An honest breakdown of how custom exhibit projects actually get built in Las Vegas — the four types of builders, real cost ranges by booth size, lead times, the drayage math, and the six questions that separate a fabricator from a middleman.
The strongest Las Vegas booth builders share three traits: a fabrication shop inside Clark County, an in-house install crew, and a line-item quote. Everything else — awards, client logos, portfolio size — is downstream of those three. Nova Exhibit Group builds every project in its own Las Vegas shop at 2875 N. Lamb Blvd, about 12 miles from the Las Vegas Convention Center, and installs with its own crew at LVCC, Mandalay Bay, Venetian Expo, Caesars Forum, and Resorts World.
The Landscape
Most exhibitors compare quotes without realizing they're comparing different business models. Here's what each one is actually good at.
Evaluation Criteria
Ask for the shop address and whether you can walk it. Builders without local production subcontract the build, add a 15–30% broker markup, and ship the booth in from out of state — which means you also pay inbound freight and lose the ability to fix anything on show week.
Custom wood exhibits live or die on finish quality. When the fabricators are also the install crew, damage on the floor gets touched up in hours instead of being written off as 'show wear.'
LVCC West Hall, Mandalay Bay, Venetian Expo, Caesars Forum, and Resorts World each have different dock scheduling, freight elevator limits, rigging rules, and union jurisdictions. A real builder can tell you the ceiling height and hanging-sign rules for your hall before quoting.
Design, fabrication, graphics, drayage, install/dismantle, and storage should each appear separately. Lump-sum quotes are where markups hide and where 'unexpected' show-site charges come from.
Confirm in writing that you own the drawings and the physical properties. Some builders retain the design files so you can't take the booth anywhere else next year.
Ask what happens if you need a structural change 10 days out. Local shops can re-cut and re-finish; out-of-state builders can only tell you it's too late.
Fabrication only. Drayage, electrical, rigging, and labor are billed by the venue's general contractor and quoted separately.
| Booth size | Typical range | What's usually included |
|---|---|---|
| 10x10 inline | $8,000 – $20,000 | Custom wood backwall, counter, lighting, graphics. |
| 10x20 inline | $18,000 – $45,000 | Storage closet, demo stations, hanging elements where allowed. |
| 20x20 island | $45,000 – $120,000 | 360° design, hanging sign, meeting space, LED integration. |
| 30x30+ island | $120,000 – $500,000 | Double-deck options, structural engineering, full millwork program. |
Walk our shop, see the line items, and keep your CAD files. Read more about our Las Vegas fabrication process, browse show-specific playbooks or venue logistics guides.
