General Contractor Services

Scope on a general contractor services project

Project scope usually spans design, fabrication, graphics, AV, labor coordination, freight, install, show-hours support, and strike.

Typical line items include booth structure (custom or rental), graphics and print, AV and lighting, show-service orders (power, internet, rigging), labor calls against The venue's rules, freight both ways, on-site supervision, and post-show closeout documentation.

a bad one has many, because they weren't.

For programs that repeat, asset management becomes part of the engagement — storage, graphic rotation, refurbishment, and re-crating are planned rather than one-off.

Out of scope by default are show organizer fees, booth lease costs paid directly to the show, staff travel and per diems, and any custom software or data-capture tooling the client runs on its own stack. Those stay on the client side and plug into the project through coordination, not rebilling.

How we scope general Contractor Services in Anaheim

A scoping call runs about 20 minutes. We need the show name, the hall and booth number, the dates, and whatever graphics direction already exists. Within a week you get a line-item quote covering fabrication, freight, I&D labor, AV, storage, and supervision — with The venue's work rules written into the assumptions.

For a 20x20 booth at ACC, expect a fabrication window of four to six weeks after design lock. Graphics print and mount in parallel during the final three weeks. Freight is scheduled two weeks out, tied to the show's published move-in sequence.

Modular Exhibit Systems usually rides on the same quote. We rarely split booth fabrication from logistics or labor because the handoff between them is where budgets bleed — so the whole scope lives under one project number.

What the schedule actually looks like

A typical Anaheim program runs ten weeks. Weeks one and two: design concepts, venue rule review, show manual read. Weeks three through six: engineering, fabrication start, graphics files to press. Weeks seven and eight: AV integration, final fit-up, crate load. Week nine: freight to the Katella dock. Week ten: I&D, show days, strike, empty return.

Move-in at ACC typically opens 48 to 72 hours before doors — earlier for island booths and hanging signs, later for inline setups. Our supervisor badges in with the first truck and stays on the floor through the final tear.

If a change order lands during the show, it comes back through the same lead. No chasing three vendors across two phones.

• Design lock: week 2 of a 10-week window
• Graphics to press: 3 weeks before move-in
• Freight appointment: booked 2 weeks before dock open
• On-site supervisor: one lead across move-in, show, strike
• Strike to outbound: same day, tied to the show's empty-return window

Why Anaheim changes the service scope

Exhibit Halls total 813,607 square feet, and the Arena provides 28,140 square feet of flat-floor space. That density matters for general Contractor Services scope because peak weeks — D23, NAMM, Natural Products Expo West, Global Pet Expo, WonderCon, the Western Veterinary Conference — put every I&D crew, freight carrier, and rigger in the region in play at once.

The Grove of Anaheim has its own service rules. At ACC, electrical orders close 30 days out, rigging labor runs through IATSE 504, and freight is handled by Teamsters Local 952. Resort-hotel ballrooms around Harbor Boulevard work differently — house labor, in-house AV, different electrical pricing. We build the quote against the actual venue, not a template.

The Grove of Anaheim is a useful reference point for how Anaheim venues handle freight, labor, and service ordering at scale.

What the budget usually looks like

For a 20x20 at ACC, the full scope (fabrication, freight, labor, AV, supervision, reusable booth) lands in the mid five figures for most B2B programs. A 20x30 double-sided island with hanging sign moves into the low-to-mid six figures depending on AV and graphics volume.

Roughly: fabrication and graphics 45%, freight and drayage 15%, I&D and supervision 20%, AV 15%, storage and reconciliation 5%. Rentals compress the fabrication line but raise the per-show total if The booth ships more than three times a year.

The written assumptions list — booth size, graphics count, AV scope, freight lanes, labor hours, storage duration — is the thing that keeps the quote from moving mid-project. If any assumption shifts, we re-quote that line only, not the whole scope.

Frequently asked questions