BFD is the binding authority for flame certification. That last point is the expensive one for anyone shipping graphics in: BFD certifies materials itself, within six months of the event, and does not accept certificates issued by other jurisdictions. [Massachusetts Fire Code — Department of Fire Services]
Boston Convention & Exhibition Center (and the Hynes)
Both buildings are run by the same authority and publish current first-party rulebooks — yet they are two different rigging jurisdictions. Read the fire row before you print anything destined for Boston.
| Fire certification — the trap that catches out-of-town graphics | All materials must be certified by the Boston Fire Department within six months of the event, and BFD does not accept certificates issued by other jurisdictions — material can be sent to BFD for testing. A copy of the Certificate of Flame Resistance for floor covering, curtains and rigged signage has to be on site. The city's fire code also bans fabric attached to a ceiling or covering any part of an exhibit, and carpet on ceilings, walls or seating. Fabric on covered exhibits under 300 sq ft passes NFPA 701 Class A with flame spread of 25 or less and smoke developed of 450 or less. [source] |
|---|---|
| Ceilings & height limits | Exhibit halls run about 35 ft 6 in under the low mechanical roof, rising to roughly 100 ft in Hall A, 92 ft in Hall B and 82 ft in Hall C at peak. Meeting rooms are 15 ft 6 in to 18 ft. Hynes per-hall ceiling heights are not published in the venue's own documents. [source] |
| Hanging signs & rigged items | A rigged item may not exceed 300 sq ft of surface area in a horizontal plane, nor sit more than 15 degrees off vertical — the same wording applies at both buildings. Banners need grommets and pole pockets top and bottom; over 6 ft they want a rigid support, and over 20 ft they require truss or motors. Banner orders go in at least 21 days before move-in with a diagram of dimensions and placement, and every banner material needs its Boston Fire Department flame certificate attached. Soft banners are prohibited in the North Lobby now that the video wall is live. [source] |
| Who rigs — and why the two buildings differ | At the BCEC the in-house provider is exclusive for all aerial rigging, truss, motors, ground-supported crank-ups and every attachment to the structure; the general service contractor's only carve-out is hanging aisle signs under 150 lbs from the exhibit hall catwalk railings. At the Hynes the general service contractor may do non-motorized aerial rigging in the exhibit halls, within a hard envelope: three or fewer ceiling points, under 150 lbs, under 20 ft wide, under 175 sq ft, on aircraft cable rated to at least 400 lbs. Rigging capacity is 1,500 lbs per point in the North Lobby and Grand Ballroom pre-function space, and aerial rigging is prohibited in BCEC meeting rooms. [source] |
| Covered and multi-level booths | Any multi-level exhibit regardless of size, and any covered exhibit over 300 sq ft, needs plans submitted at least 90 days before move-in, scaled, signed and dated by a registered architect or professional engineer, with connection details and a floor loading schedule; upper decks and covered areas cap at 1,000 sq ft each. Sprinklers are required under those same thresholds, with exemptions for flame-resistant fabric whose seams split at 176°F, open mesh of at least 70 percent open area, or listed dropout ceilings. Booths whose ceilings escape sprinklers must sit at least 10 ft apart where the aggregate ceiling exceeds 300 sq ft. [source] |
| Adhesives, tape & decals | No adhesive materials including tape that can deface walls, ceilings, floors or equipment, and no nails, staples, hooks, tacks or screws into any surface. Tape and adhesive may not be used to attach signs, banners or decorations to building walls or decorative surfaces. Heat tape and double-faced tape are banned on carpeted and marble floors. Adhesive-backed decals may not be given away or used at all, with removal costs billed back. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Exhibitors may set up and dismantle their own booths using their own bona fide full-time employees, and power tools are explicitly acceptable. Self material-handling is allowed from a company-owned, rented or personal vehicle 24 ft or shorter using hand-operated equipment only. But vendors — AV, furniture design and the like — may never unload their own items; a contractor must be hired to push them in. Every general service contractor and appointed contractor needs a current ESCA photo ID to enter, labor lists are due by 5 PM the day before the call, and officers have no discretion to admit anyone without a badge. [source] |
| Insurance | Contractors carry general liability at $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate naming the authority as additional insured, auto liability at $1M combined single limit, workers' compensation with employer's liability, and umbrella excess liability with a minimum occurrence limit of $10M — the highest umbrella requirement in this index. [source] |
Sources: BCEC Event Planning Guide, version 2024.2 (Massachusetts Convention Center Authority) · Hynes Convention Center Event Planning Guide, version 2024.2 · BCEC Exhibitor Ordering Guide V23.2 (2023 published rates) · BCEC Floorplans & Capacities — Exhibit Level
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia adopts the 2018 International Fire Code as the Philadelphia Fire Code — Subcode F of Title 4 — with local amendments, and moves to the 2021 I-Code family on 1 July 2026. Authority splits in two: the Philadelphia Fire Department and Fire Marshal approve event floor plans, booth and vehicle placement and multi-level units, while Licenses & Inspections is the construction-permit authority. [Philadelphia L&I — applicable codes (2018 IFC; 2021 family from 1 Jul 2026)]
Pennsylvania Convention Center
The inversion in this index: the most permissive building in the country for exhibitor self-install, and one of the most restrictive on adhesives. It gives you the booth and keeps the ceiling.
| Who may install — the most permissive exhibitor rights in the country | Under the Customer Satisfaction Agreement, full-time employees of the exhibiting company may set up and tear down their booths WITHOUT LIMITATION AS TO SIZE, use power tools and ladders up to 6 ft, and install their own signage, graphics and floor coverings — provided no appointed contractor has been engaged to set that booth. That is more latitude than McCormick Place's reforms and far more than the Javits Center allows. [source] |
|---|---|
| A warning about the venue's own older PDFs | The 600 sq ft cap on exhibitor rights that still appears in the Plan of Operations was superseded — the current one-sheet and FAQ both say without limitation to size. An installer reading only the Plan of Operations gets the wrong threshold. Where 600 sq ft still bites: exhibitor-installed stem lighting, running your own cords, single-level scaffolding, and the rule that installed exhibits over 600 sq ft not set by the exhibitor are handled by stagehands. Regardless of booth size, wherever an appointed contractor or decorator is used, electricians install all fixtures and lit signage. [source] |
| Four trades, not six | Only four unions are signatory to the agreement — riggers, laborers, electricians and stagehands — with no carpenters and no teamsters anywhere in the work-jurisdiction exhibit. That single structural fact explains why the rules here read so differently from Chicago's or New York's. For graphics: stagehands sort, install and remove all non-electrical contractor signage and lay all floor coverings; electricians own electrical signs, booth lighting, and the bridle rigging to motors for hanging signs; laborers handle drapery, carpet delivery and removing tape from floors; riggers do the mechanical lifting. [source] |
| Who rigs | The venue itself is the exclusive rigging provider — production rigging since October 2015 and exhibitor rigging since July 2016 — and makes all attachments to the building structure. It supplies all motors, hardware, controls, cable and truss. Nothing may hang from conduit, sprinkler or gas pipes, drywall, fascia, light fixtures, buss ducts, ductwork, speakers or ceiling tiles. Truss and motor inventory is due at least 45 days out (60 days if 40 or more points), with the final signed plot no later than 14 days before first load-in — though the Plan of Operations prints 30 days, so budget for the earlier date. Going around the venue's rigging carries a $100 per motor attachment fee. [source] |
| Ceilings & rigging capacity — two halls take nothing overhead | Halls A through E have low clearance around 29 ft rising to 51 ft, with box-truss trim near 30 ft and panel truss rated 250 lbs per point, mostly bridled. Halls F and G are the exception that changes designs: trim of just 15 ft and 14 ft, and NO overhead rigging capability at all — ground support only. Ballroom AB runs to 42 ft with house motors at 1,000 lbs each; the Terrace Ballroom allows dead hangs to 1,000 lbs per point and is the only room with beam clamps. Floor loads are 350 lbs per sq ft in the halls but 100 in the Grand Hall, ballrooms and meeting rooms. [source] |
| Adhesives, tape & decals — the restrictive end of the spectrum | Adhesive-backed stick-on decals may not be distributed or used in the building at all, apart from name tags. No tape of any kind is permitted on carpeted surfaces. Painting of signs, displays or other objects is not permitted anywhere in the building, nothing may be taped, nailed or stapled to ceilings, painted surfaces, columns, fabric, doors or walls, and no holes may be drilled or cored. Where carpet tape is allowed the approved products are named: Kendall TC-19-100, Shurtape PC 618 or DF642. Floor marking uses standard chalk or 3M tape — liquid chalk, water and paint are expressly forbidden. Glitter and confetti are out, and column labelling for hose valves and extinguishers may not be covered by any wrap. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Booths are noncombustible or limited-combustible; wood under 1/4 in must be fire-retardant treated to NFPA 703, other combustibles flame resistant to NFPA 701, foamed plastics to UL 1975. A canopy over 100 sq ft needs a smoke detector and extinguisher; over 200 sq ft it needs sprinklers. Multi-level units need fire department approval, cap upper levels at 200 sq ft including stairways, require plans stamped by a licensed professional engineer, and must sit at least 20 ft from another unit with occupied space above floor level. Floor plans go to the fire department months ahead — the Plan of Operations prints three different lead times (three months, 90 days, and four months), so work to the longest. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT publish | Hanging-sign height bands, minimum booth size for a hanging sign, back-wall heights and setback rules are not set at venue level here — the rigging guidelines state that rigging must conform to show management's rules as well as the venue's. Those numbers come from your show's kit, not the building. Any source quoting a fixed height band for this venue is inventing it. [source] |
| Insurance & access | Carriers rated A+ VIII or better. General liability $1M per occurrence with $2M general and products aggregates, auto $1M combined single limit, umbrella $5M, and employer's liability $1M across all three parts. The authority, its operator, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia all go on as additional insureds, coverage is primary, and policies need a waiver of subrogation. All show labor must be hired through the exclusive labor supplier, and licensees have no authority to alter the agreed work jurisdictions. [source] |
Sources: Pennsylvania Convention Center — Enhanced Exhibitor Work Rules (January 2026) · Customer Satisfaction Agreement — Exhibit A, Work Jurisdictions Revised (PCC) · Pennsylvania Convention Center — Rigging Guidelines and Regulations (December 2020) · Pennsylvania Convention Center — Plan of Operations (revised May 2019) · PCCA Registration and Right of Entry License Agreement (effective 1 Jan 2024) · Pennsylvania Convention Center — Exhibitor FAQs and Work Rules
Washington, DC
DC is a federal district, not a state, and adopts its own construction codes directly. The DC Construction Codes of 2017 took effect 29 May 2020 and carry the 2015 ICC family as amended through DCMR Title 12 — the fire component is DCMR Title 12-H, the DC Fire Code, based on the 2015 IFC. The AHJ is the DC Fire and EMS Department's Office of the Fire Marshal, which reviews all public assembly and exhibit plans and issues operational permits: events of 100 or more need one, the fee is $150, plans are due at least 10 business days ahead, and operating without a permit can draw a $2,000 fine per offence. The Department of Buildings handles construction permitting. [DC Department of Buildings — 2017 DC Construction Codes (DCMR 12H, 2015 IFC)]
Walter E. Washington Convention Center
The best-documented rigging in the country — the exclusive rigger publishes per-bay load limits and hang-point elevations to the inch, with free CAD downloads. Two numbers decide most graphics jobs here: 200 lbs, and 30 days.
| The 200-lb line — the number that decides who hangs your sign | Rigging is exclusive to the venue's contractor, but dead-hung items up to 200 lbs are the exception: signs, banners, logos and drape under 200 lbs may be hung by the official show contractor provided it uses workers trained and certified to rig. Signage in the exhibit hall is assembled and hung up to 200 lbs by the carpenters; anything over 200 lbs must go on chain motors and be hung by the exclusive rigger. The Ballroom is the exception to the exception — there, every ceiling attachment is the exclusive rigger's regardless of weight. Watch your show kit too: some general contractors set a stricter 100-lb chain-motor trigger. [source] |
|---|---|
| Adhesive graphics — the 30-day approval gate | All adhesive décor and window cling material, and its placement, must be approved by the Convention Center at least 30 days before the first move-in date. Decorations and signage may not be taped, nailed or secured to any permanent surface, and adhesive-backed decals or stickers may not be distributed anywhere in the building by anyone. Glitter is banned outright and confetti needs written approval on carpet. The only tape specified is for cable runs — gaffers or clear poly tape, adhering to carpet only. No approved product list for graphics adhesives is published, so the 30-day submission is the whole process. [source] |
| Rigging capacity, hall by hall | Halls A, B and C carry pad eyes on roughly a 10 ft by 15 ft grid: 2,500 lbs at main truss panel points, 2,000 lbs at beam points off panel. Each 90 ft by 90 ft column bay is designed for 32,000 lbs total, so loading every one of its 46 points drops you to 700 lbs each, or you take a maximum of sixteen points at 2,000 lbs. Under the L and M Street 'street steel' the grid is 16 ft by 15 ft at 2,000 lbs, with 50,000 lbs per bay. Bridles may not exceed 45 degrees from vertical. Halls D and E carry 2,500 lbs per point but cap each truss beam at 8,500 lbs, allow no bridling between truss beams at all, and limit bridling on a beam to 30 degrees. The Ballroom is 1,000 lbs per point with 12,600 lbs per 45-by-90 section, and nothing may hang from the white lattice ceiling tiles, wood panels or balcony glass. The Salons offer 750 lbs behind hatch doors — plus non-load-bearing points for banners and foam-core that top out at 15 lbs. Floor load is 350 lbs per sq ft. [source] |
| Steel heights and rigging submissions | In Halls A-C low steel sits at 29 ft 10 in, street steel at 32 ft 10 in and high steel at 38 ft 11 in — these are structural steel elevations from the rigging drawings, not finished ceiling heights. Halls D and E run far higher, with curved truss-beam points from 40 ft 1 in up to 52 ft 9 in. Rigging plots are due at least 21 days ahead to both the venue and the rigger, showing maximum weight per point including motor and chain, every flown item, and all trim heights. Only the rigger's steel, motors and truss may attach to the building; each suspended item needs a secondary safety steel; and nothing hangs from conduit, sprinkler or gas pipes, ductwork, buss ducts, air-wall tracks or ceiling tiles. [source] |
| Fire, covered booths & the plan-approval chain | Decorating materials must be flameproof or treated, with retardancy certificates always on site — the DC Fire Marshal tests at random. Covered and multi-story booths need an audible smoke detector, a porous roof or cover so the building's sprinklers can operate through it, and a charged 3A40BC extinguisher, plus a trained fire prevention attendant whenever the hall is closed. Multi-story exhibit plans go in at least 90 days before installation, certified and sealed by a licensed structural engineer or architect; the fire division can stop work and prohibit occupancy. Floor plans are approved by the venue first and then the fire department — plans sent directly to the fire division by show management are returned without approval — at $150 per drawing, submitted 31 days out to avoid an expedited fee. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT set | There is no venue-level hanging-sign height band and no venue minimum booth size for a hanging sign. The rigging guide defers explicitly: no hanging item may exceed the show's height limitations, high or low. Those numbers come from your show kit. Any page quoting a fixed height limit for this building is guessing. [source] |
| Labor & who can install | Four jurisdictions: carpenters handle exhibit and décor installation, carpet, power tools and light sign rigging including signs and banners under 200 lbs; teamsters move all freight and operate all material-handling equipment; the stagehands' local covers theatrical rigging, chain motors, truss and exhibit signs on motors; electricians come through the exclusive electrical provider. Truss splits by purpose — lighting and electrical truss is the rigger's, truss that is part of the exhibit itself is the carpenters'. Exhibitor self-work is narrow: full-time employees may set up their product, unpack and place merchandise and calibrate equipment, and may hand-carry one package in one trip with no dollies or mechanical help. Every contractor files an annual right-of-entry permit that includes a substance-abuse program with random testing. [source] |
| Insurance | Certificates are due at least 21 days before the first move-in day and no move-in begins without one. General liability at $2M general aggregate, $2M products and completed operations, $1M personal and advertising injury and $1M each occurrence; auto at $1M combined single limit; workers' compensation with $100,000 employer's liability limits. The Convention Center Authority, its board, officers and employees and the DC government all go on as additional insureds. [source] |
Sources: Events DC — Walter E. Washington Convention Center venue policies · Events DC — Walter E. Washington Convention Center exhibitor services · GLP Inc. — WEWCC Technical Guide of Rigging, Labor and Regulations (2021) · GLP Productions — WEWCC venue page with downloadable rigging CAD drawings
Denver, Colorado
Denver writes its own fire code rather than adopting the IFC as published: the 2025 Denver Fire Code is a set of Denver amendments to the 2024 IFC, and the fire code official is the Denver Fire Department Prevention Division. The detail that matters for exhibits, and that almost every trade-show guide gets wrong: Denver's appendix table marks Appendix N, Indoor Trade Shows and Exhibitions, as NOT ADOPTED. The IFC's dedicated trade-show appendix therefore carries no force here — booth rules come from the base code body, Denver's amendments, fire department plan review and venue policy instead. Permits are priced per item, including $75 for exhibits and trade shows and $75 per fuelled vehicle indoors, with a doubled fee for failing to obtain one. [2025 Denver Fire Code — 2025 amendments to the 2024 IFC]
Colorado Convention Center
Well documented, with two traps: the venue bans adhesive decals in one document and sells them in another, and its own guides print two different floor-plan deadlines. Both are reported here with sources rather than resolved silently.
