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CPHI Milan Stand Builder

Pharmaceutical Exhibition Stands Designed and Built at Fiera Milano

CPHI is where the pharmaceutical supply chain meets, and Fiera Milano is one of its largest editions. Building there is not like building at a regional trade fair. The organiser, Informa Markets, sets contractor requirements that are checked before you arrive, and the venue adds its own. A CPHI Milan stand builder who has worked the show knows those requirements as deadlines, not paperwork.

Echo Expo has built at CPHI Milan and at Fiera Milano across several editions. This page sets out what the show actually asks of exhibitors and contractors, what catches pharmaceutical exhibitors out in particular, and what we have delivered there.

What Building at CPHI Milan Actually Involves

Four requirements shape the timeline more than anything else. Each one has a date attached, and each one sits well before the show opens.

Your Build Crew Has To Be Trained And Registered

For CPHI Milan 2026, the supervisor responsible for build-up and dismantling had to complete a mandatory Informa course covering health and safety and Better Stands before Informa would grant permission to build. The course runs 30 minutes across two modules, is available in five languages, and covers up to five people per contractor. Completed contractors also appear in the CPHI Contractors’ Directory, where exhibitors can find them.

Requirements and deadlines change between editions, so confirm the current position in your Exhibitor Manual rather than assuming last year’s rules.

Better Stands Compliance Is Checked From The Plan Stage

Informa monitors Better Stands compliance “throughout the event cycle from stand plan submission through to on-site review and verification”. A stand designed as single-use does not fail on the show floor — it fails at the drawing. We explain how the four tiers and ten judged elements work on our Better Stands contractor page.

Complex Structures Need Thirty Days Notice

Informa requires full details of complex structures at least 30 days before the event opens. “Complex” covers most things worth building: structures over 4 m in height, multi-level stands, viewing platforms, suspended lighting and signage, raised walkways, ramps, lighting towers, and any platform or stage over 0.6 m. Informa does not permit double-decker stands, or stands over 4 m, without explicit written permission.

For a show opening on 6 October 2026, that submission date falls on 6 September 2026.

Freight Runs Through One Official Provider On Fixed Deadlines

DSV is the official logistics provider for CPHI Milan 2026, and DSV consigns all freight to Expotrans at the Rho fairground. The deadlines are real: shipments arriving late incur a 30% surcharge on all handling rates, and DSV states plainly that it cannot guarantee late freight will reach the hall before the show opens.

Sea LCL — documentation 26 August 2026, arrival 2 September 2026
Sea FCL via Genoa or La Spezia — documentation 7 September, arrival 14 September 2026
Air freight via Milan Malpensa — documentation 14 September, arrival 21 September 2026
Road via warehouse, non-EU — documentation 15 September, arrival 23 September 2026
Road via warehouse, EU — arrival 28 September 2026
Early Access unloading must be paid in full by 15 September 2026 or the booking is cancelled automatically
All stand fitting and excess waste must be off site by 18:00 on 5 October 2026

Vehicles delivering direct to site pay a traffic fee per access, scaled by vehicle size — from a 13.6 m trailer down to vehicles under 7.5 tonnes. Early Access on 30 September or 1 October costs a fee per exhibitor and requires mandatory forklift handling, which DSV bills separately. Building a stand that assembles inside the standard window avoids all of it.

Our CPHI Milan Builds

141 Sqm Across Three Stands In One Edition

Three separate clients, three stands, one CPHI Milan edition — and we built all three inside the standard build window. Running three builds in parallel at the same show is a scheduling problem more than a construction one, and it is the clearest test of whether a contractor has the crew and the logistics to work at this scale. Read the CPHI Milan case study.

Sudeep Pharma — A Repeat Client Across Editions

Repeat business is the honest measure of a stand builder. Sudeep Pharma has worked with us across CPHI and other shows. See the Sudeep Pharma case study, and the wider work we have delivered at Fiera Milano.

Pharma-Specific Traps At CPHI Milan

CPHI is a pharmaceutical show, and Italian customs treats pharmaceutical goods differently from general exhibition freight. These are the issues that surprise first-time exhibitors, and they are worth raising months before the show.

Italian customs and health authorities restrict pharmaceutical and medical products, including hand sanitisers and masks, so clear them with the freight forwarder before shipping
The same restricted list also covers cosmetics, medicines, plants and live animals
Any business importing into the EU needs its own EORI number; the freight forwarder cannot use theirs on your behalf
Commercial invoices must show a real price per item, because customs rejects a declared value of zero
Temporary items and permanent items each need their own invoice
Raw wood packing cases from outside the EU must carry an ISPM15 mark or they may be fumigated, destroyed or re-exported at your cost
Re-export after the show takes 2 to 3 days for EU goods and 6 to 10 days for goods under customs bond
Food samples must enter the EU at Milan airport and carry health or phytosanitary certification

Stand Sharing At CPHI Milan

CPHI restricts who may share a stand and how many may share it. For the 2026 edition the rules were:

CPHI permits sharing only with sister companies, subsidiaries or global distributors
One sharer per 12 sqm purchased, to a maximum of five even on stands larger than 60 sqm
You submit evidence of the company relationship alongside the application
Exhibitors inside a pavilion also need pavilion organiser approval
The organiser responds within 20 days, and an invoice confirms approval

Stand sharing changes the design brief, because each sharer needs identifiable presence within one footprint. It is worth settling before the layout is drawn, not after.

