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How to plan a trade show floor plan: aisles, stands and the rules to check

Plan a trade show floor in this order: the venue's technical guidelines and the fire authority's rules first, then the aisles and escape routes, then the stands. Aisle widths, the distance to an exit and stand heights are set by regulation and by the venue, not by taste. In Bavaria, for example, hall aisles must be at least 3 m wide and no point may be more than 20 m from an aisle.

Updated 26 October 2026

Start with the venue's technical guidelines

Every exhibition venue publishes technical guidelines: aisle widths, stand heights, exits, fire safety, rigging and two-storey stands. Ask for them, and for the drawing of the empty hall with columns, doors, fire exits, hydrants and floor loads, before you draw a single stand. These rules usually become part of the exhibitor's contract, so your plan must follow them too.

Building and fire rules also differ by country, and in Germany by federal state. The figures below come from Bavaria and from two German venues. Use them to know what to ask, then check your own venue's numbers.

Plan the aisles and escape routes first

Aisles carry visitors past stands and carry everyone out in an emergency. The Bavarian assembly-venue regulation sets these limits for exhibition halls:

Aisle rules for exhibition halls in the Bavarian Versammlungsstättenverordnung, section 7
RuleLimit
Clear width of hall aisles and their exitsat least 3 m
Depth of the stand area between aislesat most 30 m
Distance from any point of the stand area to an aisleat most 20 m
Clear width of any part of an escape routeat least 1.20 m

Keep aisles straight and leading to opposite exits, keep them clear of furniture and signs, and leave the fire doors, hydrants and first aid points free. Draw them before the stands, so the stands fill what is left.

Choose the stand types

Stands are named by how many sides face an aisle. More open sides mean more visitors and a higher price per square metre.

  • Row stand: one side open, in a row of stands. The cheapest and the most common.
  • Corner stand: two sides open, at the end of a row.
  • Head stand: three sides open, at the end of a block of stands.
  • Island stand: open on all four sides, for larger exhibitors who build their own stand.

Shell scheme stands, with walls, carpet and a name board supplied by the organiser, are laid out on a grid of equal modules. Mark on the plan which booths are shell scheme and which are space only, because they are sold and built differently.

Set heights, open fronts and exits for large stands

Venues limit how high and how closed a stand can be, so the hall stays readable and safe. From the technical guidelines Messe Frankfurt published for ACHEMA, and from Koelnmesse:

  • Stands up to 30 m² may be at most 4.00 m high; higher builds need approval, up to 8.00 m depending on the hall (ACHEMA).
  • The front facing the aisles should ideally be 70% open (ACHEMA).
  • A stand up to 100 m² needs one exit at least 0.90 m wide; above 100 m² or 100 people, two exits opposite each other (ACHEMA).
  • No point of a stand more than 20 m from a hall aisle (ACHEMA and Koelnmesse).
  • Walls facing a neighbouring stand must be neutral above 2.5 m, so they do not advertise into the next stand (Koelnmesse).
  • Two-storey stands need at least 2.30 m clear height inside, and the organiser may refuse them (ACHEMA).

Make the plan work for selling

  • Give every booth a code, such as H7-B04, and use the same code on the plan, the contract, the invoice and the badge.
  • Put the draws where visitors must walk past other stands: catering, stages and the largest exhibitors at the back, not by the entrance.
  • Keep one plan that everyone sells from, with each booth marked free, reserved or sold.
  • Publish a visitor version with the exhibitor list, so people can find a stand by name.

Questions organisers ask

How wide should aisles be at a trade show?

Check your venue's technical guidelines and your local regulation. In Bavaria, the assembly-venue regulation requires hall aisles of at least 3 m, with no point of the stand area more than 20 m from an aisle. Every part of an escape route must be at least 1.20 m wide.

What are the types of trade show stands?

Row stands are open on one side, corner stands on two, head stands on three and island stands on all four. More open sides face more visitors and usually cost more per square metre.

How high can a trade show stand be?

It depends on the venue and the hall. At ACHEMA in Frankfurt, stands up to 30 m² may be 4.00 m high, and higher builds up to 8.00 m need the organiser's approval.

Drawing the floor plan in Evemos

Evemos's floor plan editor lets you place, move, resize and rotate stands, give each booth a code and mark it free, reserved, sold or blocked. Your team assigns booths to exhibitors on the same plan, and visitors see it as a public hall map with the exhibitor list. If you have a drawing of your hall as a PDF or CAD file, we draw the plan from it.

See the floor plan page, or book a demo with your hall drawing.

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Sources

Read on 26 October 2026. Rules change and differ by region and venue, so check the current version for your own hall.