To find reliable service providers for a trade show, start with the show's exhibitor guide: it tells you which providers are mandatory, approved or listed by the organiser and the venue. Then add to your list with directories by trade and by city, and check each candidate against criteria you can verify: legal existence, Urssaf vigilance certificate (the French social security contributions certificate), insurance, references on comparable shows and command of the show's safety regulations. Finally, compare quotes drawn up against the same brief and set out in the contract who is responsible for build-up and dismantling. This guide details each step, for the stand builder, the caterer, audiovisual, furniture and transport.
1. Read the Exhibitor Guide First: Some Choices Are Already Made
Before consulting anyone, open the show's exhibitor guide and exhibitor area. At some shows, such as the one in the example below, part of the services cannot be chosen freely: the venue or the organiser only allows approved companies.
The exhibitor guide for World Nuclear Exhibition 2025, organised by RX France at the Villepinte exhibition centre, states that exhibitors can use either the caterers based on the site or caterers approved by Viparis. An outside caterer must register with Viparis before providing its service and sign an operating contract: without this approval, it is refused access to the venue.
The practical consequence is simple: an excellent provider that is not approved at your show is the wrong choice. Check this point before even asking for a quote.
2. Where to Look for Candidates
Three sources complement each other:
- Lists from the organiser and the venue. Listed providers, order forms in the exhibitor area, services offered by the exhibition centre. This is the reference source for anything affecting access to the site.
- Directories by trade and by area. Agoris, for example, lists stand builders, with dedicated pages for stand builders in Paris and stand builders in Lyon, as well as providers of event furniture hire and audiovisual providers in Paris. These lists are a starting point: Agoris does not guarantee the quality of the services, and the checks below remain essential.
- Peers and the aisles of the previous show. Make a note of the stands that impressed you while visiting the show and ask the exhibitors who designed and built them. Companies in your sector that exhibit regularly have already done the sorting: same show, same venue, same constraints.
3. Basic Checks, Valid for Every Trade
Whichever provider you choose, four checks should be made before signing.
The company's legal existence. The Annuaire des Entreprises (the French business directory, on data.gouv.fr) provides open public data on registered companies. Check that the company is active, that its activity matches the trade it claims and that the company name on the quote is that of the company you are dealing with.
The Urssaf vigilance certificate. For any contract worth 5,000 euros or more excluding tax, the client must obtain a vigilance certificate from its provider, which proves that the company is up to date with its social security obligations. It is valid for six months and must therefore be requested again if the relationship continues. Failing to request it exposes the client to penalties and joint financial liability (article L8222-2 of the Code du travail, the French Labour Code, cited by the service-public.fr page). As soon as a quote approaches this threshold, ask for the certificate.
Insurance. Ask for a valid professional liability insurance certificate, and check that it covers the activity carried out at a trade show (building structures, working in a public venue, equipment entrusted to the provider).
Comparable references. Ask for two or three recent projects of a size close to yours, if possible at the same venue or a similar type of venue, with a client contact who can be reached.
4. Trade by Trade: Criteria and Questions to Ask
The Stand Builder
This is the provider on whom your stand's compliance with the show's safety regulations depends. A trade show is subject to fire safety regulations, and the exhibitor is required to comply with them. By way of example, the fire regulations appended to the safety instructions of a 2026 show held at the Centre de Congrès Pierre Baudis in Toulouse require that materials used on a stand have a fire reaction test report (procès-verbal de réaction au feu) issued by an approved French laboratory and dated less than five years ago, except for traditional or certified materials. Awnings and ceilings must be made of materials rated M0 or M1 (the rating system used by these regulations), and hanging decorative items must be made of M0 or M1 materials or treated with flame retardant to meet that rating. Fittings must be completed by the time of the safety acceptance inspection, in the presence of the exhibitor or its qualified representative.
Questions to ask:
- Do you supply the fire reaction test reports for all the stand's materials?
- Who prepares and submits the declarations the organiser requires (plans, double-deck stand, special features)?
- Will you be present, or appointed as representative, at the safety acceptance inspection?
- Can the stand be reused, and do you offer storage between shows?
- What is included in the price: design, manufacture, transport, build-up, dismantling, waste removal?
The Caterer
First reflex: check that it is authorised at your venue (see the Paris Nord Villepinte example above). Then ask how it delivers and stores food on a stand that does not necessarily have a kitchen or a cold room, how it informs your guests about allergens, and how it handles crockery and waste.
Audiovisual
Screens, sound, lighting, filming: the technical requirements are negotiated with the provider, but the rules are set with the organiser. At World Nuclear Exhibition, any sound or video entertainment must be declared to the organiser for approval, and the sound level is capped at 70 decibels measured one metre from the stand, with the organiser able to lower this threshold if it disturbs neighbouring stands. The same guide reminds exhibitors that playing music on a stand must be declared by the exhibitor to Sacem (the French music rights society), and that it is for the exhibitor to pay for it before the show. Ask your provider what electrical power is needed and how it replaces faulty equipment during opening hours.
Furniture
Hire furniture can be ordered from the show's provider or from a specialist hirer: check what your regulations allow, as well as delivery and collection slots. At World Nuclear Exhibition, the storerooms of fitted stands and the hire furniture must be emptied as soon as the show closes, and by 7 pm at the latest.
Transport and Handling
At World Nuclear Exhibition, listed and authorised carriers and handling companies are available: at your show, ask whether you can use another one. For equipment coming from abroad, customs formalities remain the exhibitor's responsibility, and the organiser accepts no liability in the event of difficulty: choose a carrier that is used to these procedures.
5. Comparing Quotes Without Getting It Wrong
A cheaper quote is not necessarily cheaper: it is often less complete. Send the same brief to each candidate (surface area, plan, desired features, build-up and dismantling dates, venue) and require itemised quotes. Check what is included or excluded, as well as the payment and cancellation terms. For budget orders of magnitude, see our guide to the cost of a stand.
6. The Contract: Put Responsibilities in Writing
This is the most underestimated point. At World Nuclear Exhibition, the exhibitor agrees to pay all costs caused by the failure of its decorator or installer, and any overrun of the dismantling hours results in the stand being destroyed at the exhibitor's expense, an additional occupancy charge and damages payable to the venue's lessor. The space must also be returned in its original condition. Read your show's regulations: this is the logic of many regulations, but yours is the one that counts.
So include in the contract with each provider the organiser's build-up and dismantling schedule, the restoration of the space, the removal of waste and who bears the costs in the event of delay or non-compliance.
7. The Most Common Pitfalls
- Starting too late. Good providers can be in heavy demand from exhibitors at the same show at the same time. The detailed schedule is in our stand preparation checklist.
- Forgetting the formalities that fall to the exhibitor, such as the Sacem declaration or customs formalities, on the assumption that the provider will deal with them.
- Making no plans for dismantling, when overrunning the hours can be very costly (see above).
Sources
Exhibitor guide for World Nuclear Exhibition 2025 (RX France). Fire regulations of the Centre de Congrès Pierre Baudis (Toulouse), appended to the safety instructions of a 2026 show. Service-public.fr, "Comment obtenir une attestation de vigilance ?". Annuaire des Entreprises (data.gouv.fr). The rules cited vary from one show and venue to another: your show's exhibitor guide is the authority.