Standards Development

Scope

This document provides guidelines for safety coordination during exhibition booth build-up and breakdown in business events. It applies to exhibition booths, booth-related temporary structures, booth services and related installations within exhibition venues. It is intended for organisers, venues, exhibitors, booth contractors, service providers and other relevant parties.

The document covers coordination processes for planning, information exchange, document submission and review, approval, on-site control, inspection, monitoring, handover, breakdown and close-out records including processes that can be implemented through digital tools or platforms. This document does not specify technical requirements for structural design, electrical installation, rigging, lifting equipment, fire protection systems, occupational health and safety management systems, construction works, or software and data interface requirements for digital platforms.

Purpose

This proposed document intends to provide guidelines for safety coordination during the build-up and breakdown of exhibition booths in business events. It clarifies roles, information exchange and communication processes among key parties, including organisers, venues, exhibitors, booth contractors and service providers. The intended outcome is to reduce operational inconsistency during build-up and breakdown by establishing a common procedural framework for safety coordination.

Justification

1.Structural complexity of booth build-up and breakdown

The global exhibition industry involves 4.7 million exhibiting companies and more than 138 million square metres of booth space built up and dismantled annually (UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, 2025). In contrast to permanent workplaces, booth build-up and breakdown take place within limited time and space, with many independent parties working simultaneously. Venues, organisers, exhibitors, booth contractors and service providers work in parallel. Activities such as temporary structure assembly, electrical connection, work at height, material handling and vehicle movement are concentrated within a short period. This can lead to overlapping work areas, gaps in information transfer, inconsistent approval processes and unclear responsibilities.

Therefore, booth build-up and breakdown require not only safety management within each organisation, but also a common framework for coordinating work information, roles, approvals, inspections and handover among multiple parties.

2. Procedural differences and the absence of common coordination criteria

Organisation-level management system standards, such as ISO 45001, and technical requirements for structural, electrical and fire-related matters already exist. However, key risks during exhibition booth build-up and breakdown are not fully addressed by a single organisation’s internal management system or by individual technical requirements alone.

Current build-up and breakdown procedures often differ according to national regulations, venue rules and organiser requirements. These differences can lead to miscommunication, redundant confirmations and confusion in approval and inspection processes.

The proposed standard is not intended to supersede existing statutory and regulatory requirements, management system standards or technical requirements. It is intended to complement them by providing practical coordination procedures needed when such requirements are applied on site. By providing procedures that multiple parties can commonly refer to during booth build-up and breakdown, the proposed standard establishes a procedural reference to help bridge operational differences between venues and events.

3. A common reference for international practice

The exhibition industry is highly international and mobile, with organisers, exhibitors and booth contractors frequently working across countries and venues. A common coordination process can reduce the burden of interpreting and adapting to new procedures for each project.

The proposed standard sets out a common workflow for confirming roles, sharing information, approving work, conducting on-site inspections and maintaining records. This can improve operational efficiency and reduce administrative burden.

The standardized coordination framework can also serve as a procedural baseline for future digital or data-supported coordination, including digital work applications, training records, work approvals and inspection-result records for exhibition booth build-up and breakdown.