The sales team has just sold a corner booth to an equipment exhibitor with a demo tank. When they get to work with the venue, they learn that the nearest floor drain is rather far away and that the electrical box has only one three-phase outlet, on the opposite side. The exhibitor starts asking about moving, but the floor plan has already gone out to the whole hall.
This kind of mistake can be avoided if the sales plan already shows what lies under the floor and above the booth. This article covers how to read a hall's technical floor plan per the CEM guides, then adds the layers particular to an aquaculture show.
Two kinds of plans
The CEM guides point out that the official service contractor's (OSC) systems are usually stronger than the ones the organizer uses, with many detailed layers. Two layers come up often: rigging (the hanging points in the ceiling) and utility grids (the sources of electrical, air and plumbing). Even so, the guides advise putting this information on the public floor plan too, because it is useful for selling space and for exhibitors choosing booths.
Put another way, the plan printed for exhibitors should not hold only squares and numbers. It should answer the question: what is at this booth's feet and over its head.
The sample legend in the guides
The guides give a sample legend. The symbols and figures below are the book's examples, not those of any particular hall.
- FH: fire hose. FA: fire alarm. FE: fire extinguisher.
- E: electrical box. P: plumbing box. D: floor drains.
- Large column 5 feet in diameter (about 1.5 m), small column 2 feet 6 inches (about 76 cm).
- Ceiling height 18 feet (about 5.5 m).
- Hang points rated at a maximum of 100 pounds each (about 45 kg).
The guides add that the plan should show the column grid and utility grid, including low ceiling overhangs, booths where hanging is restricted, booths under LIFO (last in, first out) rules, and the location of restaurants, restrooms and lounges. The point is that exhibitors know where they stand and that the organizer plans ahead for those spots.
Layers specific to an aquaculture show
Water and drainage
The CEM checklist for exhibition hall site visits has an item for water and gas lines, flexible water, compressed air and drain locations. For an aquaculture show, mark P and D clearly on the plan, then define a "water booth" zone around them. The technical side of a tank booth is in the article on booths with water tanks. Handling the water afterward is in the article on exhibition wastewater.
Floor load
The guides define floor load as the weight a floor can safely withstand. Upper floors usually have a lower capacity than the ground floor, but must be built to handle a dead weight of at least 50 pounds per square foot (about 244 kg per square meter). If the show has heavy equipment, the organizer and the facility manager should perform a floor load analysis before finalizing the layout. For water tanks, one simple figure is worth remembering: a cubic meter of water weighs about one ton, before counting the tank body and equipment. So a large tank should not go on an upper level unless the floor load is confirmed in writing.
Power
The venue has a maximum electrical power for the whole hall, and electrical boxes sit at specific points. Booths demonstrating pumps, aerators and feeders often need three-phase or high-capacity power. The article on power and internet for exhibition booths explains how to settle this early.
Doors, docks and the marshaling yard
The guides note that an event with heavy equipment must count loading docks and the location and dimensions of entrance doors. The marshaling yard is the area where vehicles gather to load and unload during move-in and move-out. Most venues do not have enough docks for every shipment, so without a marshaling yard congestion around the hall is likely. More on forklift routes is in the article on aisle width at an exhibition.
Using the plan to sell booths
A good technical plan turns into a sales tool in three places.
- Price zones. Booths near drains and electrical boxes, with floor capacity, are valuable to exhibitors that use water. Consider placing them in their own price zone, as the article on booth pricing strategy discusses.
- Guidance for choosing. When exhibitors choose through a priority point system, a plan with a utility layer lets them filter out unsuitable booths themselves.
- Preventing overpromising. The sales team promises only what the plan shows, avoiding the case of discovering a missing drain after signing.
Requesting documents from the venue
A list to send to venue management and the official service contractor:
- A scaled floor plan of the hall, in drawing format if available.
- The column grid, column sizes and low-ceiling spots.
- Ceiling height and the maximum load of hang points.
- Locations of electrical boxes, plumbing boxes, floor drains and compressed-air lines.
- Maximum electrical power for the hall.
- Floor load for each zone, especially upper levels.
- Door sizes, number of loading docks and the vehicle marshaling yard.
- Locations of fire hoses, alarms and emergency exits.
More on working with the venue during the visit is in the article on the site visit and the article on seven questions before signing a venue.
An illustrative case. Before sales open, the organizer asks the venue for the technical plan, marks six booths close to drains and electrical boxes as a "water booth" zone and sells them only to exhibitors with tanks. No booth has to move after signing.
Need technical floor plans read for an aquaculture show?
If you need a plan legend drawn up, a list of questions for the venue or price zones set by utilities, you can send a request through the quote page or book a call with Nguyen Anh Trung. Send the plan of the venue you are considering.
Where the drain sits is something to know before signing, not after an exhibitor asks.