| Labor & who can install — the 60-minute rule | One union holds nearly everything: all decorating, display, drayage, theatrical, rigging, production and audiovisual work, plus all material handling, is performed by the stagehands' local. The exhibitor carve-out is the tightest in this index — full-time employees of an exhibiting firm may install and dismantle their own display only if the work takes LESS THAN SIXTY MINUTES and uses no mechanised tools. Product display and placement stay the exhibitor's exclusive right. Anything needing a dolly or forklift goes to union labor. And for the venue's own branding programme the rule is flat: all installation, hanging, rigging and removal is by authorised union labor, and clients may not self-install. [source] |
|---|---|
| Adhesives & decals — banned in one document, sold in another | The contractor guidelines say no pressure-adhesive stickers or decals or similar promotional items may be distributed in the building, with removal labor charged back. The branding guide simultaneously sells floor decals, window clings, door clings, railing glass clings and wall graphics as official assets. The rule that reconciles them is easy to miss: a sample of every proposed adhesive and cling material must be submitted to venue operations and approved before installation. Beyond that, nothing may be taped, nailed, stapled or fastened to ceilings, doors, walls, glass, columns, painted surfaces, fabric or sprinklers anywhere in the facility; the ballroom separately bans double-faced, duct, scotch, cellophane, drafting and decorator tape on any surface. Carpet tape must be a facility-approved product — the venue says to ask the event manager and publishes no list. [source] |
| Published branding rates | Rare among convention centres, the venue publishes sponsorship graphics pricing: column wraps $300 up to 6 ft, $450 to 10 ft, $650 to 15 ft and $1,000 above; wall graphics $300 small, $600 medium, $1,000 large; floor decals $50 under 3 ft up to $500 over 10 ft; window clings $600 per window; escalator side panels $800 per escalator; stair-step branding $2,500. Artwork is due 30 days before the event. Sponsor branding is interior-facing only — no exterior windows, doors, sidewalks or outdoor structures — and on escalators the two end glass panels are off limits. Custom shapes, layered materials, full architectural wraps and any vinyl needing access equipment trigger a joint review by sales, event management and operations. [source] |
| Ceilings & rigging | All six exhibit halls run 30 ft to low steel with a 350 lb per sq ft floor load. The rooftop ballroom is about 30 ft, the Mile High Ballroom 30 ft over a 100 psf floor, and the theatre 95 ft. In the ballrooms, signage may be floor-supported or hung only where the booth sits under existing hang points — lift and motorised signage cannot be accommodated because of the ceiling design. Rigging is performed by qualified riggers employed or subcontracted by the general service contractor, working to industry standard, with every chain motor carrying a current annual inspection certificate and documented ownership. Homemade truss — anything not from a recognised truss manufacturer — must come with engineering specifications. [source] |
| Rigging deadlines & the $500 fee | Plans overlay onto the venue's reflected ceiling plans, drawn at 1/16 inch to the foot, showing each point's location, load and purpose. Anything involving truss and motors should be submitted no later than six months in advance. If a rigging plan is not submitted 30 days before first move-in, a $500 review fee applies on top of any engineering costs — and if a submittal falls outside the building's accepted criteria it goes to the structural engineer of record, which takes two weeks or more. Per-hall point loads for the exhibit halls are NOT published; the technical sheet refers you to a separate handout, so request it from technical services rather than trusting any figure you find online. [source] |
| Fire & materials | A covered exhibit space over 100 sq ft and under 300 sq ft needs a smoke detector and a 2A10BC extinguisher; over 300 sq ft it goes to the fire prevention bureau for special requirements. Decorative materials must be flameproof — drapes, banners, fabrics, poster paper and foam-core wall hangings, curtains, screens and plastics — with a certificate of flame resistance available for the fire marshal. Oilcloth, tar paper, sisal paper, nylon, orlon and some plastics cannot be made flame retardant and are prohibited. Aisles run 10 ft in the exhibit halls, 8 ft in ballrooms and 4 ft in meeting rooms, contiguous booth space over 100 ft in any dimension is prohibited, and a 20 ft access stays clear at every emergency exit. Vehicles carry a quarter tank or five gallons, whichever is less, with cables disconnected — and a vehicle displayed at street or ballroom level needs its own fire department permit. [source] |
| Two deadlines, two operators — read this before you file anything | The venue's own documents disagree on when floor plans are due: the operating policies and the ballroom policy both say six months before move-in, while the contractor guidelines say three months. Work to six. Similarly, current documents name Legends Global as operator while the insurance paperwork still names ASM Global — and the sample additional-insured wording an installer must mirror exactly still reads ASM Global, so copy the certificate form rather than the website. [source] |
| Insurance | General liability of $1M bodily injury and $1M property damage including blanket contractual, independent contractors and products, plus a follow-form umbrella of at least $5M. Workers' compensation with $1M employer's liability and $1M combined single limit auto including hired and non-owned. The insurer must be licensed in Colorado and rated at least A VIII, and the policy must be occurrence-based — claims-made policies are not accepted. Certificates are due no later than 60 days before the first move-in day. [source] |
Sources: Colorado Convention Center — Rigging and Hanging Information · Colorado Convention Center — General Service Contractor Guidelines · Colorado Convention Center — Union Labor Requirements (2024) · Charlotte Convention Center — Branding Guide (April 2025) · Colorado Convention Center — Ballroom and Prefunction Exhibit Policy · Colorado Convention Center — Event Planner's Guide · Colorado Convention Center — Certificate of Insurance requirements
New Orleans, Louisiana
Louisiana splits its stack, and the fire half is not the IFC at all. For construction the state uniform code adopts the 2021 IBC; for fire and life safety the Office of the State Fire Marshal adopts NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, 2015 editions, by reference in the Louisiana Administrative Code. Authority then splits a third way in practice: the State Fire Marshal adopts the code, but event floor plans at the convention centre are permitted through the New Orleans Fire Department — and the venue forbids sending plans there directly, acting as the sole liaison itself. [La. Admin. Code tit. 55, Pt. V §103 — NFPA 1 and NFPA 101 (2015 editions)]
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Four cross-referencing rulebooks, the newest revised January 2025 — which is how a venue ends up banning decals in three documents and permitting clings in a fourth. Both rules are real; the reconciliation is below.
| Decals banned, clings allowed — the distinction that matters here | Three separate venue documents say glitter and adhesive-backed stick-on decals are strictly prohibited and may not be distributed or used for any purpose in the building. A fourth section of the same 2024 document permits window, carpet, floor and wall clings with venue approval, and lists escalators, columns and floor or carpet decals among what the general contractor may brand. Read together, the ban targets exhibitor and giveaway decals while contractor-installed branding clings are an approval-gated exception — and the gate is concrete: a physical sample of each cling surface goes to the operations department in advance, clings on lobby doors sit below the panic bar and inside contracted space, and everything comes off at move-out. [source] |
|---|---|
| Everything else that touches a surface | Nothing may be glued, taped, tacked, nailed or in any way affixed to any interior or exterior surface, including exhibit floor columns even inside your own booth. Drilling into the concrete floor is prohibited and painting of any kind is strictly prohibited in all areas. Cutting carpet, signage, logos or drapery in direct contact with permanent floor surfaces is banned. For cable in back-of-house areas the approved tapes are named — Pro120 and Polyken 105C — and there is a hard threshold worth designing around: every cable over a quarter inch in diameter must be flown, only cables at or under a quarter inch may be taped down. [source] |
| Rigging — who may, and how much | In the exhibit halls, rigging is limited to the event's official general contractor and the venue's own production team. In the Great Hall, ballroom, theatre, meeting rooms and public lobbies the venue is the exclusive provider of all rigging equipment, hoists, truss and labor. Authorisation forms and plans are due 60 days before move-in, in AutoCAD DWG, showing the location and weight of every point. In peak-ceiling halls, points up to 250 lbs need no advance authorisation, the absolute maximum is 1,000 lbs per point, and the whole assembly may not exceed 10 lbs per sq ft of roof area or 1,000 lbs in any 10 by 10 area. Under finished ceilings you get 100 lbs per point, vertical loads only, and nothing at all from the decorative slat ceiling. On the exterior façade anything over 10 lbs per point needs authorisation. Hang from the lowest bar of the structural steel rafters, wrapped in burlap or carpet, never from sprinkler pipes, wall tracks or conduit. [source] |
| Ceilings & floor loads | The only clearance figure the venue publishes is building-wide: ceilings vary from 26 ft 4 in to 59 ft, with most areas at least 30 ft. There is no per-hall ceiling table — what it publishes per hall is rigging capacity instead. Floor loads run 350 lbs per sq ft in the exhibit halls, 500 in the rear of Halls H, I and J, and 100 in the ballroom, theatre and meeting rooms with a 10,000 lb total equipment cap. Exceeding any of those requires a weight-redistribution plan certified by a licensed structural engineer, 90 days before move-in. [source] |
| Fire, floor plans & the fee you have not budgeted for | All combustible exhibit materials are flame-retardant treated, and the venue says it rigorously enforces this and may field flame test anything questionable. Multi-level and enclosed booths need detailed plans 60 days out, cannot sit under the utility truss ways, and must carry a structural engineer's stamp certifying maximum occupant load — with no square-footage threshold, so the stamp applies to all of them. Floor plans go to the event manager 60 days out with exhibits 20 ft clear of lobby and dock doors and aisles no less than 10 ft — and at no time may a floor plan be sent directly to the fire department; the venue submits it. The fire department floor-plan approval is a priced line item on a sliding scale, from $100 for a small show up to $1,047 for the largest footprint booked late. [source] |
| The 2% tax on your install | A New Orleans exhibition-hall authority ordinance imposes a 2 percent tax on goods and services provided by service contractors, and the ordinance names the work explicitly: installation and dismantling of exhibits, displays and booths, decorations, lighting trusses, rigging and associated equipment, carpets, signs and props. Every service contractor must register with the City of New Orleans and the State of Louisiana, and show management files its contractor list at least 90 days before occupancy. No other venue in this index taxes the install itself. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT set | No booth height limit, no hanging-sign height band and no minimum booth size for a hanging sign appear in any of the four governing documents — the venue's only sign-related constraints are rigging weight and ceiling clearance. Nor does it publish any union jurisdiction, any exhibitor self-work threshold, or any insurance minimum. All of that is set by the show's general contractor, and kits at this same building genuinely contradict each other: one permits exhibitor-provided dollies and hand trucks, another forbids them and caps self-work at thirty minutes with no hand tools. At this venue, ask the contractor, not the building. [source] |
Sources: Ernest N. Morial Convention Center — Operational Procedures & Information (9 Jul 2024) · Ernest N. Morial Convention Center — Rules and Regulations (27 Jan 2025) · Ernest N. Morial Convention Center — 2025 Guide to Success, event services and equipment · Ernest N. Morial Convention Center — Exhibitor Policies & Information
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indiana runs one statewide code — localities do not write their own. The rule in force is 675 IAC 22-2.5, the 2014 Indiana Fire Code, which adopts the 2012 edition of the IFC. Worth knowing before you cite anything else: a successor rule adopting the 2024 IFC is published and indexed but exists only as an unadopted draft, still carrying a placeholder document number and a placeholder effective date, so any source calling Indiana a 2024-IFC state is reading a draft. The AHJ is genuinely dual and the venue names both in its own rules — the Indiana State Fire Marshal holds the amusement and entertainment permits and inspects against them, while the Indianapolis Fire Department approves room capacities and takes vehicle-demonstration submittals. [675 IAC 22-2.5-1 — the 2014 Indiana Fire Code, adopting the 2012 IFC]
Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium
A right-to-work state whose convention centre is contractually all-union — and the strictest surface-attachment regime in the index, floors included.