Stand Parties At CPHI Milan

For CPHI Milan 2026, CPHI permitted stand parties only between 17:00 and 20:00 on Wednesday 7 October, and not at all on the Tuesday or Thursday. Fees applied per stand and rose after the early deadline, and stand security became mandatory at Fiera Milano for exhibitors hosting a party. Live acoustic music required organiser permission, with a maximum of 70 dB(A) measured 2.5 m around the stand. Holding an unauthorised party carried a substantial penalty.

One design consequence is easy to miss: maximum occupancy is one guest per free square metre at any one time. A stand packed with built-in furniture reduces the number of people you may legally host on it. If you plan to entertain clients on the stand, tell your designer at concept stage.

What We Deliver At Fiera Milano

Concept design and 3D visualisation, stating the reuse specification element by element
Workshop fabrication, numbered and dry-assembled before shipping
Graphics, branding, furniture, lighting, AV and LED
Freight, customs documentation and coordination with the official logistics provider
Installation and dismantling inside the published build and breakdown windows
Stand plans, risk assessments and method statements, ready for organiser submission
Storage between shows so the same structure returns to the next edition

Frequently Asked Questions

How Early Should We Start?

For CPHI Milan, six months is comfortable and three months is tight. The binding constraints are the complex structure submission 30 days before opening, the contractor training deadline, and sea freight documentation, which for the 2026 edition closed in late August for LCL. As a result, design changes after those dates get expensive quickly.

We Are Exhibiting At CPHI For The First Time. Can You Handle The Paperwork?

Yes. We prepare stand plans, risk assessments and method statements as part of the build, and we coordinate freight documentation with the official provider. What we cannot do is submit on your behalf where the organiser requires the exhibitor of record to do so — we will tell you clearly which items those are.

Do You Handle Freight And Customs?

Yes, including customs documentation for non-EU shipments. More detail is on our exhibition freight and logistics page.

Can The Same Stand Come Back To The Next CPHI?

That is how we prefer to build. The frame, flooring, lighting and cabinetry travel, and we store them between shows, while graphics and layout change. Moreover, it puts you on the right side of the Better Stands programme.

Which Halls Do You Work In?

All of them. Fiera Milano at Rho is one of the largest exhibition complexes in Europe, and hall-specific rules on rigging, floor loading and access vary. We check the rules for your allocated hall rather than assuming the venue is uniform. See Fiera Milano for venue information.

Talk To Us About Your CPHI Milan Stand

Tell us your hall and stand number, the square metres, and whether you are space only or shell scheme. We will come back with a concept, a build programme mapped to the official timeline, and a specification that states what is reused. We also build across Italy and the wider international circuit.

CPHI Milan 2026: the space-only rules that shape a stand design

These are the organiser’s requirements for space-only stands at CPHI Milan 2026, summarised from the official Space Only Stands Contractors Guide. They sit alongside the Fiera Milano technical regulations, and where the two differ, the stricter rule applies. Always check the current exhibitor manual before finalising a design.

Height, rigging and the mandatory 50 cm gap

4 m is the maximum height for any single-storey build, measured from the hall floor to the highest ground-based element.
Double-deck and two-storey stands are not permitted under any circumstances.
Rigging may reach 6 m, measured to the top of the truss including anything projecting above it. Truss heights are checked on site by laser measure.
Where rigging sits above the ground-based build, a clear gap of at least 50 cm between the walling and the suspended element is mandatory. A continuous floor-to-rigging effect is refused.
A rigged banner may line up to the gangway edge, but needs a 1 m gap where it meets a neighbour’s boundary.
Rigging is available to space-only stands only, must be included in the approved design before it can be ordered, and is carried out by the venue.

Walling

Up to 75% of an open side to an aisle may be closed with solid walling.
Anything over 1.10 m high counts as solid — including floral and decorative elements.
A dividing wall to a neighbouring stand is minimum 2.5 m and maximum 4 m high.
Backs of walls above 2.5 m that overlook a neighbour must be finished plain white, with no branding.
Walls facing gangways or adjacent stands must carry graphics and may not be left plain.
Every space-only stand must provide its own back and side walls. Venue walls and a neighbour’s walls may not be used.
Next to a shell scheme, deduct 55 mm from the overall measurements and attach nothing to it.

Ceilings must be more than half open

Totally enclosed ceilings are prohibited for fire safety. More than 50% of the total stand area must remain open. Mesh fabric must have a minimum 2×2 mm mesh and be well stretched. Solid materials such as wood or metal need openings for fume extraction totalling 1/100 of the covered area.

