By the Exhibition Stall Design editorial team · Updated 1 October 2026 · 13 min read
Short answer
Pick a double-decker stalls partner on four things: who physically produces the work, what evidence exists that they have delivered at your size, whether the quote is itemised against a written exclusion list, and who will be standing on your stand during build-up. A supplier who answers all four with specifics is a safer buy than one who is noticeably cheaper and vague on any of them.
Key takeaways
- Approve dimensioned drawings, not renders, before fabrication starts. A render shows intent; a drawing is what the workshop cuts to.
- Check the promise against the published lead time: 3 weeks is the base for a custom build, and it grows with area.
- The biggest drivers of a double-decker stalls quote are stall area in square metres and number of open sides and finish level (laminate, paint, veneer, acrylic, metal), so settle those before you brief anyone.
- Tie every payment milestone to a deliverable you can inspect rather than to a date on a calendar.
- Ask what the quote excludes. The answer to "is everything included?" is always yes, and never useful.
- Brief three suppliers identically on the same day. Comparability comes from the brief, not from the quote.
Why this decision deserves an hour of your time
Written for exhibitors, procurement teams and agencies who need a stall built on time, to drawing, and safely at the venue. Finding vendors is not the problem; a search and one afternoon will produce a dozen quotes. The problem is that the quotes look alike and the firms behind them do not.
Structurally certified two-storey stands with private meeting rooms upstairs and open display below.
An exhibition stand has one delivery date and no second attempt. On the morning the hall opens it is either finished, lit and staffed, or the budget is spent and the opportunity has gone. Nothing you negotiate afterwards buys those days back, which is precisely why these checks weight capability above price.
Who physically does the work
Start with ownership. Does this firm hold the tools, the crew and the production slot for double-decker stalls, or does it hold a phone number for somebody who does? Almost every other difference between two vendors flows downhill from that one.
Reselling is not the problem in itself — coordination is a genuine skill, and some of the best work on any exhibition floor was bought in rather than built in-house. The problem is what you cannot see. A firm that does not hold the production slot cannot tell you where your job is, cannot absorb a delay, and ends up doing its quality checking in the hall. That is the root of the familiar double-decker stalls failures: sub-contracted builds with no quality control; non fire-retardant materials rejected at the venue; late arrival on site that eats into build-up time; hidden extras for electrical, carpet or dismantling.
You do not need to be a technical buyer to run the test. Ask where the work happens and who supervises it, then ask to come and look. The reply arrives in one of two shapes, and the shape is itself the answer.
- Ask whether print, joinery and metalwork happen under one roof or in three different places
- Ask for the mobile number of the person who will be on site, not of the person selling to you
- Ask who supervises production, and whether that person is on the payroll
- Ask what the firm delivered last season at roughly your area, at a show it is willing to name
- Ask what happens to your schedule if a larger client books the same production week
- Ask for the workshop or studio address, and whether you can visit this week
- Ask whether the design, the build and the site crew all report to the same project manager
Every layer between your money and the person holding the saw costs you a day of warning.
How the two kinds of firm behave differently
You can tell most of it apart from the outside. Use the table as a side-by-side for two shortlisted firms: work down it on a call and the gap usually appears inside ten minutes.
Not every row matters equally to you. What you are ultimately buying is a stall layout with a clear entry, a working demo counter, storage that keeps the floor clean, and a closed meeting area for serious buyers, so weight capability, drawings and site accountability highest — those three decide whether it happens.