| Who hangs signs, and what a sign costs | All signs and banners are hung by venue personnel. The exception is narrow and useful: an exhibitor may hang signs in their own booth that attach to the booth itself, using their own full-time employees — anything attaching to the building is the venue's work. Simple sign hanging is a published flat $1,000, covering installation and strike, and 'simple' is defined: under 20 ft, under 200 lbs, no power required, and square, circular, rectangular or triangular. Multiple signs, any measurement over 20 ft, anything over 200 lbs or any other shape goes to custom quote. Lighted signs or spinners needing special placement add $450, and weekend hangs add $225 per day. [source] |
|---|---|
| Banner construction spec | Banners must be built of fire-retardant AND water-permeable material — the permeability requirement is unusual and catches solid vinyl banners out, because a solid sheet blocks the sprinklers above it. They arrive ready to hang with properly constructed frames and grommets or eye-bolts, and must have a top and bottom pocket to receive pipe. Both show management and the venue approve, and the venue reserves the right to refuse anything it deems unsafe or inappropriate. [source] |
| Adhesives & decals — floors included | Clients may not nail, staple, tape, spray, hang or attach anything to walls, ceilings, fixtures or floors. That last word is what makes this venue different: floor graphics are not an approval question here, they are inside the blanket ban absent written approval from facility management, with any permitted work done by venue personnel or under their direction. Stickers, glitter and confetti are not permitted, and adhesive-backed decals may not even be given out inside the building by anyone. Window clings are available only to clients renting the entire facility, with preliminary artwork 45 days ahead and final artwork 30 days ahead, must be light-coloured and cover the entire pane, and are installed by the venue. No painting is permitted in any carpeted area. The venue names no approved tapes because it does not permit the activity. [source] |
| Ceilings & floor loads | Unusually uniform: all eleven exhibit halls are 35 ft, over floor loads of 350 to 500 lbs per sq ft. The swing space drops to 20 ft, the Sagamore Ballroom is 32 ft, and meeting rooms run 11 to 20 ft with conference rooms as low as 7 ft 11 in. The stadium adds two 26 ft exhibit halls plus a bowl with nearly 300 ft of clearance. In Halls G through K the paired columns are worth knowing: the 35 ft span is concrete for the bottom 20 ft and plaster over steel for the upper 15. [source] |
| Fire & covered booths — a clear sprinkler rule | Two-tiered exhibit plans go to facility management 60 days before the event with written approval required before move-in, and each needs an ABC extinguisher and a smoke detector on the first level. The sprinkler trigger is stated more plainly here than at most venues: if the structure is completely enclosed, meaning a roof over the second floor, a sprinkler system must be installed; if the space above the second level is open, none is needed. All buntings, curtains and drapings must be non-combustible. Display vehicles run under a quarter tank with caps sealed and batteries disconnected, approved by the State Fire Marshal AND the city fire department, and any vehicle demonstration goes in writing to the fire prevention bureau at least 45 days ahead. [source] |
| Labor — right-to-work state, all-union building | Indiana is a right-to-work state, and this venue nonetheless states plainly that it uses union labor exclusively, with four named locals holding clear jurisdictions: Teamsters 135 for installation, dismantle and setup; IBEW 481 for electrical and telecom; Plumbers and Steamfitters 440; and IATSE 30 for sound, lighting and the rigging of same. The exhibitor carve-out is explicit and reasonably generous — you may set up your own booth using your own full-time employees, connect and disconnect your own equipment to venue-provided utilities, and install your own theatrical lighting provided it is owned rather than rented. But you may not move furniture in a meeting room; that is union work with a four-hour minimum. [source] |
| Insurance, and what the venue does NOT publish | Certificates are due 45 days before occupancy: $2M general aggregate, $2M products and completed operations, $1M personal and advertising, $1M each occurrence, plus auto at $1M and an umbrella of $1M for exhibit hall events or $5M for stadium events, with the county's Capital Improvement Board as additional insured. What you will not find anywhere in the venue's documents: rigging load limits, per-point capacities, a rigging plot deadline or an engineer-stamp threshold. The venue resolves all of that by making rigging its own work and quoting anything non-standard case by case. The minimum booth size for a hanging sign also comes from your show kit, not the building. [source] |
Sources: Indiana Convention Center & Lucas Oil Stadium — Facility Guide (January 2026) · Indiana Convention Center — signs and banners ordering page · Indiana Convention Center — union policies and procedures
Phoenix, Arizona
The Phoenix Fire Code is the 2024 IFC with Phoenix amendments, effective 17 February 2026 — so anything published before then still says 2018 and is now wrong. The reason Phoenix matters to this index is what it adopts: Phoenix specifically adopts IFC Appendix N, Trade Shows and Exhibits, and its own section 324.1 says trade shows and exhibits shall conform to it. Appendix N is enforceable code here, with Phoenix-authored amendments to aisle width (10 ft above 15,000 sq ft, 8 ft from 5,000, 6 ft below) and a 50 ft travel-distance limit — the exact opposite of Denver, which does not adopt it at all. The AHJ is the Phoenix Fire Department's Fire Prevention section, and the convention centre hosts an in-house fire marshal; multi-level booths are a second agency entirely, permitted by Planning and Development. [City of Phoenix — Fire Code (2024 IFC with Phoenix amendments, eff. 17 Feb 2026)]
Phoenix Convention Center
A desert market like Las Vegas, and the only venue here with a tenfold rigging difference between its own halls. Labor and insurance facts come from a 2017 guide the venue still publishes — dated as such below.
| Rigging capacity — a tenfold gap inside one campus | The North and West halls carry 2,500 lbs per point. The South Building's Halls F and G carry 250 lbs per point, from low steel only, with the main east-west trusses limited to 250 lbs within six inches of a panel point, 125 lbs between panel points, 6,000 lbs on any single truss and just 40 lbs on the north-south bridging members. An island rig that flies without comment in Hall C cannot fly in Hall F. Airwall tracks everywhere take 200 lbs per point, vertical dead hangs only, with side loads strictly prohibited. Both ballrooms have no high steel points at all — the North Ballroom is points-only with no steel to wrap and no bridling permitted. [source] |
|---|---|
| Ceilings & floor loads | Lower Level Halls 1 to 6 are 32 ft with high steel at 43 ft over a 350 lb per sq ft floor; the Upper Level Halls A to E are 35 ft with high steel from 43 to 57 ft over 300 lbs, virtually column-free with a 237 ft clear span. South Halls F and G drop to 27 ft low steel but carry the heaviest floor in the index at 600 lbs per sq ft. Exterior decks take 250 lbs per sq ft. [source] |
| Rigging process | One exclusive rigging contractor handles everything motorised. The initial written request and drawing go in no less than three months before the lease period, in DWG or VWX — a PDF is explicitly not a valid submission format — drawn in the current building shell from the venue's own site, and showing point load calculations for each point and the total. Final approval is due three business days before load-in, and anything arriving inside that window is charged 20 percent of the rigging invoice or refused. Dead hangs at or above 100 lbs, or over 10 ft in length, need approval before any direct attachment. Free-standing structures over 20 ft must be tethered, and lifts on carpet require 6-mil Visqueen — wrapped tires and diapers are not accepted. [source] |
| Adhesives, clings & decals | Adhesive-backed decals are banned outright for use inside or outside the venue and for distribution. Clings are permitted on stair risers, glass, elevator doors and other stainless-steel surfaces — and prohibited on stair steps, terrazzo, carpet and sidewalks. A physical sample of the proposed cling material goes in for approval, everything is decided case by case, and the venue reserves the right to cap how many clings an event may use. Signs may not be fixed with nails, hooks, adhesive fasteners, staples, tacks, screws or duct tape, no holes may be drilled or cored, and installing bridge clings requires a street closure. Floor chalk is allowed for layout on hard floors but never on carpet. [source] |
| Fire — where the venue is stricter than the code | Two places the building asks more than the city does. The code sets covered-booth sprinklers at 400 sq ft; the venue triggers prior approval and additional sprinkler requirements at 300. The code allows 6 ft and 8 ft aisles on smaller floors; the venue requires 10 ft aisles on its floor plans regardless. Plan to the venue's numbers. Flame documentation should be on hand before the show opens, and if it is missing the fallback is a destructive field flame test — they cut a one-inch by four-inch sample. Plywood under a quarter inch must be fire-retardant treated and cannot be painted until the treatment label has been verified. Vertical carpet is prohibited unless flame retardant. [source] |
| Multi-level booths & permits | Multi-level booths are treated as structures: they need a building permit and inspection from the city's planning and development department, not just fire approval, and construction documents stamped by an Arizona licensed structural engineer — with final installation not deviating from the stamped drawings. A two-storey booth with only one means of egress from the upper level must post a maximum occupant load of ten people. Staging not supplied by the venue and taller than 30 inches also needs a permit. Trade show and exhibition fire permits are due at least 10 business days out and cost $390 up to 4,500 sq ft or $585 above it, plus $25 per day late. [source] |
| Labor — right-to-work, with the real rule one layer down | The venue states in writing that Arizona is a right-to-work state and that the use of union labor is not required by the Phoenix Convention Center, and that you are welcome to provide competent personnel to handle your own equipment. That is the building's position — but jurisdiction arrives anyway through the show's general contractor and its agreement with the local stagehands union, and kits at this venue gate exhibitor self-install at sixty minutes with no mechanised tools. Venue level: no union regime. Show level: usually one. Insurance at the venue level is $2M general liability with the City of Phoenix as additional insured, plus $1M auto when vehicles run on property. These labor and insurance facts appear only in the venue's 2017 guide, which it still publishes; the current 2025 and 2026 documents are silent on them. [source] |
| Desert & exterior graphics | The heat rule people expect does not exist — no venue document sets a surface-temperature, cure-time or summer-installation provision. What it does publish is a wind rule: exterior banners must be vented to withstand wind pressure from any direction, and mesh fabric may be specified. Exterior banners hang from the top of stairwells, never attached to railings, and must clear the fire marshal's material approval or they will not be displayed. Lifts on the exterior deck are capped at 100 lbs per sq ft. Inside, when freight doors have been open to outside temperatures the building needs a full hour to bring a hall back to normal — worth knowing if your adhesive needs a stable surface. [source] |
Sources: Phoenix Convention Center — Event Planner Manual (June 2025) · Phoenix Convention Center — Operational Policies & Procedures with the Phoenix Fire Department (May 2026) · Phoenix Convention Center — Facility Guide (rev. July 2017) · AV Concepts — Phoenix Convention Center rigging policy (venue-designated exclusive rigger) · AV Concepts — Phoenix Convention Center floor plans and rigging specifications · Phoenix Fire Department — Fire Prevention fee schedule (eff. 20 Jan 2026)
Detroit, Michigan
Michigan is another state that does not adopt the IFC. Its building code is the 2021 edition, adopting the 2021 IBC, promulgated by the state and enforced locally — but the state code book list contains no fire code at all, because fire prevention runs on a separate statutory track under the Michigan Fire Prevention Code. Detroit, as a home-rule city, adopted its own: NFPA 1, Fire Code, 2015 edition. The practical consequence for an installer is that flame-certification and booth-covering language here derives from NFPA 1 and will not match IFC-based venues elsewhere. The AHJ is the Detroit Fire Marshal, and operating a trade show is itself a permit-required activity under the city ordinance. [City of Detroit — Fire Marshal Division (Detroit Fire Prevention and Protection Code, NFPA 1 2015)]
Huntington Place
Four unions split rigging by what the rig supports, not by who hired you — the most expensive thing an out-of-town crew can get wrong here. Formerly Cobo and TCF Center; every legacy PDF under those names is now dead, and the live HTML pages are the authority.
| Rigging jurisdiction — split by purpose, not by trade | Four locals divide rigging according to what the rig is holding up. Stagehands take motors and rigging whose primary purpose is supporting AV equipment, plus drape directly behind a performance stage. Electricians take rigging for masking drape and for lighting fixtures that highlight displays. Carpenters take drape on truss, including horizontal pipe and bailing wire, dead-hung direct to building steel. Ironworkers take machinery installation and the erection of steel for multi-level displays. Drape has its own line: stagehands cover behind the stage plus ten feet either side, or up to sixty feet of production drape where there is no physical stage, and carpenters take everything beyond. The venue asks for all drape layout plans by email before the final labor order specifically to head off jurisdictional disputes. [source] |
|---|---|
| Hanging signs by weight band | Suspended signs are governed by weight, not booth size. Up to 50 lbs, a sign may hang from the miscellaneous steel supporting the light grid with a minimum of two attachment points and no location restriction. From 51 to 1,000 lbs it must hang from sway truss members with at least four points and maintenance office approval. From 1,001 to 2,000 lbs, main truss members only, four points, same approval. Over 2,000 lbs is not permitted at all. Nothing hangs from electrical fixtures, raceways, or water, gas, air or fire-protection piping and their supports. [source] |
| Ceilings & maximum structure heights | Halls A through D are 30 ft clear with a maximum structure height of 25 ft — dropping to 19 ft under each hall's dividing line, which is the detail that catches designs out. Hall E is 18 ft 8 in with structures capped at 15 ft. The Grand Ballroom is 38 ft and the River Atrium rises to 80 ft of marble-to-glass. Multi-level booths cap the highest booth floor at 18 ft and the highest point at 22 ft. Floor loading is 300 lbs per sq ft generally, but specific areas are reduced to 220 — exceeding either requires a weight-distribution plan stamped by a Michigan registered professional engineer, 60 days out. [source] |
| Adhesives & tape — named products for two different jobs | Carpet tape is a named allow-list: Shurtape PC-618 cloth, Polyken 100D multi-purpose carpet tape, or Scapa 174 double-faced cloth. Heat tape and double-faced tape may not be used on permanent facility carpeting. Floor marking has its own approved product — SureTape PC 628 gaffers tape or approved equal — and paint or high-residue tape is prohibited on all surfaces. Nailing and taping to walls, pillars, lecterns, tables and chairs is strictly prohibited, with one pragmatic exception the venue writes down: painter's blue tape may be used to affix signs to walls and doors. Window and glass signage must be produced on non-adhesive static cling film with a transparent background. Floor decals need pre-approval, table coverings are clipped rather than taped or stapled, and distributing stickers is prohibited. [source] |
| Fire & covered booths | All draperies, backdrops, bunting and decorations must be flame retardant, with a certificate kept on site at all times. Paper is prohibited for decorative purposes — including flame-retardant paper. Double-deckers and closed solid-ceiling booths need hardwired smoke detectors and a sprinkler system, though the fire marshal may waive sprinklers if the exhibitor funds 24-hour security. Smoke detector density is specified: one per 900 sq ft of continuous ceiling, placed 30 ft on centre, hardwired to a 24-hour circuit with battery backup. Double-deck plans need a stamped seal from a Michigan licensed engineer plus an egress plan. Events expecting 6,000 or more attendees, or triggering any item on the fire marshal's checklist, need a floor plan review costing $150. [source] |
| Labor — you may hang your own graphics, but not from a ladder | Exhibitors with booths of 400 sq ft or less may work with their own full-time employees, and the permitted list explicitly includes hanging banners, signs or graphics in the booth, plus assembling and decorating it, plugging into their own 120V circuits and installing up to twenty UL-approved clip-on lights. The constraint that actually binds is the toolset: cordless hand tools and step stools of three steps or fewer only. Ladders, power tools, mechanical lifting devices and motorised material handling equipment may be used only by union members with jurisdiction — and in meeting rooms ladders and power tools are prohibited outright. Straight time runs 6 AM to 10 PM weekdays; Sundays and holidays are 1.9 times. [source] |
| Insurance | General liability scales with event risk rather than a single figure: $1M for small meetings and conferences, $2M for moderate low-risk events under 3,000 attendees, $3M for medium or non-vehicle events, and $5M for large or high-risk events involving vehicles, athletes or heavy machinery. Certificates are due no later than 10 days before operations begin. Anchoring or drilling floors and walls needs prior approval and is priced per anchor from $400, including installation, removal and epoxy fill. [source] |
Sources: Huntington Place Detroit — event planning services · Huntington Place Detroit — exhibit and exhibit hall guidelines · Huntington Place Detroit — fire department requirements · Huntington Place Detroit — trade unions and exhibitor work rules · Huntington Place Detroit — stagehand terms and conditions 2025-2026 · Huntington Place Detroit — insurance requirements
Seattle, Washington
Washington adopts the IFC statewide through the State Building Code Council under WAC 51-54A — currently the 2021 edition, effective 15 March 2024 — and Seattle then amends it as the Seattle Fire Code in the municipal code, adding appendices A, B, D, E, F, G, H and I. The Seattle Fire Department is the AHJ. One useful absence: Seattle publishes a set of fire code administrative rules, and none of them covers trade shows or exhibits — guidance arrives instead through the special events and flameproofing pages and the assembly permit application itself. Permit fees scale with total anticipated attendance, from $329 up to $3,090, with a late fee of half the original if you apply inside 30 days and possible refusal inside three business days. [WAC 51-54A-003 — Washington State Building Code adoption of the 2021 IFC]
Seattle Convention Center (Arch and Summit)
Two buildings with genuinely different graphics rules, and the index's clearest statement that union rigging labor is not required. Also says outright that it does not install graphics — an outside vendor can be contracted.