Floor and platform

Space-only stands are not carpeted — the floor covering is the exhibitor’s responsibility.
A raised platform for cable management should not exceed 100 mm and must include a ramp for disabled access.
All corners of raised flooring must be rounded off or protected.
Only venue-approved carpet tape, removed without a trace afterwards.
If a service duct runs under the stand, it must remain accessible through a hatch.

Fire and escape routes

One fire extinguisher per 50 m² or part thereof, visible, accessible and signposted.
Stands over 150 m² need two emergency exits on opposite sides.
Each emergency exit is a minimum 1.20 m wide by 2.10 m high.
An escape route may run a maximum of 15 m before reaching an open area; beyond that it needs 2 m minimum width or a second route to the opposite side.
Doors must open towards the aisle without encroaching on it.
Exit signs must stay visible in a blackout. Photoluminescent signs only work where there is enough ambient light to charge them; enclosed or darkened areas need illuminated signs.
Fabrics and decorative materials must be fire resistant or treated. Board under 18 mm thick must be treated.

What makes a stand “complex”

A stand is classed as complex — and needs engineer-stamped structural calculations before it can be approved — if it has any of the following:

a wooden structure with a vertical or horizontal clear span over 4 m
a metal structure with a vertical clear span over 4 m, or a horizontal clear span over 8 m
a ceiling over 4 m in width or height
a public-access platform higher than 30 cm

Complex stands additionally submit floor load per m², connection and base-plate details, the rigging point layout with weights, platform load calculations, horizontal impact strength of walling and handrails of at least 1 kN per metre, and an evacuation and fire detection plan for any structure over 100 m².

Three declarations, or the stand does not open

Whatever the stand type, three documents must be handed to Fiera Milano customer services on site:

Declaration of Correct Assembly
Declaration of Correct Installation of Materials Classified for Fire Reaction Purposes
Declaration of Conformity of Electrical Systems (D.M. 37/08 + CCIAA)

Complex stands add a static testing certification. A stand that has not submitted these is not permitted to open to visitors on opening morning. The electrical declaration is an Italian legal instrument and requires an installer registered with the Chamber of Commerce — worth confirming with your contractor long before build week.

Bronze is now the minimum, not an aspiration

Every space-only stand at CPHI Milan 2026 must reach at least Bronze under the Better Stands programme. Bronze requires the structure and walls, the platform, the furniture and the lighting to be reused rather than thrown away. Miss one element and the whole stand is classified single use.

The consequence is commercial, not symbolic: a space-only stand between 40 m² and 60 m² that does not reach Bronze loses the right to a space-only stand the following year, and the exhibitor must either take a modular package from the organiser or work with one of the organiser’s preferred suppliers.

Two practical consequences for the way a stand is built:

Pre-fabrication is now a rule, not a preference. The structure must arrive ready to assemble. Cutting panels to size on site, or building core elements from scratch in the hall, fails the standard.
Never print this year’s stand number into a graphic. It makes the panel impossible to reuse. Stand numbers are bought through the exhibitor manual and installed by the venue anyway.

The day before opening is not a build day

The Monday before the show is a stand dressing day, and no construction is permitted. Prohibited: power tools, saws and drills, sanding, filling, painting of any kind including touch-ups, spray adhesives or anything creating fumes or mess, and stand construction including modular builds.

Permitted: wall-mounting a TV, plants and floral, placing product into showcases, hanging graphics with approved fixings, setting up machinery or AV, demonstration testing, furniture installation and cleaning.

Cutting is prohibited in the 48 hours before the show opens. All construction, and the removal of every offcut, crate and empty from the halls and loading bays, must be finished by the Sunday night.

On site

Hard hat, hi-vis and safety boots for everyone entering the halls during build-up and breakdown. Trainers, sandals, heels and open-toed shoes are refused.
All personnel and all vehicles must be registered through the venue system before arrival.
Only water-based paint. Paint spraying equipment is prohibited, as are toxic putties and cellulose fillers.
No privately hired forklifts or cranes — lifting is handled by the official freight forwarder only.
No balloons, no haze or fog machines, no gas cylinders in the halls. Cooking, where authorised, must be electric and hooded.
Nothing may be drilled into the venue floor, and stands must be self-supporting.
Two waste orders — one for build-up, one for dismantling — must be placed and evidenced before permission to build is granted.

How the deadlines run

The planning calendar matters more at CPHI than at most shows, because several of the deadlines are hard stops rather than price steps.

Early summer: the exhibitor nominates the contractor, and the stand design, method statement and risk assessment are submitted for approval.
Mid-September: the final deadline for rigging and electrical orders. After it, new or additional rigging cannot be arranged at all.
Late September: furniture, catering, internet and audio-visual orders close.
Build-up runs across the preceding weekend, followed by the dressing day, three show days, and dismantling.

Permission to build is issued only once the design is approved, the waste orders are evidenced, the contractor training is complete and valid liability insurance is on file. Designs cannot be prefabricated before that permission arrives.

Get a Quote for Your CPHI Milan Stand

Send us your hall and stand number, the square metres, and whether you are space only or shell scheme. We will come back with a concept, a build programme mapped to the official timeline, and a specification that states what is reused.

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