PBCCC in West Palm Beach: rigging, effects and exhibition setup

What must be defined before ordering points and hoists?

Prepare a plan showing position, rigging weight, attachments to the object and heights from the floor to its bottom and top edges. The form separates shipping weight from suspended weight: do not use shipping weight as the design load.

Order aerial rigging through PBCCC; its personnel must install, remove and supervise it. For a flown display, add OVERHEAD POWER in the portal; truss and hoists need a quotation and availability confirmation. Match both orders to the same plan before releasing installation.

Policies & Procedures, page 8, requires rigging orders 14 days before event start and does not accommodate onsite orders. The rigging form counts 14 days from first move-in and allows a 50% onsite surcharge only if service is available. That surcharge is not an acceptance guarantee: confirm the deadline in writing and keep the completed order within the advance period.

Can I hire another sound, video and lighting supplier?

Encore is the preferred AV supplier; the website permits another AV provider. This does not authorize work on exclusive building services, including electrical, telecommunications and aerial rigging. Separate connection and suspension work in the budget.

The rigging form specifies two riggers plus a lead and an eight-hour minimum for load-in and load-out; the Facility Guide also lists three people and eight hours for installation and dismantling. Obtain a breakdown of each call: do not assume eight hours per person or phase without checking the quotation.

What must be approved before occupying the room?

The Facility Guide requires Event Services review and Fire Marshal approval of the plan before selling tickets or booths; the insurance certificate is due 45 days before initial occupancy. Check additional insured names against the contract: the text and sample certificate use different names.

Obtain the point plan and WLLs, concentrated floor-load limits and freight route. For effects, follow the restrictions and document differences detailed in this guide: a generic pending authorization does not permit fog, haze or pyrotechnics. If weight, position or height changes, hold the revised installation and submit it; retain the approved configuration only if it remains valid.

Can fog or haze be used to reveal lighting beams?

Do not add it to the show on the assumption that water-based fluid is sufficient. Facility Guide, printed page 13, prohibits fog machines and smoke effects in the facility. Policies & Procedures, revised March 2026, sets a different condition for water-based fog/smoke on page 7 and specifically prohibits smoke/haze in booths on page 12.

Identify the room, booth or general session, machine, fluid, SDS, position and rehearsal/emission schedule. Ask the Event Manager for a written venue/authority determination of the exact scope and document discrepancy. The product name haze, equipment registration or water-based fluid does not create an exception. Until resolved, prepare lighting without atmospheric emission and do not alter detection or alarms.

When is the plan submitted, and who sends it to the Fire Marshal?

Facility Guide, printed page 30, requires exhibition plans to Event Services before selling exhibit space or 180 days before first move-in, whichever is earlier. Obtain the applicable schedule when contracting; the 30- and 14-day rigging deadlines do not replace this overall floor-plan milestone.

Include event name/date, contracted area, official service contractor, drawing and revision dates, labeled exits, aisle widths, lobbies and public access. The guide requests three copies of at least 8½ × 11 in; confirm current format and delivery channel. Event Services reviews the plan and forwards it to the City of West Palm Beach Fire Marshal; direct production submission is not the stated route.

The same page estimates 3 to 4 weeks of review and publishes USD 130 per review, added to the final invoice. These are guide references, not a quotation or guaranteed approval time. Discuss every approved-plan change with the Event Manager and resubmit it: retain revision, date and acceptance for each submission before moving FOH, drape or LED supports.

Does 24-hour power include connection, rehearsal and every voltage?

Do not confuse service continuity with installation scope. The Exhibitor Services website offers continuous 24-hour power during the event; Policies & Procedures, pages 3–4, limits the rate to service delivery/placement and allows relocation or special-work charges. Confirm what the order includes and where delivery ends; the commercial statement about included labor does not resolve those conditions by itself.

Facility Guide, printed page 4, advertises 120–480 V single- and three-phase services without assigning every combination to every room. Submit voltage, phases, current, connector, delivery point and test/show hours. Policies & Procedures, page 4, reserves floor pockets and connections to PBCCC electricians, IT technicians and engineers; do not access a floor pocket to check it yourself.

Under the policies, service starts and ends with event dates unless early connection or late disconnection is arranged. Obtain confirmation for load-in and rehearsal; a 24-hour order does not establish power during earlier access. If the confirmed delivery point is unsuitable, hold equipment connection and have the order corrected before proceeding.

Does open loading dock mean I can unload without coordination?

No. Facility Guide, printed pages 23–24, allows certain exhibitor tasks while retaining contracted-decorator conditions and PBCCC work. Policies & Procedures, pages 8 and 10–11, requires the organizer to be present and approved, the assigned dock and event identification; wheeled freight goes through the dock. Lobby access is limited to hand-carried items with advance approval.

Confirm bay, vehicle, time slot and personnel before dispatch. The guide allows up to 30 minutes for POV unloading; the policies state 15 minutes per vehicle at docks and 20 minutes on the ramp. Do not adopt the longest as a universal allowance: obtain the assigned-bay instruction and clear it after unloading. Dock control and freight-elevator operation have their own scheduling and costs.

PBCCC does not provide freight receiving. Assign someone to receive and sign for each delivery. The up-to-three-days-early reference for meeting rooms or ballrooms on printed page 14 does not extend contracted dates: page 13 requires early-delivery approval. If receiver, access or period is unconfirmed, reschedule delivery rather than sending it to the lobby or leaving it unattended.

Is the freight elevator’s 20000 lb rating the ballroom floor capacity?

No. Facility Guide, printed page 4, lists a 20000 lb freight elevator; it does not establish floor, wheel, ramp or LED-support capacity. For access to the meeting-room/ballroom level, page 23 requires a venue operator, badge access and a minimum six-hour labor call. Confirm car, door, total load and distribution before choosing carts or lift equipment.

Submit display, structure, base, ballast and accessory weights, support/wheel reactions, contact areas and the complete route. Specific floor and point limits are still needed to validate an installation; do not substitute the elevator rating. Policies & Procedures, page 10, excludes freight from passenger elevators and escalators.

Facility Guide, printed page 34, prohibits motorized equipment on carpet and crates requiring forklifts in those areas; it describes pallet-jack and rubber-wheeled-cart transport within the accepted scope. Surface protection does not authorize other equipment or increase structural capacity. If route or handling method does not comply, revise packing and transport before move-in.

Is a booth roof or overhead LED accepted just because it is under 300 ft²?

No. Policies & Procedures, page 12, requires approval for booth roofs, ceilings or other obstructions. For accepted covered configurations it refers to smoke detection above 120 ft² and a maximum aggregate 300 ft² of canopies with 10 ft separation between those groups; the same page lists free-standing structures with ceilings as prohibited booth items.

Submit the exact structure type, plans/sections, height, coverage, materials, access, detection and structural reactions. Have the applicable provision determined before designing an LED ceiling or roofed structure. Area thresholds are not automatic exceptions or rigging approval. Without acceptance, retain the booth without that roof and keep the authorized plan revision.