| The check | What good looks like | What should worry you |
|---|---|---|
| Changes | Prices every variation in writing before executing it | Agrees on site verbally and invoices after the show |
| Who does the work | Owns the workshop, studio or crew, and will let you see it this week | Cannot name the production site or the supervisor who will run your job |
| On-site accountability | One named project manager on site through build-up and show days | A phone number that changes between build-up and show open |
| Materials | Names the board, the finish and the fire treatment in the quote | Says "premium quality" and leaves the specification open |
| Evidence of past work | Photographs of finished, occupied stands at a comparable size and finish | Renders only, or photographs with no show, area or date attached |
| Workshop quality control | Dry-builds and tests the stand before dispatch, and will show you proof | First assembly happens on your stand, in the hall |
| Spares and contingency | Crew travels with laminate, graphics and lamps for the predictable failures | No answer, because nothing has ever gone wrong |
| Response to your brief | Comes back with questions about your products, visitors and goals | Comes back with a price and a stock render |
Use it as a call sheet. Firms that answer these quickly and specifically tend to answer quickly and specifically during build-up week too.
Making two quotes genuinely comparable
A quote is only a price if you know what it buys. Two firms given one brief will often land far apart, and the reason is hardly ever a cheaper method — it is a smaller scope. Make them both itemise against one list and the difference stops being mysterious.
Quoted per project; ideal for 72 sq.m and above. Because there is no per-square-metre rate to measure against here, everything rests on the line items. Insist on a scope detailed enough that two quotes can be laid side by side and read row by row.
The useful question is what has been left out. Four lines go missing more often than any others: the venue power connection and fittings, the flooring, the transport home, and the dismantle. Every one of them is compulsory in practice, which is exactly why leaving them out makes a quote look competitive.
- Structural engineer sign-off
- Glass meeting rooms upstairs
- Organiser approval handling
- Safe staircases and railings
- Installation, supervision and the crew's working hours
- Storage of reusable elements between shows
- Graphics — print area, substrate, and what a reprint would cost
- Technical drawings and the organiser submission
- Dismantle and clearing the stand inside the organiser's window
- Transport to the venue and back again
- Flooring, carpet and cable management
What a lump sum hides: a worked example
Here is the arithmetic that makes the point. Same brief, 36 sq.m, two replies — one broken out, one a single figure described as covering everything. These are the scopes the single figure did not cover.
Add them up and the gap is ₹2,17,000 — enough to reverse the comparison completely. And because each item surfaced late, it was bought at show-week rates from whoever was still free, rather than negotiated months earlier along with the rest of the scope.
| Electrical fittings, distribution and venue connection | ₹38,000 |
|---|---|
| Flooring — raised platform with carpet finish | ₹43,000 |
| Freight both ways, workshop to hall | ₹52,000 |
| Dismantle and clearing within the organiser's window | ₹29,000 |
| An extra shift to finish inside the build-up window | ₹24,000 |
| Furniture for the meeting corner | ₹31,000 |
| Total the cheaper quote did not cover | ₹2,17,000 |
Treat the figures as a shape, not a benchmark — yours will differ with city, finish and venue. What generalises is that every omitted line here was unavoidable, which is why the exclusion list matters more than the total.
The checks that turn a conversation into a contract
None of these checks is technical, and none takes more than a request and a reply. Run them before the advance goes out, because afterwards you are asking the same questions with less leverage and a shorter clock.
01
Write the exclusions down
Whatever is not included goes into the quote as an exclusion list, signed by both sides. That single page prevents the most common post-show dispute, which is almost never about build quality — it is about who agreed to pay for electrical, flooring or clearing.
02
Verify insurance and site compliance
Ask what cover the crew works under and what safety documentation the venue requires from a contractor. It is a dull question with a revealing answer: firms that work in halls regularly have the paperwork ready, and firms that do not have to go and find out.
03
Settle the change-order process
Agree in writing what a variation costs, how it gets quoted, and who on each side may authorise one. Verbal agreements made on the floor during build-up are the largest single source of invoices nobody remembers approving.
04
Read the storage and reuse terms
If elements are meant to come back for the next show, agree now who stores them, who pays for the storage, and what condition they are returned in. Reuse that was never documented has a habit of becoming a fresh build next year.
05
Check the material specification
The quote should name the board thickness, the finish and the fire treatment rather than promising premium quality. Specification is what the organiser's safety check looks for, and it is also the only way to tell whether a cheaper quote is cheaper or simply thinner.