| Who may rig — certification, not union membership | The venue states it plainly: it does not require union personnel for the installation of rigging. What it does require is certification — all rigging, aerial or ground-supported, must be installed by ETCP-certified riggers working under a named rigging supervisor on the venue's approved list, who signs a compliance acknowledgement at least a week before working. Riggers wear a wristband; working without it visible stops the job and repeat offences mean permanent removal from the list. One non-certified technician is allowed per three certified riggers. A certified rigger is required for any sign over 100 lbs, any bridled or side-loaded signage at any weight, any motorised or rotating ceiling sign, any chain hoist, anything on a beam clamp, and ceiling-hung props over 25 lbs — and for anything ground-supported trimmed above 12 ft even when no single component exceeds the weight limits. Moving and assembling truss and signage framing on the ground does not. [source] |
|---|---|
| Rigging capacity, hall by hall | In the Arch, hall 4ABC takes 1,600 lbs per point from the bottom chord truss with four feet minimum between points and bridles no steeper than 45 degrees; purlins take 200 lbs dead hang only; catwalks 200 lbs per hanger at 25 ft spacing, no more than three per 100 ft. The Skybridge takes 2,500 lbs per point at 30 ft spacing, capped at 7,500 lbs per truss line; halls 4EF also 2,500 lbs at 30 ft, capped at 20,000 lbs per line, bottom chord only. Arch ballrooms are 1,000 lbs per point with no bridling at all. In the Summit, the exhibit hall is 2,500 lbs per point, the Flex Hall 2,500 on steel framing but 1,000 inside the mapped dotted areas, and levels 3 and 4 are 1,000. Building-wide in the Summit, the maximum non-vertical load is 40 percent of the maximum vertical load at no more than 45 degrees. Damaging beam fireproofing is billed at $125 per point. [source] |
| Ceilings & floor loads | Arch exhibit halls are 25 ft except hall 4C at 21 ft, with the Atrium Lobby at 50 ft and both Level 6 ballrooms at 21 ft. The Summit runs higher throughout: exhibit hall and Flex Hall both 30 ft, and the column-free Finneran Ballroom up to 55 ft. Floor loads: Arch exhibit halls 250 lbs per sq ft, ballrooms 150, lobbies and meeting rooms 100, parking garage 50. Summit exhibit hall 350, Flex Hall 250, ballroom 150, everything else 100. [source] |
| Floor clings — the two buildings disagree, deliberately | In the Arch, floor cling material must be submitted for testing before onsite installation, and floor clings are reserved for health and safety messages only — so a sponsor floor graphic is simply not available in that building. In the Summit, floor clings are permitted in the exhibit hall only, material still subject to advance testing, and the branding price list carries them at $50 each. Summit also restricts wall branding to walls painted a light neutral colour, and bans metal sign bases on the wood floors. Elevators take no branding or clings at all in either building. Nothing may be taped, nailed, stapled or affixed to ceilings, walls, painted surfaces, sprinklers or fabric air walls; wall clings may be approved in some areas with the location and material cleared first. [source] |
| No approved tape list — a testing regime instead | Unusually for a venue this detailed, no document names an approved or banned tape product. The mechanism is different: submit the material for testing in advance, and the only general guidance is a recommendation to use residue-resistant tape, with chalk banned on venue carpet. Removal costs from non-recommended tape are charged back. At move-out all tape, stickers and empty decals come off the floor or post-show cleaning is invoiced. Escalator banners need 9 ft of clearance and secure to the base of the balcony handrail in lightweight materials; escalator surface clings must be tested and approved, with trough clings acceptable if the pucks stay visible. [source] |
| Fire, covered booths & the permit clock | Flame verification is to NFPA 701 or CPAI 84, displayed for the show's duration, and self-treatment by aerosol spray is not acceptable — proof means a manufacturer tag or a valid third-party certificate, and the fire department treats certificates as valid one year. Directly relevant to large-format work: painted backdrops and signage using oil- or water-based paints with backing materials need a certificate of flame resistance or must be removed. Covered booths from 101 to 300 sq ft need an extinguisher, a smoke detector at the highest point and a way to cut power out of hours; above 300 sq ft add a temporary sprinkler system at exhibitor expense. Multi-level booths start their approval four months ahead, covered booths three, and any occupied structure over 48 inches starts six months ahead and may need a city temporary structure permit. Fire watch is not required at this venue. [source] |
| Permit fees & the late penalty | The assembly permit is priced on total anticipated attendance across all days: $329 indoors up to 999, rising through $542, $1,081 and $1,544 to $3,090 at 20,000 and above; under 50 people at any one time needs no permit. Applying inside 30 days adds a late fee equal to half the original, and applications arriving three or fewer business days out may simply not be processed. Any variation from the permitted floor plan invalidates the permit. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT set | No booth height bands, no minimum booth size for a hanging sign, and no exhibitor self-work threshold appear in any of the venue's policy documents — no square footage, no time limit, no tool restriction. Those numbers come from show kits. And one line worth quoting to anyone shopping for an installer: the venue does not produce, provide or install graphics, and says an outside vendor can be contracted for those services. [source] |
Sources: Seattle Convention Center — Rigging Overview (rev. 6 May 2025) · Seattle Convention Center — Show Contractor Guidelines (rev. 20 Oct 2023) · Seattle Convention Center — Fire Safety Guidelines (rev. 4 Jan 2022) · Seattle Convention Center — Arch Event Branding Guide (9 Oct 2025) · Seattle Convention Center — Summit Event Branding Guide (23 Aug 2024) · Seattle Fire Department — permit application, code 2503/2505 temporary assembly including tradeshow and exhibit
San Diego, California
California's state layer already applies here — Title 19 flame-retardant rules and the State Fire Marshal's regime — but San Diego's own cycle moved on recently: the city retitled its fire code and adopted the 2025 California Fire Code, which is built on the 2024 IFC, effective 28 February 2026. Its own Fire-Rescue trade-show guideline still cites the 2022 cycle and has not been reissued, so the code governs where they differ. The AHJ is the Office of the Fire Marshal within San Diego Fire-Rescue, with trade shows permitted through its special events section. Worth noting for anyone chasing certification: San Diego does not require a State Fire Marshal registered product — the guideline accepts manufacturer labelling and authorises a twelve-second field flame test as the acceptance method. [San Diego Municipal Code ch. 5 art. 11 — San Diego Fire Code (2025 CFC, eff. 28 Feb 2026)]
San Diego Convention Center
The one venue in this index whose city imposes training requirements on the install crew itself. It also publishes remarkably little about booths — and one of its rules cites a law that does not say what the rule says.
| The training ordinance — read this before you quote a San Diego job | San Diego's Live Event Worker Safety Ordinance, in force since July 2025 and amended in 2026, applies at this venue by name. It triggers on a complex live event, defined as any production involving temporary setup or teardown of non-permanent rigging — explicitly including overhead suspension of backdrops, scenery and trusses — or portable power distribution at 100 amps or more. Before work begins, every employee AND every subcontractor's employee doing that work must hold OSHA-10, and supervisors must hold OSHA-30 and be ETCP-certified for the trade they are performing. Names, courses and completion dates go to the contracting entity, records are kept at least two years, and missing records create a rebuttable presumption of violation. Penalties run to prohibition of future City permits. Freight handling is expressly excluded. [source] |
|---|---|
| Who may rig | Rigging from the unistrut grid, the identified structural steel grid and the airwall track is limited to the in-house audiovisual contractor and general service contractors holding a rigging contract with the venue, and every installation runs under a supervisor certified through ETCP. The exclusivity is not uniform: production rigging and all rigging in Ballroom 6, Ballroom 20 and the Sails Pavilion are exclusive to the AV contractor, while other rigging is listed as preferred rather than exclusive. Stage or back drape not hung from truss and over 14 ft high or 10 ft wide in a continuous line must be tied off for seismic safety. A city permit is separately required for any temporary event structure over 400 sq ft, including stage scaffolding and rigging. [source] |
| Ceilings — two numbers per hall, and they are far apart | Halls A, B and C measure 27 ft 4 in to the bottom of truss but 40 ft to the ceiling; Halls D and E the same truss height under a 39 ft ceiling; Halls F, G and H are 36 ft 4 in to truss under a 64 ft ceiling. The number that governs your rig is the truss height, not the ceiling. Ballroom 6 is about 24 ft and Ballroom 20 is 30 ft. The Sails Pavilion publishes no ceiling height at all — only 27 ft of clearance to the bottom of the lighting encasement. Floors carry 350 lbs per sq ft in the exhibit halls but 150 in the Sails Pavilion, lobbies, mezzanine and upper-level rooms. Halls B2 and G cannot be booked standing alone. House lighting is LED at 5000K throughout, which matters if you are colour-matching on site. [source] |
| Adhesives & clings | Wall, door and window clings are allowed with prior Event Manager approval, with every location plotted on a diagram before installation. Carpet clings go through the Event Manager because only certain materials are approved — and the venue names none of them. Nothing may be taped, nailed, stapled, tacked or affixed to ceilings, walls, painted surfaces, fire sprinklers or fabric air walls. No spray paint, adhesives, cement or anchors are allowed on the premises under the hard-construction rule. Using unapproved tape or adhesive products that leave residue or affect a surface brings restoration charges for labor, equipment and materials, and there is a separate charge for cleaning tape residue off the floor. There is no published approved-tape list anywhere — approval is per event, per Event Manager. [source] |
| The foam-core rule, and the law it cites | The venue bans foam core for signage that will be discarded after an event, permitting it only where pre-2020 signage is reused annually, and attributes this to a citywide styrofoam ban. Reading the ordinance it points to tells a different story: San Diego's single-use plastic reduction division prohibits polystyrene foam in egg cartons, food service ware, food trays, non-encapsulated coolers, pool toys and dock floats. Sign substrate appears nowhere in its scope. The rule is real and binding — as a venue contract term — but the law cited does not reach it. Plan your substrate accordingly and do not expect the ordinance to settle an argument either way. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Display materials must be flame retardant to California fire code, with the certificate posted or readily available inside the exhibit. Acceptance is practical rather than registry-based: manufacturer labelling counts, and the fire department applies a twelve-second field flame test — if it keeps burning after the flame is removed, it is not flame retardant. Table coverings need treatment unless they lie flat with an overhang of six inches or less; combustible material three-eighths of an inch or thicker needs none. Oilcloth, tar paper, sisal paper, nylon and orlon are prohibited outright. Smoke detectors are required in booths that are multi-level, have multiple ceilinged rooms, or exceed 120 sq ft with a ceiling, and in exhibited vehicles or boats with over 100 sq ft of roofed area. Aisles are 10 ft minimum, and booths needing 50 ft or more of travel to an aisle need two remote exits. [source] |
| Permits & fees | A trade show may not operate without an approved fire marshal permit. Applications go in at least ten business days ahead, and anything arriving inside five business days may not be reviewed at all. Permit fees scale with floor area: $245 up to 15,000 sq ft, $327 to 60,000, $409 to 150,000, $491 to 300,000 and $573 above that, plus an $81 application fee. Late applications add $49 per day, running an event without a permit costs double the permit, and expedited review is one and a half times. Floor plans for any common or public area must go for fire marshal approval six months before load-in. Note that the fire department's own trade-show guideline still prints older fee figures — the city fee schedule is the current one. [source] |
| Labor, cleaning & insurance | Four locals hold an exclusive jurisdiction agreement covering move-in, installation, show production, dismantle and move-out. Two carve-outs matter: work ordinarily done by venue employees or its own contractors is outside it, and so is work done by show management's own regular payroll employees engaged to do it on a continuing basis. Booth cleaning is an absolute venue exclusive — appointed contractors may not vacuum a booth and will be asked to leave the premises if they do. Contractor lists are due 30 days before first move-in. Licensee insurance is $2M general liability and $2M auto with a specific additional-insured wording that includes the San Diego Unified Port District, which is easy to miss. Closed-toe shoes are required in the halls and docks, and nobody under 18 is allowed on the floor during move-in or move-out. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT publish | No booth height limits, no hanging-sign height band and no minimum booth size for a hanging sign appear anywhere in the venue regulations. Neither does any exhibitor self-work threshold — no square footage, no time limit, no tool test — nor any exhibitor or appointed-contractor insurance minimum, the published figures being show management's. And the rigging policy itself is not published: the regulations say it can be provided on request, which means per-point capacities, motor and truss specifications, plan deadlines and any engineer-stamp threshold are unknown at venue level. Ask for it directly rather than trusting a number found elsewhere. [source] |
Sources: San Diego Convention Center — Regulations (rev. 5 May 2026) · San Diego Convention Center — labor partnerships and union jurisdiction · San Diego Convention Center — planning resources (facility guide, capacity charts, pricing guide) · San Diego Fire-Rescue — Guideline E-1.5, Trade Shows and Exhibits (rev. March 2023) · City of San Diego — FY2026 user fee schedule (eff. 1 Jul 2025) · San Diego Municipal Code ch. 2 art. 2 div. 60 — Live Event Worker Safety Ordinance · San Diego Municipal Code ch. 6 art. 6 div. 9 — Single Use Plastic Reduction
Nashville, Tennessee
Another jurisdiction that does not adopt the IFC at all. The Nashville Fire Department enforces NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, both 2018 editions, with local amendments codified in the Metropolitan Code of Ordinances — and the permit thresholds it publishes cite NFPA 1 tables rather than IFC ones, which is a useful tell. The AHJ is the department's Fire Marshal's Office. Davidson County runs a dedicated operational permit for exhibits and trade shows covering every such event held in the county: $151, non-refundable, with applications due a minimum of fifteen business days before the event or inspection date. [Nashville Fire Department — code editions (NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, 2018, with local amendments)]
Music City Center
A right-to-work state whose venue documents contain the word 'union' exactly zero times — and one of the few venues anywhere that publishes per-hall rigging plots with real point ratings. It also names its approved tapes.
