Nearly every stand builder in Tehran says Grade A on its website. We hold Grade A ourselves and say so. Yet in first meetings, especially with foreign exhibitors, we often find the label means little to the client. Some assume it guarantees good design. Others don’t know why the organiser asks about it at all.
Here is what the grade does in practice, what it doesn’t show, and what to ask alongside it.
Where the grade comes from
Companies that build stands at the Tehran International Fairground are listed as approved stand contractors and given a rating, with A as the highest. For the grading criteria and the current list, ask the venue operator directly, because both are reviewed from time to time.
The part that affects you is the paperwork. When you book raw space and build a custom stand, you have to name your contractor to the organiser in writing. The contractor then usually submits a signed undertaking, a copy of its grade certificate, a perspective drawing showing materials and heights, a dimensioned plan and civil liability insurance, and a supervising engineer signs them off. The exact list for each fair is in that fair’s technical manual.
What the grade does tell you
- Permits and drawing approvals tend to go smoothly, because the builder knows the process and what the supervising engineer looks at.
- If something goes wrong in the hall, the organiser is dealing with a registered company with a history, not an unknown subcontractor.
- For larger or more complex structures, organisers are generally more comfortable with a higher-graded builder. Which structures need which grade is set in the current regulations, so check them for your fair.
What it doesn’t tell you
A grade says nothing about design taste, paint finish or whether the stand is handed over on time. Two builders with the same grade can work very differently. One has its own workshop and machines, another passes everything to subcontractors. One keeps the same site manager in the hall through build-up, another doesn’t.
You see those differences in finished stands, not in certificates. That is why we usually suggest that clients, if they have the chance, come and look at one of our stands at a fair.
The grade belongs to the company, not to each project. If a builder passes your job to another firm, the grade you saw on the contract does little for your stand. Put in writing that the company itself builds and installs it.
Five questions for the first meeting
- Where is the stand built? A builder with its own workshop controls its own schedule. We cut and machine parts on CNC in our workshop, so we know when each piece will be ready.
- Have you built a stand of this size in this hall? Ask for photos and the fair name. A 12 m² inline stand and a 200 m² island are different jobs.
- Who will be in the hall during build-up? Get the site manager’s name and number. The person who sold you the design isn’t always the one in the hall at 2 a.m. before opening.
- What exactly is in the price? Freight, graphics, lighting, flooring, stand electrics, dismantling and handing back the space. Anything not in the contract becomes an argument later.
- What happens if design sign-off is late? A good builder tells you up front. The honest answer is usually that some details will have to be simplified.
Warning signs
None of these alone rules a builder out, but if several turn up together, ask more questions.
- A price well below the others with no clear explanation of where the saving comes from.
- A contract without drawings and a materials list attached.
- A vague answer about who actually builds the stand. “Our partners” is not an answer.
- No questions about the organiser’s paperwork, insurance or drawing approval.
Where we fit
We have been building exhibition stands for about ten years: more than 300 stands at over 100 fairs, over 30,000 m² in total. We have offices in Tehran and İzmir and our own cutting workshop. For us, Grade A is the starting point, not the reason to hire us.
If you are choosing a builder for your next fair, start with the stands on our projects page. Foreign exhibitors can read how we work with them on our Tehran trade fair services page. Then ask us the same five questions.