06
Ask for the dated production schedule
Not a delivery week — a schedule with drawing release, print, joinery, dry build, dispatch and installation on separate dates. A supplier who can produce one has planned your job; a supplier who cannot is holding it in their head alongside everybody else's.
07
See the production site
Visit the workshop, prep bay or studio, or take a live video walk-through of it. You are checking three things: that it exists, that it is busy with work of your type and scale, and that the person who will supervise your job is standing in it while you look.
Exhibiting soon? Let's build your stall.
Paying in step with progress
There is really only one principle. At no point should the amount you have paid exceed the value of what you are holding. How the total is split is between you and the supplier; what matters is that every instalment has a deliverable behind it, not a date.
Hold something back until after handover. This is not about distrust — it is the only thing that reliably keeps a crew available on show morning for the lamp that will not light and the panel that chipped in transit. A supplier paid in full the day before has no remaining reason to be in the hall.
| Payment stage | The deliverable it should be attached to |
|---|---|
| On material order | The specification you approved, with board, finish and fire treatment named |
| On dispatch | A loading list and panel numbering you can check against the drawing |
| On show close | Show-day support delivered, and any variation already priced in writing |
| On graphics approval | Print-ready artwork signed off at final size, with a proof you have seen |
| After dismantle | The stand cleared inside the organiser's window, reusable elements in storage and the deposit released |
| On design approval | Dimensioned plans and elevations you have signed, plus the finishes and lighting schedule |
Agree in writing what a change costs and who is allowed to authorise one. Variations agreed verbally on the floor during build-up are the largest single source of invoices nobody remembers approving.
Match the supplier to the size of the job
Scale is a real constraint, not a marketing claim. Area drives the lead time, the crew depth, the engineering and how many trades have to be coordinated — so the honest question is not whether a firm can do your stand, but whether they routinely do stands your size.
Lead time is the check that catches most mismatches. A custom build needs 3 weeks as a base, plus 1 week from 24 sq.m and plus 2 weeks from 54 sq.m, with a further 2 weeks for a premium finish and 2 for a double-decker. A supplier who promises a 72 sq.m stand in a fortnight is either sub-contracting it or planning to disappoint you, and both are worth knowing before you sign.
There is a second version of the same check. At 36 sq.m the usable split is 28.8 sq.m of display, 5.4 sq.m of storage and 1.8 sq.m of meeting corner, which holds roughly 11 visitors at once and needs about 4 staff on duty. Ask a shortlisted supplier to walk you through that arithmetic for your own area. The ones who can are designing for a show; the ones who cannot are selling square metres of joinery.
| Stall area | Build weeks | What to check in the supplier |
|---|---|---|
| 36 sq.m | 4 | Own workshop, dimensioned drawings and a named site manager |
| 24 sq.m | 4 | Can they show a stand at this size that did not end up feeling like a corridor? |
| 18 sq.m | 3 | Do they offer a reusable system, so the second show costs less than the first? |
| 12 sq.m | 3 | Do they hold system stock, so a small stand is not treated as a bespoke job? |
| 100 sq.m | 5 | Multi-trade coordination and one accountable owner across every element |
Build weeks follow the published lead times: 3 weeks base, plus 1 from 24 sq.m and plus 2 from 54 sq.m. Premium finishes and double-decker structures add more on top.
Red flags
Any one of these is a reason to ask harder questions. Two of them together is a reason to go back to your shortlist. The risks specific to double-decker stalls come first, because they are the ones that show up on the floor rather than in the paperwork.
Urgency is the signal to watch hardest. A deadline on your decision that has nothing to do with your show dates is somebody else's cash-flow problem being transferred to you, and transferring it back afterwards is never possible.