| Everything that touches the building goes through one contractor | Rigging is an exclusive service, and the scope is broader than the word usually implies: any item to be suspended, attached OR ADHERED to the facility must be approved, installed and removed by the venue's rigging services — the guide names aisle signs, clings and floor decals specifically, and the rate sheet confirms rigging labor rates apply to all installed signage, banners, clings and approved adhesive vinyl throughout the building. Load calculations are due 21 days before installation, estimates requested inside 21 days are quoted at floor rate, and orders placed on site may simply be refused. Nothing may be drilled, cored or punched, and no rigging at all comes off the airwall tracks. [source] |
|---|---|
| Named approved tapes, and a substrate ban with a date on it | The accepted tapes in the exhibit hall are named: Polyken 105C, Renfrew #147 and Asiachem SST-736, or an approved equivalent — duct, masking and scotch tape are expressly not permitted, and approved tape comes up immediately after the event. Separately, and unusually candid: the venue stopped installing adhesive vinyl on drywall surfaces and wood veneers as of a policy revision dated 1 July 2015, citing inconsistent results and potential damage. Floor clings must be non-slip material. Note the venue's own terms point readers to an approved graphic and adhesive materials list that is not actually published anywhere — ask for it rather than assume. [source] |
| Decals banned, clings sold — same distinction, different route | Under no circumstances may helium balloons or adhesive-backed decals, nametags excepted, be given away or used in the building, with removal billed at prevailing rates. Meanwhile the venue's own rigging arm sells and installs floor clings, escalator clings, window film and column wraps. The consistent reading is that the ban targets exhibitor-applied and giveaway decals while venue-installed graphics are the sanctioned path. Decorations, signs, banners and streamers may not be taped, nailed or fastened to any ceiling, window, equipment, painted surface or wall, and everything stays six inches clear of the building's artwork. [source] |
| A paper-size rule most venues don't have | Paper signs are limited to index card stock or posterboard at eight square feet or less. Fabric signs carry no size limit but are treated as decorative materials, which means they inherit the flame-retardant certification requirements. Handwritten signs are not permitted at all, hanging signs need double-stitched pole pockets or grommets — heat-welded and adhesive pole pockets are specifically not allowed — and everything is inspected and approved before it goes up. Exterior signage is available only to lessees occupying a large portion of the building. [source] |
| Ceilings & rigging capacity | The exhibit hall is a single contiguous 353,000 sq ft space at 32 ft 6 in with a 350 lb per sq ft floor and over 300 hang points rated to two tons each. The published plots go further than most venues bother to: Hall A's low steel is rated for one-ton points every 10 ft, its low spanning steel for 1,000 lbs concentrated or 2,000 lbs distributed per 30 ft span, king posts in the other halls take two tons, and rigging wire is capped at 400 lbs per 30 ft section. High steel rigging is possible but only by consultation. The Grand Ballroom publishes a grid-by-grid point-height chart running 32 ft 6 in to 41 ft 8 in with quarter-, half- and one-ton point classes; the Davidson Ballroom is 20 ft with half-ton points and a single 1,000 lb point. [source] |
| Fire & covered booths | Solid walls, two-storey exhibits and canopies over 400 sq ft are allowed by permit, with plans and flame-proofing certification filed with the fire department and temporary sprinklers possible at exhibitor cost. A smoke detector with audible alarm and a visible 2A10BC extinguisher are required for every 400 sq ft of covered floor space or fraction of it. Multi-storey is defined here as display fixtures exceeding twelve feet, and it needs a city building permit on drawings prepared by a licensed architect or engineer. Floor plans go to the venue at least one month before move-in — seven blueprint copies plus an electronic set at 1/16 inch scale — and must be approved before booth space is sold. Oil-based fog and haze machines are not permitted, and a fire watch is required during any fog or haze use including testing and rehearsals. [source] |
| Labor — the word 'union' does not appear | The venue states plainly that Tennessee is a right-to-work state, allowing licensees to obtain labor at the best rates and service levels available. Beyond that it publishes no union jurisdiction, no craft jurisdiction, no exhibitor self-work threshold and no appointed-contractor policy at all — the word union appears nowhere across its planning guide, licence agreement, rate sheet or rigging documents. That layer arrives entirely through the show's general service contractor, and contractors at this venue differ: one claims union labor as its own exclusive while its Nashville labor rules simultaneously affirm that exhibitor personnel may set up their own exhibits with their own tools and staff. Insurance at the venue level is $1M per occurrence with a $2M general aggregate, due 30 days ahead, with the venue as additional insured and a waiver of subrogation. [source] |
| The permit, and a rate table that contradicts itself | Davidson County requires an exhibits and trade shows operational permit for every such event in the county — $151, non-refundable, applications a minimum of fifteen business days out. Budget from the current rate sheet rather than the rigging website: the two disagree, with riggers at $119 per hour straight time and 10.25 percent tax on the April 2026 sheet against $109 and 9.5 percent on the website, and an order form still showing $84 from 2019. The install billing minimum is printed as one hour in one place and two in another. The rate sheet is the current document; the website is stale, and it is what most people find first. [source] |
Sources: Music City Center — Event Planning Guide (updated September 2025) · Music City Center — 2026 rigging rate sheet and terms (Convention Production Rigging, April 2026) · Music City Center — Rigging Services signage and branding guide (February 2026) · Music City Center — sample license agreement (July 2026) · MCC Rigging Services — resources, rules and room drawings · MCC Rigging Services — Exhibit Hall A-D rigging drawing with point ratings · Nashville Fire Department — operational permits and fee table
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota does use the IFC — confirmed rather than assumed, which matters given how many neighbours in this index do not. The Minnesota State Fire Code is Minnesota Rules chapter 7511, which incorporates the 2018 edition of the International Fire Code by reference, and state law makes it applicable throughout every political subdivision; a city may adopt requirements equal to or more stringent, but not exceeding the state building code. Decorative materials fall under the code's own section 807, which accepts NFPA 701 compliance or a heat release rate at or under 100 kW per NFPA 289. Minneapolis adds a Fire Special Event Permit that expressly names exhibits and trade shows as a triggering activity, with applications due at least 15 business days before the event. [Minnesota Rules 7511.0090 — State Fire Code adopting the 2018 IFC]
Minneapolis Convention Center
Publishes its unions by local number with contact names, its 2026 labor rates in dollars, and a tape rule specific to each floor surface. Its self-work test is unlike anywhere else in this index — it turns on a tax form.
| Who may install — the W-2 test | The open dock policy is short and unusually clear: all employees of an exhibiting firm may unload, install and dismantle that company's exhibits, and any additional labor comes through the general contractor's recognised labor source. Employees are defined as those who receive a W-2 tax form from the employer. That is the entire threshold — there is no booth-size cap, no thirty-minute rule and no hand-tool restriction published anywhere in the venue's documents, which makes this the only venue in the index whose self-work test is an employment status rather than a measurement. Audio visual is narrower: only full-time lead employees of an AV company may handle their own equipment, and the venue's stated rule of thumb is that its equipment comes with its stagehands and yours comes with yours. [source] |
|---|---|
| The unions, named | Three locals are published with contacts rather than left implied: the stagehands' local covers AV and rigging, a painters and allied trades local covers decorating, and a teamsters local covers freight. One trap worth knowing before you quote: the Auditorium and Ballroom have no loading dock, so load-in is across a flat surface from the street, and if a forklift is used the operator must be union-certified. Labor rates are published in dollars for 2026 — riggers at $86 straight time, carpenters $108, electricians $163, plumbers $187, forklift with operator $110 — with a four-hour minimum, a 15 percent service charge on AV and security labor, and a 25 percent late fee on anything ordered on site without prior scheduling. [source] |
| Tape, by floor surface | The rule is that tape on facility surfaces is prohibited except where specifically permitted, and the permissions are surface-by-surface. Carpeted areas take professional-grade gaffer's tape only. Exhibit hall floors take low-residue double-sided carpet tape, with vinyl tape or chalk for floor marking. Terrazzo is the strict one: only venue-approved tape, which must be purchased through exhibitor services, because tape obtained from outside sources is prohibited outright. High-residue tape, duct tape and clear packing tape are banned by name. Carpet protection film is no longer allowed on any part of the concrete exhibit hall floor. Floor clings need prior written approval from both management and the branding team, and no pins, tacks or adhesives of any sort are permitted on protected surfaces. [source] |
| Signs & graphics | Nothing may be taped, nailed, tacked, stapled or otherwise affixed to ceilings, doors, walls, glass, columns, painted surfaces, fabric or decorative walls, railings, ceiling tiles or light fixtures. Foam core and foam board are not permitted, and signage is expected to be reusable or recyclable. The venue keeps exclusive rights to install banners on exterior building surfaces, and third-party advertising banners are barred. Its own branding programme caps wall and window clings at 4 ft by 5 ft and door clings at 2 ft square. Upright trussing over 5 ft needs an approved square steel base plate. And a clause worth reading before you argue a point: where the show's own policies are more restrictive than the venue's, the show's policies govern. [source] |
| Rigging | Anything suspended over 50 lbs must be installed by qualified rigging personnel approved by the venue, which its production guide identifies as union riggers. Plots are scaled and must carry published point loads, final trim heights by truss line and a reflected ceiling plan, reviewed by an ETCP-certified rigger at a fee. Hardware carries stamped working load limits at a minimum five-to-one design factor and must be fully traceable; bridles may not exceed 120 degrees; every suspended item needs independent secondary support. Published per-point limits: 1,000 lbs in the Ballroom on roughly 18-foot centres, 500 lbs in meeting rooms, and in the Auditorium 2,000 lbs per point with no more than two points on any single beam and no bridling from permanent points. Air-wall tracks take dead hangs only at 500 lbs, no dynamic loads. Nothing attaches to plumbing, electrical, HVAC or lighting fixtures. [source] |
| Ceilings & floors | Hall A is 27 ft 10 in to the lowest truss. Halls B through E are 30 ft 6 in to the lowest truss but rise to 85 ft at the top of their domes, which clear-span 210 ft, with dome rigging available at three heights. The Ballroom is 30 ft clear. Exhibit floors carry 350 lbs per sq ft, ballrooms and meeting rooms 100, lobbies 150. Floor boxes sit on 30-foot centres throughout. [source] |
| Fire & covered booths | Sprinklers are required for single-level booths whose ceilings exceed 300 sq ft, for each level of a multi-level booth including the uppermost if it is covered, for enclosed trailers over 300 sq ft used as walk-through exhibits, and for any structure with a roof area over 300 sq ft. Drawings and proposed use go in at least 60 days before move-in. Floor plans are due at least 30 days out, and space may not be sold or assigned until the floor plan is approved. Aisles run 10 ft minimum with at least three primary aisles each way, displays sit 15 ft clear of any exit, and a 10 ft perimeter stays clear around the lobby escalator atrium on every level. Note an honest gap: the venue never states a flame-certificate mechanic — no NFPA 701 citation, no requirement to carry a certificate on site — it just says materials must be fire-resistant per applicable codes, which pushes you to the state code's own decorative-materials section. [source] |
| Two of the venue's own documents disagree | The Meeting Planners Guide puts the rigging plan deadline at 30 days; the contractor guide and production guide both say 21. Both are current venue documents. Plan to 30 and you satisfy either. Similarly the covered-booth submission is 60 days to the events department in one document and simply before installation to fire inspection services in another. Two things the venue does not publish at all: any per-point rigging capacity for the exhibit halls — it defers to internal documentation that is not public — and any insurance dollar limits, which live in the occupancy permit rather than anywhere you can read in advance. [source] |
Sources: Minneapolis Convention Center — General Service Contractor Guide (updated September 2025) · Minneapolis Convention Center — Meeting Planners Guide 2026 · Minneapolis Convention Center — Production Quick Guide (union roster and rigging) · Minneapolis Convention Center — 2026 labor rates · Minneapolis Convention Center — Auditorium specifications and rigging point loads · City of Minneapolis — Fire Special Event Permit (names exhibits and trade shows)
Baltimore, Maryland
The most misleading jurisdiction in this index, and the one most likely to be got wrong from general knowledge. Maryland statewide is an NFPA state — its State Fire Prevention Code incorporates NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, 2024 editions, with no IFC anywhere in the chapter. But that chapter carves Baltimore out by name: its provisions do not apply in Baltimore City except for buildings and conditions specifically prescribed in a separate statute. Baltimore City instead adopts the International Fire Code, 2021 edition, as Part VIII of its own Building, Fire and Related Codes Article. So the state is NFPA and its convention capital is an IFC island inside it — and Baltimore is reported to adopt IFC Appendix N on indoor trade shows and exhibitions, which most IFC cities skip. The AHJ is the Baltimore City Fire Department's fire code official, not the state fire marshal, with plan review running 10 to 25 business days. [COMAR 29.06.01.03 — state fire code does not apply in Baltimore City (and 29.06.01.06 for the NFPA adoption)]
Baltimore Convention Center
The strictest adhesive regime in this index — and the one venue where sign and banner hanging is explicitly NOT the exclusive rigger's work, which is worth real money to an installer.
| Sign hanging is explicitly not exclusive | Read this before assuming the house rigger owns your banner. The exclusive rigging provider states that it is not exclusive to sign or banner hanging and rigging, which the guide defines as overhead suspension of objects under 250 lbs. The exclusive kicks in for aerial rigging and all motors, and wherever a single point load reaches 250 lbs or the elevation reaches 16 ft. Below those thresholds the work is open. That is the opposite of most venues in this index, where every ceiling attachment belongs to one contractor at any weight. [source] |
|---|---|
| Adhesives — the most restrictive rules here | Velcro and stick-on decals are strictly prohibited in the facility, full stop. Tape on any vertical surface, including painted and portable walls, is strictly prohibited. Signs, banners and clings may not be taped, nailed, stapled or attached to ceilings, walls or windows in any way without prior written approval. Where tape is allowed — carpets and floors — only non-residue vinyl tape is permitted and the guide names the product: Shurtape 665. Booth and aisle marking is chalk or that same tape, and shoe polish is banned. There is also a pack-in, pack-out policy under which cut carpet, styrofoam and foam-core signage cannot be left on site for disposal. [source] |
| Rigging thresholds, deadlines and file formats | Ground-supported systems over 16 ft must tie into the building's rigging points unless an engineer-stamped drawing says otherwise — an unusually explicit escape clause. Any ground-supported install trimmed above 12 ft is inspected and approved before use. Plans are due 45 days or more ahead with final rigging plans 21 days before load-in, and missing a deadline carries a 10 percent late fee, with drawings arriving inside seven days possibly not approved at all. Note the file format: PDF plots are not accepted, only CAD or VWX. Assessment is priced per point on a sliding scale by how early you file. Nothing attaches to ducts, conduit, raceways, plumbing, acoustic baffles or sprinkler pipes. [source] |
| Signs & clearances | A minimum of 18 inches must stay clear between any truss or graphic and the building structure including sprinklers, stated twice in the venue's own guide. Exhibits and signage keep 6 to 12 inches off supply air vents and may not block them. All signs must be professionally produced. Watch the approval clock, because the guide contradicts itself: one section requires banner, cling and sign approval at least three weeks before installation and another says two, while the planning checklist wants preliminary plans and a sample of the material at 60 days. Work to the longest. [source] |
| Ceilings & per-point loads | Halls A through D run to 30 ft with clear heights starting as low as 16 ft 8 in depending on where you are; Halls E, F, G and the Swing Hall reach a 30 ft 10 in bulkhead with high steel at 31 ft 10 in; the ballrooms sit around 28 to 31 ft. Hang points in E, F, G and Swing are on 10 by 15 foot centres and take vertically hung loads only. Meeting rooms with airwall-track points allow 100 lbs static with a maximum of four points per track, rigged only by the house provider. Hall A has no pigeon holes at all, so rigging bars are required and charged. Floors carry 350 lbs per sq ft in the exhibit halls and 100 elsewhere. Two of the venue's own documents disagree on capacity: the operations guide caps Halls A to D at 500 lbs per point while the rigging guide gives 1,000 lbs at the pigeon holes in B, C and D. Confirm which applies to your point. [source] |
| Fire & covered booths | Materials are flame retardant or inherently fireproof, and the flame-retardant certificate must be available for review at all times — the fire department may flame test at its discretion. Multi-storey and enclosed exhibits need a floor plan at least 90 days before the first event day, including second-level load capabilities, with at least two means of egress from each load-bearing area over 200 sq ft or each covered assembly area over 200 sq ft. A single-level booth over 300 sq ft with a ceiling needs a fire extinguishing system approved by the fire department, and unsprinklered ceilings stay 10 ft apart where the aggregate exceeds 300 sq ft. Every enclosed or covered area, including built-in storage closets, needs a charged extinguisher and an audible smoke detector. Event floor plans are due 90 days before move-in with revisions approved at least seven business days out. Mylar balloons, glitter, confetti, open flame and propane are all prohibited. [source] |
| Labor & insurance | The stagehands' local is exclusive for theatrical properties including rigging, lighting, truss and motors, for flywork, for floor work including video and LED walls, for unloading and reloading trucks, and for booth construction requiring any of the above — and the licensee is obliged to tell exhibitors they must hire that local too. Labor requests go in 30 days ahead, and work cannot start until a signed good-faith estimate has reached the venue, the union steward and the rigging provider with payment. Insurance is $3M general liability per occurrence naming the mayor, the city, the convention center and its employees and agents — though the guide gives the deadline as 30 days in one place and 45 in another. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT publish | No maximum booth height, no linear, perimeter or island definitions, no sideline setback or line-of-sight rule, no minimum booth size for a hanging sign and no hanging-sign height band appear anywhere — the only spatial constraints are the 18 inch structure clearance and the per-point loads. There is also no exhibitor self-work threshold of any kind and no appointed-contractor form, deadline or insurance minimum. The operations guide is the venue's only rules document; everything else is set per-show by the general contractor. One dating caveat worth carrying: the rigging guide's rate table is stamped for a fiscal year that has already ended, even though the regulations around it are current. [source] |
Sources: Baltimore Convention Center — Event Operations and Planning Guide 2026 (13 Jul 2026) · Baltimore Convention Center — Rigging Services event rates and regulations guide (2025) · Baltimore Convention Center — planning documents index · Baltimore City Building, Fire and Related Codes Article, Part VIII §8-101 — adopting the 2021 IFC · Baltimore City Fire Department — Office of the Fire Marshal, plan review
Charlotte, North Carolina
North Carolina writes its own integrated code rather than adopting the IFC directly. What governs today is the 2018 North Carolina Fire Code, a fully integrated code built on the 2015 IFC, effective since January 2019. The reason to check rather than assume: a 2024 replacement has been adopted, approved by the Rules Review Commission and printed — and is still not in effect. Legislation ties its effective date to twelve months after the State Fire Marshal certifies both that the code is distributed and that an unrelated body, the Residential Code Council, is fully constituted, and the fire marshal's office says it cannot predict when that will happen. So a code that exists, is final and is on sale still is not the law. The AHJ is the Charlotte Fire Department's fire marshal, which publishes a trade-show-specific requirements document — a permit is required for any public exhibition or trade show expecting over 400 people, at $300. [NC Office of the State Fire Marshal — codes current and past (2018 NC Fire Code currently effective)]
Charlotte Convention Center
The only venue here that advertises being non-union as a feature — and one whose own two live documents flatly contradict each other on decals.
