How to read a Hong Kong exhibitor manual: a practical checklist

Treat the manual as a controlled project document

Record the event name, year, organiser, venue, document title, revision date and download source before extracting any requirement. Store the original file and work from one controlled copy. A manual from the same organiser or venue in a previous year can help with early questions, but it is not authority for the current project.

Collect later circulars, portal notices, order forms and written organiser clarifications in the same register. If two instructions appear to conflict, do not choose the more convenient one. Quote the relevant sections, ask the organiser to resolve the conflict in writing and record the answer beside the affected design or service decision.

Build the deadline and responsibility register first

Before reading for design detail, search for deadline, submit, return, order, payment, approval, move-in and move-out. Enter every date into one register with the form or deliverable, recipient, submission channel, payment condition, responsible owner and internal due date. Record the Hong Kong time zone for regional teams.

Work backwards to allow for design approval, engineering, signatures, insurance documents, payment processing and organiser comments. A deadline is not owned simply because somebody copied it into a spreadsheet. Assign the person who prepares the item, the person authorised to approve it and the person who confirms receipt.

• Requirement or form name and manual section
• Official deadline and earlier internal deadline
• Owner, approver and submitting party
• Recipient, portal or email channel and required file format
• Fee, deposit or pre-payment condition
• Submitted date, acknowledgement and approval status

Confirm the participation type and supplied facilities

Identify whether the contract is for a standard or premium shell booth, raw space, custom-built participation or another organiser package. The label controls what is supplied and what may be altered. For example, a shell booth can include partitions, fascia, basic furniture, lights and carpet while restricting attachment, drilling, removal or additional construction.

For raw-space or custom participation, confirm whether the allocated area includes carpet, electrical supply or any other facility, and list what the exhibitor must appoint or order. Do not release a custom design until the participation type, footprint and supplied items match the sales agreement and current manual.

Transfer dimensional rules into the design brief

Extract the booth boundary, dimensions, open sides, maximum height, setbacks, covered-area rules, platform limits, accessibility conditions and any restrictions beside smoke curtains, service pits, columns, exits or venue equipment. Mark the current stand number and hall on the official floor plan rather than redrawing the space from memory.

Create a design-constraint sheet with the exact manual section beside every rule. Mark each item as verified, not applicable or awaiting organiser confirmation. Venue-wide hall specifications are useful context, but the organiser can impose stricter event rules and location-specific limits.

• Stand line, aisle edges, open sides and neighbour conditions
• Maximum height and thresholds for additional review or certification
• Floor loading, point loads, platforms, ramps and steps
• Overhead elements, truss, suspension and clearance restrictions
• Service pits, water, electrical boards and required access zones
• Fire, escape, smoke-curtain and sightline constraints shown on plans

Create the technical submission matrix

List every drawing, calculation, certificate and contractor document requested for the appointed booth type. Current HKTDC guidance for a specific fair illustrates the detail that may be expected: dimensioned plans and elevations can need to show materials, colours, electrical fittings, audio-visual equipment, moving exhibits, weights and point loading.

Requirements can change at defined thresholds such as stand height, a two-storey structure, platform height, truss load or other structural condition. Copy the applicable threshold exactly and name the qualified party responsible for review, endorsement, site supervision or completion certification. Do not apply a threshold from another show.

• Contractor information, insurance and site-work deposit evidence
• Dimensioned plan, elevations, sections and material schedule
• Electrical layout, distribution, lighting and equipment loads
• AV, moving exhibits, product weights and point loading
• Structural drawings, calculations and professional endorsements where required
• Completion, electrical, fire or other certificates requested for site handover

Separate design approvals from service orders

Approval of the booth drawing does not automatically order power, internet, water, drainage, compressed air, rigging, furniture or audio-visual equipment. Manuals often place technical submissions and commercial order forms in different sections, with different recipients, deadlines and payment conditions.

Create a service schedule that records the required capacity, quantity and exact booth location. Reconcile it against the latest layout before ordering, then keep the acknowledgement. Where the organiser or venue appoints an exclusive supplier, make that boundary explicit in the contractor scope so the service is neither duplicated nor missed.

Read safety, labour, insurance and electrical clauses together

The exhibitor may remain responsible for the conduct of its appointed contractors even when the contractor prepares the documents. Extract public liability, employee coverage, safety supervision, material, fire and certification requirements into the same compliance register, then confirm policy dates and named insured parties against the event period.

Hong Kong rules also affect who may perform the work. The Immigration Department states that a visitor may participate in an exhibition but may not construct exhibition booths. EMSD states that workers engaged in electrical work on fixed electrical installations must be registered. Confirm the current legal and organiser requirements with the responsible contractor instead of assuming an overseas site crew or general technician is eligible.

Plan move-in, handover and move-out backwards

Extract contractor badge, vehicle pass, loading, freight, delivery, storage, working-hour and access instructions. Add dependencies: a badge may not be released until documents, drawings, deposits or insurance have been accepted. Confirm who receives deliveries and who can make decisions if the site team finds a conflict during installation.

Read the dismantling clauses before opening day. Record the show-closing time, power shutdown, vehicle call-up, removal window, waste obligations and deposit conditions. A booth that opens on time but misses the move-out rules can still create cost, safety and refund problems.

• Move-in sequence, access time and responsible site lead
• Contractor badges, vehicle passes and document prerequisites
• Freight handling, delivery labels, lifting and temporary storage
• Testing, cleaning, snagging and exhibitor handover time
• Show close, dismantling, waste clearing and asset collection
• Damage review, deposit release evidence and final reconciliation

Run a pre-submission and pre-site readback

Before submission, have a second person check the drawing package against the constraint sheet and form instructions. Confirm the stand number, scale, dimensions, material names, equipment loads, service positions, signatures, certificates, filenames and recipient. Record any assumption that still depends on organiser approval.

Before move-in, issue a controlled site pack containing the latest approved drawings, approval conditions, service orders, contacts, access documents, safety information and outstanding-action list. If the design changes after approval, check whether resubmission is required. An approval is tied to the information reviewed; it is not permission to make unrecorded site changes.

• Latest manual revision and all later organiser notices reviewed
• Every deadline has an owner and acknowledgement status
• Drawings match the current floor plan and ordered services
• Approval comments are incorporated into production information
• Site team has the approved pack and escalation contacts
• Post-show removal and deposit evidence have named owners