- Sub-contracted builds with no quality control
- Non fire-retardant materials rejected at the venue
- Late arrival on site that eats into build-up time
- Hidden extras for electrical, carpet or dismantling
- No clear answer on who clears the stand after the show
- A site contact who changes between build-up and show open
- An advance demanded before the scope and schedule are documented
- A material specification that says premium and names nothing
- Fabrication proposed without drawings for you to approve first
- No written exclusion list, and reluctance to produce one
- A delivery week in place of a dated production schedule
Scoring the shortlist
Two credible finalists is a good problem, and a scoring sheet solves it faster than another meeting. Notice that price carries the smallest weight — not because it does not matter, but because it is the only factor still movable once you have picked.
Score each criterion out of ten, multiply by the weight and compare the totals. The exercise usually confirms what the quoting process already suggested, but it makes the reasoning legible to whoever signs the purchase order — which, in most organisations, is the actual obstacle to choosing well.
| What you are scoring | Weight | The evidence to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Owns the capability | 25 | Did you see the workshop, studio or crew, and meet the supervisor who will run your job? |
| Comparable finished work | 20 | Photographs of built, occupied stands at your area and finish level — not renders |
| Quote clarity | 20 | An itemised scope, a written exclusion list, and a straight answer on taxes |
| On-site accountability | 15 | A named project manager, a crew size and shift hours for build-up and show days |
| Venue and organiser experience | 10 | Knows the submission deadline and the height, rigging and fire rules without checking |
| Price and reuse value | 10 | All-in cost per square metre, and what you still own once the show closes |
Weights total 100. Move them to suit your show: a first participation should weight organiser experience higher, while a programme of several shows a year should weight reuse value higher.
Score the shortlist. An argument about impressions has no end; a weighted sheet has a total.
Brief your shortlist and compare what comes back
Write the brief once and send it unchanged to all three. Show, city, dates, area, open sides, budget band, and two or three references with a note on each. The replies are a free preview — of responsiveness, of judgement, and of whether anyone read past the square metres.
On our side: design is free with every confirmed fabrication order, the build happens in our own workshops, we prepare the organiser drawings and handle the approvals, and one project manager stays with the job from the first brief to the last panel out of the hall.
Frequently asked questions
Is it reasonable to ask to visit the workshop?+
Entirely. It is a normal request from anyone buying something fabricated, and the reaction to the question tells you a good deal even before the visit happens.
When should payments be released?+
Against deliverables rather than dates — signed drawings, the organiser submission, the workshop dry build, handover of a working stand, and the stand cleared after dismantle. Keep a meaningful balance payable after handover.
What if a supplier will not itemise the quote?+
Treat the refusal as information. Without line items you cannot compare two quotes, cut scope you do not need, or tell the difference between a cheaper supplier and a smaller scope.
How do I check a double-decker stalls company is not quietly sub-contracting the work?+
Ask for the workshop or studio address and a visit this week, the name of the production supervisor, and how many other jobs are in the queue for your show week. A firm that owns the capability answers all three without hesitating.
Do I need a different supplier for a large stand?+
Often, yes. Area changes the lead time, the crew depth and the engineering: 3 weeks at small sizes becomes 5 from 54 sq.m, and a double-decker adds 2 more. Ask what the largest stand they delivered last season actually was.
How many vendors should I compare?+
Three, briefed identically. Two gives you no way to spot an outlier quote, and five is more briefing and comparison work than the decision justifies.
How early should I appoint a supplier?+
Work backwards from the show. A custom build needs 3 weeks at small sizes, plus 1 week from 24 sq.m and plus 2 weeks from 54 sq.m, plus 2 more for a premium finish. Add your own internal approval time on top of that and appoint accordingly.
Who handles organiser approvals?+
A capable supplier prepares and lodges the stand drawings, the electrical load and the material certificates on your behalf, and knows the organiser's deadline without being told. If approvals are handed back to you, price that extra work and risk into the comparison.
Double-Decker Stalls near you
Our crews deliver double-decker stalls in every major Indian city.