| Non-union, and it says so in the sales material | The venue's published highlights list includes the phrases non-union facility and right-to-work state as selling points, and the planning guide follows through: for any service that is not a venue exclusive you may bring your own preferred vendor — decorator, audiovisual, floral, office equipment, furniture — and outsourcing rentals to a decorator carries no surcharge from the building. No union, jurisdiction or work-rule regime is named in any venue document. What stays exclusive is a specific list: food and beverage, telecommunications and data, event staffing and armed security, utilities, first aid, ticket takers, business services and rigging. Reselling any of those is prohibited, and all venue equipment is operated by venue personnel only. [source] |
|---|---|
| The decal contradiction | One venue document says that under no circumstances are helium balloons or adhesive-backed decals to be given away or permitted to be used in the building. Another — the venue's own April 2025 branding guide — sells decals on stair risers, walls, windows, columns and floors throughout the property. Both are live. The reconciling clause sits in the regulations: adhesive-backed materials on any surface, including the exhibit hall floor, wall surfaces, glass and service equipment, are prohibited unless approved in advance by your event manager. So the practical answer is that decals happen here by approval, not by right — and if you are not using an approved vendor, a sample of the decal must be submitted for testing before anything is installed. Decals may not go on slate tile, venue-owned tables or food court outlets, and residue left behind draws a labor fee. [source] |
| Branded surfaces, with real dimensions | Unusually, the venue publishes measured graphic positions rather than making you ask: the grand staircase as 24 individually dimensioned risers, a second staircase of 17, four escalator sets, concourse and pre-function columns at roughly 24 by 77 inches, pre-function and food court walls up to 472 by 130 inches, and full-run entrance window wraps of 51 inches by 474 and 30 by 556. Outdoor branded signage may not carry sponsor logos at all. Banners may not be attached to the exterior of the building — the two banner towers at the College Street entrance are the sanctioned outdoor position. Anything left behind at the end of the event is treated as trash. [source] |
| Rigging — exclusive, and deliberately unpublished | Rigging is a venue exclusive through its in-house provider, and anything suspended overhead is subject to a rigging plan showing location, weight and intent, approved in advance. Beyond that the venue publishes nothing: no pounds per point, no grid map, no submission deadline and no engineer-stamp threshold. Its regulations say specific rigging information for the exhibit halls and ballroom is available upon request, which means the numbers exist but are not public. Both ballrooms are described only as designed to carry point loads for heavy sound and lighting based on an approved plan. Ask for the sheet rather than trusting any figure you find elsewhere. [source] |
| Ceilings & floors | The three exhibit halls give 280,000 sq ft contiguous at 30 ft with a 350 lbs per sq ft live load. The Crown Ballroom is a tray ceiling running 24 ft at the perimeter to 29 ft at the centre; the Richardson Ballroom is 30 ft; typical meeting rooms are 14 ft and the VIP suites just 9. Floor utility boxes sit on 30 ft centres with column services on 90. The largest opening is an elephant door at 26 ft wide by 29 high. One scheduling detail with direct bearing on adhesive work: air conditioning and heat are not provided on move-in and move-out days. [source] |
| The fire permit, and two documents that disagree about it | A fire department permit is required for any public exhibition or trade show expecting over 400 people, priced at $300. The requirements document says the completed application, the fee and two scaled plan sets must reach the fire marshal no less than 15 days before the show. The current application form says something different — that applications go to the venue, which is responsible for submitting them, and that payment is due at the time of the site inspection. Both are live documents from the same department. File early through the venue and you satisfy either reading. Plans must show exits and their widths, all booths and fixed displays, and specifically the location of and construction documents for any covered or multiple-level booths. Final approval must be granted before the public is admitted. [source] |
| Flame certification & floor plans | Decorative material including drapes and curtains must be flame retardant, and inflatables too — with a practical wrinkle worth knowing: if you field-treat material with a commercial product, a letter must be provided to the fire official naming the product and type used. Goods actually for sale are exempt. On the venue side, trade show floor plans go to the director of convention services six months ahead in four copies no smaller than 18 by 22 inches, with a revised final plan resubmitted at least 14 business days before move-in. Aisles run a minimum of 10 ft, every point of ingress and egress keeps 20 ft of clear space on all sides, and each hall needs at least two freight-free aisles. Helium balloons and tanks are not allowed in the building at all. [source] |
| What is not published here | No booth height limit, no hanging-sign height band, no sightline setback and no minimum booth size for a hanging sign exists in any venue document — those come from your show's kit. Neither the venue nor the fire department publishes a square-footage trigger for sprinklers or smoke detection in covered and multi-level booths, though the fire department does require construction documents for them. No tape or adhesive is named by brand anywhere; the only product-level control is the sample-testing gate. And labor rates are available on request rather than published. [source] |
Sources: Charlotte Convention Center — Event Regulations, Edition 12 (July 2022) · Charlotte Convention Center — Branding Guide (April 2025) · Charlotte Convention Center — floor plan, capacities and ceiling heights · Charlotte Fire Department — trade show and exhibit requirements (rev. 14 Oct 2021) · Charlotte Fire Department — user fee schedule ($300 exhibits and trade shows permit)
Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah adopts the International Fire Code, 2024 edition, as the State Fire Code with Utah amendment inserts, effective 1 July 2024, under the state's fire prevention and safety rules. For exhibits the AHJ is the Salt Lake City fire marshal, named as a floor-plan approver in the venue's own licence agreement rather than inferred. Two things worth knowing before you rely on either source: the state's own page still serves an amendment-insert file named for the 2021 edition while its text says 2024, and the city fire department publishes no code edition, no trade-show permit page, no plan-review deadline and no fee schedule at all — so every timing rule for this venue comes from the building, not the city. [Utah State Fire Marshal — laws and rules (IFC 2024 with Utah inserts, eff. 1 Jul 2024)]
Salt Palace Convention Center
Read the dates here. The venue's detailed rulebook was taken off its website — the rows below marked as archived come from dated captures of documents the venue did publish, and remain the only published Salt Palace rule text that exists. Treat them as a strong prior to confirm with your event manager, not as today's contract.
| No union agreements — stated by the building | Utah is a right-to-work state, and the venue puts the consequence in writing rather than leaving it to be inferred: the Salt Palace does not maintain any agreements with union entities. It then adds the part that actually matters operationally — several service contractors do have agreements with unions, so ask your service contractor which rules apply to your event. That is the cleanest statement of the venue-versus-contractor split anywhere in this index. Any craft jurisdiction you meet here comes from the general contractor, not the building. (Archived venue document, 2016; the current brochure still states the right-to-work position.) [source] |
|---|---|
| Its own live rigging page describes the wrong building | Worth knowing before you size anything: the page the venue currently serves as its Salt Palace rigging policy says in its body text that plots and attachments at the Mountain America Expo Center must be reviewed and approved before load-in, and calibrates loads against that sister venue's structural documentation. It is a copy of the other building's page, and it publishes no Salt Palace load numbers at all. An installer reading it today would be sizing to the wrong steel. The requirements it does state are real and current: a rigging request and scaled plot at least 14 days before load-in, crews led by an ETCP-certified rigger with evidence supplied 48 hours ahead, rigging only from structure carrying a PE-stamped working load limit, hardware at a 5:1 design factor and product-traceable, bridle legs no steeper than 120 degrees, and 24 inches of clearance from every sprinkler head. [source] |
| Rigging limits — and a snow-load column almost nobody publishes | The only Salt Palace capacity figures ever published distinguish loads by whether snow is on the roof, which is genuinely unusual. In Halls 1 to 5 the main roof truss sits 27 ft to the lower chord and takes 2,000 lbs per panel point on 12 ft spacing with no snow load, halving to 1,000 lbs with snow. Halls A to E run 30 ft to the lower chord on a 30 by 30 grid, again 2,000 lbs per panel point at 15 ft spacing dropping to 1,000 with snow. In both cases the allowance must include any load already on the tributary truss joist — so 500 lbs hanging there leaves you 1,500. Secondary joists are much weaker and derate as you add points: in Halls 1 to 5, 1,000 lbs at a single point falls to 750 for two points 30 ft apart and 500 for three at 25 ft. Air-wall track takes dead hangs only at 200 lbs per hang, points at least 4 ft apart, no dynamic loading. (Archived venue document, 2016.) [source] |
| Adhesives, by surface — with products named | Transfer tape is strictly prohibited on all surfaces in the facility, and Velcro or similar products are barred from air walls and fabric surfaces. Adhesive-backed decals and stickers may not be distributed anywhere on the premises. Permanent carpet takes 100 percent Ironman Visqueen protection and approved tape only, with double-faced and heat tapes prohibited from direct application. Painted surfaces are the hardest no in the index — no nails, tacks, Velcro, transfer tape or any other type of tape, with the document listing exceptions as none. Air walls likewise take no Velcro and no tape. But glass is explicitly workable: the attachment methods listed for glass are tapes, static and suction, with the contractor liable for cleaning — so window graphics are viable here even though almost nothing else is. Tape removal from the exhibit hall floor is the licensee's and their contractor's responsibility. (Archived venue document, 2016.) [source] |
| Ceilings | Every exhibit hall — A through E and 1 through 5 — is 30 ft, as is the Grand Ballroom, across 515,000 sq ft of contiguous exhibit space with 32 loading docks. Meeting rooms range from 12 ft to 20 ft depending on the room. Hall B does not stand alone and must be taken with A or C. One gap to note: the venue says all floor load capacities must be observed but publishes no pounds-per-square-foot figure anywhere. [source] |
| Fire — a covered-booth trigger three times stricter than most | The threshold here is 100 sq ft, not the 300 or 400 common elsewhere: all covered structures in excess of one hundred square feet must be protected by an automatic smoke detection system approved by the fire marshal. Double-deck and covered exhibit plans go in no later than eight weeks before set-up. Floor plans are five copies at least eight weeks before the first show day, review runs three to four weeks, and both the building and the fire marshal must stamp them — with fire marshal approval conditional pending on-site inspection, and plans not to be published without the stamp. Booth space should not be sold until they are approved. Aisles are 10 ft minimum with 20 ft clear at every entrance and egress, travel distance to an exit caps at 200 ft, and dead-end aisles at 50. Display vehicles run a quarter tank or five gallons whichever is less with a battery cable disconnected, and LPG for exhibition purposes maxes out at a single 16-ounce non-refillable cylinder. (Archived venue document, 2016.) [source] |
| Contractors & insurance | Every contractor must register with the facility before any work is performed on site, supplying a business licence and insurance — failure to register interrupts work in progress. Temporary electrical is exclusive to facility-approved electrical contractors, and one is required whenever the setup exceeds 20 amps, uses 208 volts, needs more than twenty 120-volt outlets, or distributes through a junction box. Insurance runs $1M bodily injury and $1M property damage including blanket contractual and independent contractors, naming the operator and Salt Lake County as additional insureds, with certificates due no less than 30 days before move-in. [source] |
| What is missing, and what to ask for | The Salt Palace publishes no booth height limit, no back-wall or side-rail height, no sightline setback, no hanging-sign elevation band, no minimum booth size and no exhibitor self-work threshold — a complete absence of the booth-construction layer, which comes from your show's kit instead. Two documents referenced in the venue's own current planner guide are not published anywhere: its present policies and procedures, issued by the event manager, and a branding guide covering signage opportunities, pricing and policies. For a graphics job that branding guide is the single most valuable document here and is worth one direct request to the venue. [source] |
Sources: Salt Palace Convention Center — rigging services policies and procedures (live) · Salt Palace Convention Center — Use License Agreement (live) · Salt Palace Convention Center — 2023 brochure, hall specifications and ceiling heights (live) · Salt Palace — Rigging Capacities (venue document, archived 21 Aug 2016; no longer published) · Salt Palace — Facility Rules & Regulations (venue document, archived 21 Aug 2016; no longer published) · Salt Palace — Fire Safety Rules & Regulations (venue document, archived 22 Aug 2016; no longer published)
Portland, Oregon
Oregon runs a statewide Oregon Fire Code — the 2025 edition, built on the 2024 IFC, effective 1 October 2025 — but it does not preempt the city on fire code the way it does on building code. Portland adopts the Oregon Fire Code with its own City of Portland amendments and publishes a distinct Portland Fire Code; the AHJ is Portland Fire & Rescue's fire marshal. One conflict to be aware of rather than resolve: Portland's own codified ordinance text still names the 2019 Oregon Fire Code while the fire bureau's current page lists the 2023 Portland and 2025 Oregon codes, and no fetched document settles which governs on a given date. Ask the fire marshal. City permits scale by occupant load — an assembly permit at 500 and above, or at 50 in a structure not approved for assembly, and trade shows under 500 whenever the fire marshal decides conditions warrant — with the fee doubling inside a week. [Oregon State Fire Marshal — Oregon Fire Code (2025 edition, eff. 1 Oct 2025)]
Oregon Convention Center
The most graphics-specific venue in this index. It names its tape by part number, bans foam core and then names five substrates you may use instead, and explains why a solid-backed hanging sign is refused.
| Tape, by brand and part number | Stated plainly in the venue's own rules: licensees and exhibitors are responsible for using Shur Tape, or Bron Tape BT-100 or BT-105. Using tape the centre has not approved results in prevailing labor charges to remove adhesive residue from the facility carpet or concrete floor. That is about as actionable as a venue adhesive rule gets — most buildings in this index either name nothing or ban the category. [source] |
|---|---|
| Foam core is banned — and the alternatives are named | Foam core may not be used in the facility without express prior written approval, and it sits on a short prohibited list alongside helium balloons, hazardous substances, single-use plastic bags, metal or plastic confetti and glitter. What makes this useful rather than merely restrictive is that the venue's sustainability guide names acceptable substrates instead of leaving you guessing: EcoDisplay, Falconboard, Legacy EcoBOARD, CONVERD BOARD and DISPA. If a client asks what to print on for Portland, that is the answer, sourced from the building. [source] |
| Why a solid-backed hanging sign gets refused | The fire marshal rules carry a line that explains itself, which is rare: no hanging signs with a solid fabric underside, because the fire suppression system needs to be able to flow water through signs in a fire — and mesh is an acceptable alternative. Same logic drives the canopy rules: booths with canopies larger than 10 by 10 are not allowed without fire marshal approval, every canopied booth needs a working smoke detector mounted in the canopy, and any enclosed structure over 100 sq ft needs a detector with doors and windows left open. [source] |
| Window, elevator and escalator graphics — with real specs | Window clings must be white or clear perforated only and maintain reasonable visibility, with 60/40, 65/35 or 70/30 perforation at 1.5 mm recommended. Elevator and escalator wraps must be white or clear vinyl with low-tack adhesive, with escalator interior walls at 23.5 by 253 inches. Restroom clings must hold without adhesive at all and leave no residue, and never go on the public art collection. Locker decals go on the sides of locker banks, never the front-facing doors. Outdoor banners are specified down to material weight and venting — street pole banners at 4 by 5 feet in 13 oz vinyl with two 3-inch wind vents in the top pocket and a minimum of four 7-inch vents. Branding plans are due 30 days before first move-in, display is capped at two weeks, and anything left past move-out costs $100 per item. [source] |
| Rigging — three weight tiers | The tiers are unusually clean. Under 20 lbs is sign rigging and needs no plot review. From 20 to 100 lbs is banner rigging and does need plot review. Over 100 lbs is overhead rigging, exclusive to the in-house provider including the chain motors. Plots are due 30 days before move-in with a per-point weight-load calculation and layered drawings; the first review is free and each further review is charged. Ground-supported structures over 16 ft must tie into facility rigging points unless an engineer-stamped drawing says otherwise, anything over 20 ft must be secured and reviewed, and any trim height over 12 ft is inspected. Bridling from open web joists, live loads on those joists or threaded points, and hanging from hot rails or ballroom light fixtures are all prohibited. [source] |
| Rigging capacity and ceilings | Halls A, A1, B and C take 4,000 lbs per panel point on the T1 steel beams at a 32 to 34 ft trim, with open web joists rated 500 lbs at one panel point between beams at 43 to 45 ft. Halls D and E halve the beam capacity to 2,000 lbs per panel point but allow 1,500 lbs on an open web joist per span. Both ballrooms use threaded points at 1,000 lbs each. Meeting rooms and lobbies have no weight-bearing points at all. The Oregon Ballroom has a floating disc ceiling at 23 to 25 ft with points recessed between the discs, and damage to that canopy is billed. Published hall ceiling height is 30 ft, which is the light-square trim rather than the steel above it. Exhibit floors carry 350 lbs per sq ft, carpeted spaces 125. [source] |
| Layout, permits & deadlines | All trade show booths must be set on 30-foot centres with minimum 10-foot aisles — the only venue-level layout rule here. Floor plan information goes to the event manager 60 days out and the plans themselves to the fire marshal 30 days before the first contracted day, with changes inside seven days incurring charges. The public assembly permit runs $247 up to 25,000 sq ft and rises to $1,980 above 250,000 — and doubles if requested fewer than 21 days before the event. Fire marshal labor is $150 an hour with a four-hour minimum. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT set | No booth height limit, no backwall or sideline setback, no line-of-sight rule, no linear, island or peninsula definitions, no hanging-sign height band and no minimum booth size appear anywhere in twelve venue documents. Neither does any union jurisdiction, any exhibitor self-work threshold, any appointed-contractor process or any insurance dollar limit — the word union does not appear at all. Much of what an exhibitor actually experiences on this floor is therefore set by the show's general contractor rather than the building, and the honest version of this entry says so rather than implying the venue set is complete. [source] |
Sources: Oregon Convention Center — Venue Rules and Regulations (July 2026) · Oregon Convention Center — Rigging Rules and Regulations (July 2026) · Oregon Convention Center — Branding Specifications Guide (July 2026) · Oregon Convention Center — Client Services Guide, including fire marshal regulations (August 2026) · Oregon Convention Center — Sustainable Event Guide (named signage substrate alternatives) · Oregon Convention Center — Venue Guide, hall dimensions and ceiling heights
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City runs two codes at once. Its fire prevention code adopts the 2018 International Fire Code AND the 2018 NFPA 101 Life Safety Code together, with a most-restrictive-governs clause deciding conflicts — which matters for exhibits, because the familiar covered-booth and multi-level rules live in NFPA 101 rather than the IFC. It is also two editions behind: the adopting ordinance dates from 2019 and no later fire code adoption exists in the city's legislative record. The AHJ is the fire marshal within the fire department's prevention division, and the code lets the chief require standby firefighters as fireguards at an assembly, exhibition or display, billed at the prevailing fireguard rate with a four-hour minimum per guard. [Kansas City Ordinance 190202 — adopting the 2018 IFC and 2018 NFPA 101]
Kansas City Convention Center (Bartle Hall)
Names its approved tapes by 3M part number and then bans adhesive-backed decals outright — the two rules sit four lines apart. Its self-work test is the only one in this index defined purely by method rather than size or time.
| Approved tape by part number — then a decal ban | The approved products for booth markings and carpet applications are named exactly: 3M 9589 double-sided, 3M 471 single-sided, liquid chalk and gaffers tapes, and those are the only ones permitted in the facility. Paint, shoe polish and unapproved tapes are not allowed. Four lines later comes the rule that matters most to a graphics installer: glitter and adhesive-backed decals are not permitted in the facility or on the premises. That ban is unqualified and reads on floor decals and window clings alike, and the venue publishes no separate permission pathway for floor, wall or window graphics — only a blanket rule that nothing unapproved goes on glass, walls or doors anywhere in the building. Applied tape and residue must be off every surface before move-out. [source] |
|---|---|
| Signs | Decorations, signs and posters may not be taped, nailed, tacked or otherwise fastened to ceilings, painted surfaces, columns, glass doors, marble, fabric, walls or city-owned podiums without management approval, and no drilling of the structure is allowed — any attachment must be non-destructive. Signs must be produced by a professional sign company or computer-generated; hand-made or long-hand signs are not allowed in the building at all. The venue's own permanent graphics may not be visibly blocked or relocated. [source] |
| Rigging — a 150-pound line | The exclusive rigging provider owns anything exceeding 150 lbs per point, including supplying all chain motors. Below that line, items may be scheduled through the production company or decorator — but anything attached to the facility must be performed by the stagehands' local regardless. Room diagrams including flown or ground-support structures go to the rigging portal at least 30 days before load-in, as Vectorworks or DWG files with weight calculations; PDFs are accepted only case by case. Rush requests inside 24 hours are charged at 150 percent. Ground support over 10 ft needs a safety inspection, which is free, and may not exceed 15 ft without approval; soft goods over 20 ft must be flown or carry steel safety cables. No rigging comes off the air wall tracks, and no new holes go into the building. [source] |
| Ceilings & floor loads — check the guide, not the web page | Bartle Halls A, B and C are 33 ft; D and E are 42 ft; the grand ballroom 36 ft. The floor loads are where care is needed: the venue's web page states a flat 300 lbs per sq ft, but its operating guide is more precise and says Hall B is 200 lbs per sq ft while A, C, D and E are 300 and all other areas 150. Plan to the guide — being wrong in the generous direction on a hall floor costs real money. Utility floor ports sit on 30-foot centres and the halls are column-free. [source] |
| Labor — a self-work test defined by method | Every other venue in this index draws the exhibitor self-work line with a booth size, a time limit or a tool list. Kansas City draws it by how the freight moves: freight not requiring forklift, cart or dolly delivery may be brought in by exhibitors — hand-carried items — and people associated with events may use their own dolly or hand cart. Anything needing a forklift goes to the freight handlers. No square footage, no stopwatch. Two contradictions sit inside the venue's own material and both are published here rather than resolved: the guide says the facility has no contracts with any unions while its own FAQ answers yes to whether union labor is required, and the rigging section says rigging may only be performed by a certified union rigger while an adjacent page permits approved contractors to rig below the 150-pound threshold. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Curtains, table skirts, drapes and decorations must be flameproof material or treated, with treatment renewed as often as necessary and everything subject to flame testing by the fire marshal. No combustible materials, merchandise or signs may be attached to or draped over booth divider draperies or table skirting facing aisles unless flameproofed. Structures erected as displays need plans submitted before construction unless the materials are non-combustible or flameproof. Floor plans go to management for fire marshal approval before opening — no numeric lead time is published — and must show 10 ft perimeter aisles on all four sides, exits, service desks and marked boneyards. Display vehicles run five gallons or a quarter tank whichever is less; propane is capped at 5 lbs per tank with fire marshal approval. [source] |
| What this venue does NOT publish | No booth height limit, no back-wall or sideline rule, no setback, no hanging-sign height band and no minimum booth size for a hanging sign appear anywhere in the guide. Nor does any covered-booth, multi-level or two-storey rule, any sprinkler threshold, or any appointed-contractor policy — no notification deadline, no contractor insurance minimum, no badge requirement. Those requirements do exist upstream in the codes the city adopts, but the venue does not restate them and the fire department publishes nothing on exhibits or trade shows at all. Expect the show's general contractor to supply that layer. One practical warning: the venue's own building-guidelines page still links a 2023 edition of this guide that now returns an error — the current July 2026 file is linked only from the meeting planners page. [source] |
Sources: Kansas City Convention & Entertainment Facilities — Client Resource Guide (revised July 2026) · Kansas City Convention Center — labor guidelines · Kansas City Convention Center — Bartle Exhibit Hall specifications
Columbus, Ohio
Ohio does not adopt the IFC as a document — it writes its own Ohio Fire Code as rule text in the administrative code, incorporating substantial portions of the ICC fire code into state-authored rules. Every rule in the chapter currently carries an effective date of 20 November 2025. The provision that matters most for exhibitions is section 101.2.1: appendices of any International Fire Code are NOT adopted as part of the Ohio code, though a political subdivision with authority to enact a local fire code may adopt them. So Appendix N on indoor trade shows has no force in Ohio unless Columbus itself adopted it — the same question that separates Phoenix from Denver, resolved at a different level. Enforcement for exhibits runs through the Columbus Division of Fire's prevention bureau, whose fire marshal approves every exhibit floor plan and inspects on site. One honest gap: the base ICC edition behind the CURRENT rule text could not be confirmed from here — the 2019-era text named the 2015 edition, and the state's code server was unreachable at the time of writing. Confirm the edition with the fire marshal rather than relying on a year quoted anywhere. [Ohio Administrative Code chapter 1301:7-7 — Ohio Fire Code]
Greater Columbus Convention Center
The one venue in this index that specifies graphics by 3M product code — and it installs them itself while letting anyone print them. Its two live documents disagree about whether decals are allowed at all.
| Graphics specified by 3M product code | No other venue here does this. The planning guide states that graphics specifications require the use of 3M materials, and then names them: for windows and railings, 3500 indoor, IJ67 perforated film, IJ63 changeable white, IJ61 clear film and FP032302 white blockout for double-sided; for walls, 3500C; for floors, 40C with 8509 laminate. If you are printing for this building, that is your spec sheet, published by the building. [source] |
|---|---|
| Who installs — and who may print | The venue is the exclusive approver, installer and remover of applied graphics across walls, floors, steps, escalators, elevators, ceilings, doors, glass, its own fixtures and the parking garages, approved event by event through an online portal. But the division of labour is explicit and unusually favourable: you may use a company of your choice to design or print your graphics — only installation is exclusive. Orders arriving less than 14 days before the contract start pay extra. Window clings must be transparent from the push bar upward, and exterior clings may carry event and company logos but not sponsorships or advertisements. [source] |
| Two live documents, opposite answers on decals | The exhibitor rules the venue still hands out say flatly that adhesive-backed decals are not permitted in the facility. The April 2026 planning guide says adhesive-backed decals must be installed in accordance with the applied graphics policy, with removal charges for violators. The guide states that it supersedes any version printed before 14 April 2026, so the operative rule is permitted-but-venue-installed — yet the older flat ban is the file linked from the live exhibitors page, which is what most people will read first. Confirm in writing before you print. [source] |
| Banners — a floor and a ceiling | Banners must hang no lower than 12 ft from the floor and may not weigh more than 75 lbs; anything heavier moves to theatrical rates and conditions. All signs, banners and theatrical items in meeting rooms, the concourse or the exhibit halls are hung by the in-house production company, with one carve-out: the decorator may hang aisle signs only, under 75 lbs, and must supply its own hi-lift. Nothing hangs from a ceiling without management approval, and temporary exterior signage may not be fastened to the building at all. [source] |
| Rigging | Rigging is a venue exclusive through the in-house production company, and rigging plots showing location and weight are required for everything hung from the ceiling. Facility utility requests including rigging are due three months before the event. Every forklift, hi-lift and material handling device must be run by an operator licensed through an OSHA-approved programme, with the licence given to venue security before use, and motorised forklifts and pallet jacks are barred from carpet and tile entirely. What the venue does not publish is any per-point load limit, total capacity, engineer-stamp threshold or rigging-specific deadline — the guide points to rigging forms on its website that are not actually there, and orders route through a portal instead. [source] |
| Ceilings & floors | All four exhibit halls are 30 ft with, unusually, unlimited published floor load — the Battelle Grand ballroom by contrast is capped at 200 lbs per sq ft, and no single piece of equipment may exceed 8,000 lbs anywhere. The Battelle Grand is 33 ft with a 17 ft balcony; Union Station ballrooms run 19.5 to 24.5 ft. Loading dock doors are 8 by 8 ft with one drive-in at 16 by 20. A scheduling detail that matters for colour work: the exhibit halls run half lighting on move-in and move-out days, full lighting only on show days. [source] |
| Fire & materials | Decorative materials must be flame retardant with proof on site at all times — and if a fireproofing product was applied, the venue asks you to bring the canister. The covered-structure trigger is low and simple: any structure or tent larger than 10 by 10 must have additional smoke detection inside it. Enclosed structures allowing access above may need structural plans approved by the city building department. Preliminary floor plans go in before any space is sold and finals are due to the venue two months out, after which the venue submits them to the city fire marshal, who also inspects on arrival. Oil-based haze and fog are strictly prohibited and water-based needs 30 days' written notice. Display vehicles follow the state code's own vehicle rule — quarter tank or five gallons, batteries disconnected, tanks sealed — and carry a $75 fee assessed on arrival. [source] |
| Labor — no self-work restriction at all | The venue's position, in its own words, is that it is a non-union building and that you and your exhibitors can load, unload and assemble any equipment needed, with union labor available through the stagehands' local if you want it. There is no booth-size cap, no time limit and no tool restriction published anywhere — the least restrictive self-work regime in this index. Note the venue also calls itself a right-to-work building; that is its phrasing rather than a legal characterisation of Ohio. The general service contractor and the production company are both preferred rather than exclusive, though rigging, applied graphics, booth cleaning, utilities and security are venue exclusives. Insurance is due 30 days before move-in naming the venue, its operator and the county facilities authority — with no dollar minimum published, and a clause letting the venue buy cover and bill you if nothing arrives two weeks out. [source] |
Sources: Greater Columbus Convention Center — Event Planning Guide (14 April 2026) · Greater Columbus Convention Center — General Exhibitor Rules and Regulations (undated; still linked from the live exhibitors page) · Greater Columbus Convention Center — map and capacity chart
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The most surprising jurisdiction in this index, and the one that defeats the usual lookup entirely — because asking whether Wisconsin is an IFC state or an NFPA state produces the wrong answer either way. The STATE is NFPA: its administrative code incorporates NFPA 1, Fire Code, 2012 edition. But that same rule lets a municipality adopt an equivalent alternate code and comply with that instead — and Milwaukee took the exit. Its ordinance reads: pursuant to s. SPS 314.001(2), the city of Milwaukee adopts the 2006 International Fire Code, except where in conflict with state statutes or rules. That text was last published in late 2025, so it is current: a major convention city running a twenty-year-old edition of the IFC, layered under a 2012 NFPA state code that wins conflicts. Building work is separate again, on the 2021 IBC. Enforcement sits with the Department of Neighborhood Services rather than the fire department, which publishes nothing on exhibits at all. The city charges a $100 fire permit for exhibits and trade shows, and vehicle displays are priced per vehicle with a minimum plus processing. [Milwaukee Code of Ordinances ch. 214 §214-3 — adopting the 2006 IFC under the state alternate-code provision]
Baird Center
Names a different approved tape for each surface, and sits in the strangest jurisdiction here — a 2006 fire code under a 2012 NFPA state code.
| Tape, mapped surface by surface | Three surfaces, three named products: Polyken double-sided carpet tape on the exhibit hall floor, gaffers tape on carpeted surfaces, and painter's tape or Remo Two mounting tape on walls and doors. The contracted decorator owns removal of all tape and residue, and damage caused either by the tape or by the tools used to remove it is chargeable. That wording has been stable across four years of exhibitor kits, so it is safe to plan against. Two flat prohibitions sit alongside it: adhesive-backed decals may not be distributed or used inside the facilities, and any anchoring or drilling into the exhibit floor or any other surface is strictly prohibited. [source] |
|---|---|
| Rigging | The stagehands' local is the exclusive rigging provider, with orders due 14 days before the first contracted date and custom work paid in full by the same deadline. The standard package covers signs under 150 lbs, under 20 ft long, under 175 sq ft, on one or two hanging points; beyond any of those you move to a custom quote requiring an overhead CAD diagram. Signs hang to 14 ft at the bottom unless specified otherwise. Practical details that cost money: you supply all frames, grommets and hardware, the sign must arrive pre-assembled because the venue will not assemble it, you must be present, and the riggers wait fifteen minutes before moving on — after which repositioning is billed. Lights generally cannot be attached to the ceilings and go on truss instead. No per-point load limit, total ceiling capacity or engineer-stamp threshold is published anywhere. [source] |
| Ceilings, floors & the utility grid | The exhibit halls run 30 ft over a 350 lbs per sq ft floor, with columns on 90 by 90 ft centres and 300,275 sq ft contiguous. The utility grid is worth knowing before you place a booth: power and data land on 30 by 30 ft centres, but air and water only on 60 by 60. The Baird Ballroom is 30 ft 9 in to 34 ft 1 in and the Grand Ballroom 28 to 30 ft — note the venue's website says 31 ft for the Grand while its own workbook says 30, and the workbook is the better source. Meeting rooms are about 15 ft. Dock drive-in doors are 20 ft wide by 16 high across 22 docks. [source] |
| Fire & covered booths | The covered-booth trigger is low and simply stated: exhibit booths with walls or enclosed ceilings larger than 10 by 10 must have a portable fire extinguisher inside the structure. Pyrotechnics are strictly prohibited, as are drones; fog and haze must be water-based. Compressed gas is limited to one-pound cylinders, one per booth with twenty in reserve. Vehicle displays need a city permit with the battery disconnected, a quarter tank or less, the cap locked or taped and a drip pan. Cooking requires a type K extinguisher for oil and grease — type B is specifically not acceptable for that use — and no cooking is allowed under any canopy or structure. [source] |
| Labor — an open loading dock | This is the permissive end of the labor spectrum, and the venue states the principle rather than a threshold: apart from electrical and mechanical service connections, it imposes no restrictions on exhibitors loading, unloading, moving in or out, setting up and striking their own exhibits. No booth size, no time limit, no tool list. The stagehands' local is exclusive for rigging only, and the venue itself is exclusive for electrical, mechanical services and IT, which may not be installed or removed by anyone else. The one caveat the venue names is real: a show's decorator contract can impose its own labor terms on top. [source] |
| The permit that catches people | The city charges a $100 fire permit specifically for exhibits and trade shows, cited to the fire code's own section on the activity, plus separate $100 permits for indoor pyrotechnics, open flame and tents. Motor vehicle exhibition is priced per vehicle with a minimum charge and a processing fee on top. Because the city's fire prevention function sits with its buildings department rather than the fire department, none of this appears where most people would look for it. [source] |
| What is not published — and one document not to trust | No booth height limit, no line-of-sight setback, no back-wall or side-rail rule and no minimum booth size appear in any exhibitor kit from 2013 through 2026; those live in the show contractor's kit, which at this venue is typically login-gated and therefore not publicly checkable. There is also no appointed-contractor policy and no insurance dollar limit in any current document. Be careful with older material: flame-certificate requirements, sprinkler thresholds for covered booths and a $2M insurance figure appear only in a venue manual from 2016 that is no longer published, and two of its own legal citations have since gone stale. Treat those as withdrawn rather than current. [source] |
Sources: Baird Center Milwaukee — 2026 Exhibitor Ordering Kit (rev. 8 June 2026) · Baird Center Milwaukee — Meeting Organizer Workbook (December 2025) · Milwaukee Code of Ordinances ch. 214 — Fire Prevention (adopting the 2006 IFC)
Richmond, Virginia
Virginia is usually described as a uniform-code state that bars local amendment. That is only half true, and the half that isn't is what matters here. The building code genuinely preempts: state law says it supersedes the building codes of every county and municipality. The FIRE prevention code does not preempt the same way — state law expressly empowers local governments to adopt fire prevention regulations more restrictive or more extensive in scope, provided they do not affect the manner of construction or the materials used. Localities can go stricter on operations, just not on how you build. Richmond has used that power: it runs its own exhibits and trade shows operational permit with a 15-day floor-plan deadline that has no state analogue, and can require the city named as additional insured. The statewide fire code adopts the 2021 IFC, effective January 2024, and the AHJ for exhibits is the city fire marshal's office. [Code of Virginia §27-97 — localities may adopt more restrictive fire prevention regulations]
Greater Richmond Convention Center
Bans exhibitor-applied surface graphics outright, then sells them itself. If you want a wrap on a column here, there is exactly one channel.
| Adhesives — named tape, and a hard boundary | Only approved, non-residue, easily removable tape and adhesive-backed material is permitted, and the handbook names examples: Shurtape PC-618 cloth tape in 2 or 3 inch, or Shurtape DF-642 double-face cloth tape. Use of tape on any wall surface, glass or equipment is prohibited outright. Adhesive-backed decals and stickers may not be affixed to any facility surface nor distributed to attendees. Drilling, nailing or stapling into any surface is strictly prohibited. Note one internal wobble: one page scopes the approved-tape rule to floor surfaces and another to carpeted surfaces — same rule, two different scopes, in one document. [source] |
|---|---|
| The only sanctioned route to a surface graphic | Given the blanket ban above, the practical answer for anyone selling wraps here is that the venue itself sells them: window clings, column wraps, door wraps and escalator rail decals are available as a paid service coordinated through its marketing manager, who will connect you with a recommended local printer. The venue does not print or produce the material unless that is pre-arranged as a paid service, specs vary by location and are only available by asking, and artwork is due no later than one week before the event. That is the whole channel. [source] |
| Rigging | The in-house audiovisual provider is exclusive for motorised and non-motorised points, truss, hoists, crank towers, scissor lifts, ground-supported structures and rigging labor, and only its authorised riggers may operate rigging equipment — with one useful carve-out: decorators may hang aisle signs and banners that are not suspended by truss or motors. Standard capacity is 1,000 lbs working load per point in both the exhibit hall and the ballroom, with no bridling permitted in the hall and only certified points on the permanent grid usable in the ballroom; more is possible after a show-specific engineering review, though no numeric trigger and no professional-engineer stamp is actually mandated. Plans are due 21 days before load-in with 45 to 30 days recommended. Rigging is prohibited in the meeting rooms entirely, and nothing attaches to ducts, conduit, plumbing, acoustic baffles or sprinkler pipes. [source] |
| Ceilings & steel | Use the steel heights rather than the marketing number. The exhibit hall's published ceiling of 35 ft comes from a specifications sheet last revised in 2004; the current rigging sheet gives high steel at 41 ft 9 in, low steel at 30 ft 3 in, soffit and airwall at 29 ft 9 in. Floors carry 350 lbs per sq ft in the hall and 125 in the ballroom, which sits at 32 ft with points at 35. Roll-up doors are 12 ft 6 in wide by 16 ft 5 in. [source] |
| Fire — and a handbook two editions behind its own code | Sprinklers are required for multi-level displays, displays of multiple rooms with ceilings, and any display with a ceiling of 225 sq ft or larger; a roofed area of 200 sq ft or more needs a smoke detector. Booths needing 50 ft or more of travel to an aisle need two remote exits. Flame-retardant certificates must be kept within the specific exhibit area, and without one the inspector will flame-test a sample on the spot. Worth knowing before you build to the handbook: it states its fire rules are based on the 2015 IFC, while Virginia's statewide code has adopted the 2021 edition since January 2024. The document is two editions behind the code its own fire marshal enforces. [source] |
| Two deadline stacks that do not match | The venue wants final floor plans 21 days before move-in; the city wants them 15 days before the event. The venue asks for hazardous-materials paperwork at 30 days; the city says 21. The city also runs an exhibits and trade shows operational permit at $150 to $250 — which the venue's own permit fee table omits entirely — with a waiver if the venue already holds a current assembly permit. And the two disagree on motorcycle fuel: the venue says two and a half gallons, the city says one and a half. The city is the authority. [source] |
| Labor & insurance | No union is named anywhere in the 65-page handbook — Virginia is right-to-work and the venue's restrictions are vendor-exclusivity and house-staff based rather than craft jurisdictions. There is no published exhibitor self-work threshold in hours or square feet. The real boundary is electrical: exhibitors may plug into purchased outlets and connect signal wiring within their own booth, but under no circumstances may anyone other than house electricians make electrical connections, and high-amp connections require hiring a house electrician on an eight-hour minimum. Insurance is $1M per occurrence general liability plus $1M auto, due 21 days ahead, with a verbatim additional-insured clause the handbook prints in full. [source] |
Sources: Greater Richmond Convention Center — Event Handbook (revised August 2025) · Greater Richmond Convention Center — event signage program · City of Richmond Fire & EMS — permits and permit holder guidelines · 13VAC5-52-30 — Virginia Statewide Fire Prevention Code incorporating the 2021 IFC
Hartford, Connecticut
Connecticut is neither an IFC state nor an NFPA state — it runs all three documents at once, split by purpose and by building age. New construction, and any repair, alteration or addition, falls under the state fire safety code's part built on the 2021 IFC. Buildings permitted before 2006 are governed under a separate part built on NFPA 101, 2021 edition. And operations — which is where exhibits and trade shows live — run under the state fire prevention code built on NFPA 1, 2021, which requires a permit to operate any exhibit or trade show in the jurisdiction and mandates crowd managers above 500 people. Connecticut also amended the trade-show appendix rather than adopting it as written: covered booths over 400 sq ft per level need sprinklers, and over 400 sq ft on any level need a fire alarm. Because the convention centre is state-owned, the compliance authority is the State Fire Marshal rather than Hartford's. [2022 Connecticut State Fire Safety Code (IFC 2021 / NFPA 101 2021) — Office of the State Fire Marshal]
Connecticut Convention Center
Carries a labor rule found nowhere else in this index — and it appears only in the planning guide, not in the exhibitor rules most exhibitors are handed.
| The one-for-one match | Exhibitors may use up to three of their own employees to move in, unpack, erect, assemble, dismantle and reload their exhibit. Beyond three, labor comes through the general service contractor. But there is a condition published only in the planning guide: for each full-time employee who works, a union member must be matched one for one in the union's favour, and after three employees everyone thereafter is union. An exhibitor reading only the exhibitor rules PDF — the document they are actually pointed to — would never learn this. Hand tools and step ladders are fine; all motorised equipment including pallet jacks, forklifts and scissor lifts is exclusive to the union. You may self-unload from a personal vehicle up to 14 ft bumper to bumper, with a 20-minute dock limit. [source] |
|---|---|
| Adhesives — carpet only, and a conflict | Approved tape is named: Shurtape PC-618 cloth in 2 or 3 inch, or Shurtape DF-642 double-face cloth. Tape and adhesive-backed material is permitted only on carpeted surfaces, and is prohibited on any wall surface, glass or equipment. The venue's two live documents then diverge on decals — the exhibitor rules ban adhesive-backed stick-on decals from being distributed or used at the centre at all, and the planning guide repeats that ban in its damages section. Read together, the workable reconciliation is that decals and stickers are banned while approved non-residue tape is allowed on carpet only. No holes may be drilled, cored or punched in any surface, inside or out, and staples may not be used on the centre's tables. There is no published rule at all for adhesive graphics on the bare exhibit hall floor — that case is simply unaddressed. [source] |
| Rigging | Rigging is exclusive to the in-house audiovisual provider, including exhibitor hanging apart from aisle signs, and everything hangs from structural steel only. The exhibit hall carries 1,500 lbs per point on hooks. The ballroom's published rigging plan is more detailed than most venues release: 90 total points of which 40 already exist, nothing hung from airwall tracks, all hardware meeting ANSI standards and displaying batch lot identification, point load calculations verified before load-in, and — the clause that catches people — clients must disclose all rigged items regardless of weight, with undisclosed items drawing extra point charges and setup delays. No engineer-stamp threshold and no plan deadline are published, only that approval precedes load-in. [source] |
| Banners | Banner assemblies must arrive complete with rated hanging wire, banner poles and rated links, or the service will not be performed, and published rates assume cloth, canvas or nylon with grommets — anything else is quoted. Prices run from $250 for a single-sided banner up to four by ten feet to $975 for a three-dimensional banner of 14 to 18 feet diameter, with the pre-paid rate requiring payment a day before first move-in. Location is explicitly not guaranteed: all banners hang from approved rigging points, wherever those happen to be. [source] |
| Ceilings & floors | The exhibit halls are 32 ft over a 350 lbs per sq ft floor; the ballroom is marketed at 30 ft but its rigging drawing gives the real numbers — ceiling 26 ft 1 in to 30 ft with soffit and airwall at 31 ft 5 in — over a 150 lbs floor. Meeting rooms are 15 ft 4 in. Utility floor boxes sit on 30-foot centres, 150 of them building-wide, all with drain and half with water. Forklifts are barred from the ballroom level back-of-house on floor load grounds. Note the venue's own documents disagree on ballroom area and booth count, and on whether the large freight elevator is rated 10,000 or 12,000 lbs. [source] |
| Fire — a state-amended threshold | Connecticut amended the trade-show appendix rather than adopting it as published: covered booths over 400 sq ft per level require sprinklers and over 400 sq ft on any level require a fire alarm system. Because the building is state-owned the State Fire Marshal makes the compliance determination, and no move-in may begin without written approval of the floor plans from both that office and the centre. Preliminary plans go in three months ahead and finals at least 30 days. Flame-proofing certificates are required on request rather than automatically. Vehicles run under half a tank or ten gallons, whichever is less, with a battery cable disconnected and taped. A fire marshal must be on site for all event hours once attendance passes 3,000 a day. [source] |
| Two dating problems worth knowing | The exhibitor rules PDF the venue currently serves is internally dated December 2012 despite living at a 2026 upload path. And the June 2025 planning guide quotes the 1997 edition of the life safety code for booth cooking rules, while Connecticut adopts the 2021 edition. Neither makes the documents useless, but both mean the fire text inside them should be checked against the state codes rather than relied on. As elsewhere, no booth height, setback, sightline or minimum booth size for hanging signs is published at all — those come from the show. [source] |
Sources: Connecticut Convention Center — Event Planning Guide (June 2025) · Connecticut Convention Center — Exhibitor Rules & Regulations (internally dated 2012, current upload) · Connecticut Convention Center — ballroom rigging plan and point schedule (Demers AV) · 2022 Connecticut State Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1, 2021) — operations, exhibits and trade shows
Related references
Nearly every venue above requires flame-certified materials without saying which films qualify. Our 3M Film Fire-Rating Matrix records the ASTM E84 results for 16 films, the substrate each was tested on, and which ratings are extrapolations rather than tests.
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