Who exhibits and buys at the International Builders' Show
The National Association of Home Builders owns, produces, and manages IBS. Its site counts 78,000 building professionals from more than 27,000 organizations and more than 1,700 exhibitors, and the 2027 prospectus says 89 percent of attendees make or influence purchasing decisions. By NAHB's breakdown, builders are 39 percent of the audience, dealers and distributors 18 percent, and remodelers 9 percent, with architects, designers, subcontractors, and other specialists making up much of the rest.
The show is open to anyone working in residential or light construction and closed to the general public. Children under 18 need an adult and a badge during show hours, and no one under 18 is allowed on the exhibit floor during setup or teardown.
IBS 2027, KBIS, and a permanent home in Las Vegas
IBS 2027 runs Tuesday, February 2 through Thursday, February 4 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, with exhibits open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. The 2026 show was in Orlando, but NAHB's September 2026 announcement says the show returns to Las Vegas to make its permanent home, and its future-dates page lists the LVCC for February 2028, 2029, and 2030 as well.
IBS shares the week with the National Kitchen & Bath Association's Kitchen & Bath Industry Show. Together they run as Design & Construction Week, now in its 14th year, with more than 2,350 exhibiting brands on more than 1.2 million net square feet, and a registration for either show opens the exhibits of both. A buyer may walk over from a kitchen and bath booth, so make it plain from the aisle who your products are for.
IBS halls, product zones, and the Silver Lot
NAHB arranges the 2027 floor by product category, so your category largely decides your hall, and your hall decides your height limit:
- Central Hall: building materials and the New Product Zone
- West Hall, Level 1: interior finishings and home living, business management and professional services, and the Craft Techniques Zone
- South Hall, Level 2: construction tools, systems, equipment, and safety; outdoor living, leisure, and modular structures; global products; more building materials; and the Construction Performance and Jobsite Safety zones
- Silver Lot: outdoor exhibits, including the Start-Up Zone, ProBuilder Show Village, and IBS Oasis
- Off-site: The New American Home 2027, the program's 44th show home, built by Blue Heron in the Southern Highlands community of Henderson, along with The New American Remodel
IBS height limits by hall, and who can hang a sign
IBS sets height by location, not booth type. From NAHB's 2027 height and sign rules and its rules and policies page:
- Central Hall: 25 feet for most booths, with a lower, variable limit for some spaces near columns shown in the Exhibitor Portal; the Central floor plans also mark low-ceiling zones of 8 feet 8 inches and 10 feet 6 inches
- South Hall: 20 feet for every booth; West Hall: 25 feet for every booth
- Booths may use their full cubic content up to the limit, but the back of any rear wall above 8 feet, or side wall above 3 feet, must be finished with no names or logos
- Peninsulas next to inline booths keep to 8 feet within 5 feet of each aisle so the neighbors stay visible
- Hard back walls sit at least 9 inches inside the rear booth line for electrical access, so a 10-foot-deep booth is built 9 feet 3 inches deep
- Hanging signs are only for island and peninsula booths of 400 square feet or more as a single booth, a subsidiary can't qualify on its parent company's footage, and nothing hung may have its lowest point between 4 and 9 feet off the floor
- Peninsula signs keep 10 feet from the shared back wall, and ground-supported signs over 8 feet that face a neighbor keep 2 feet from the common wall
Freeman rigging and multi-level booths at IBS
Freeman, the official service contractor, assembles, installs, and removes everything hung overhead at IBS. A sign with electrical or weighing more than 200 pounds needs a chain hoist and a rigging plan in .DWG format three weeks before move-in, and custom suspended elements need a stamp from a U.S.-licensed engineer. Banners, truss, and lighting attach only at approved ceiling points.
A double-deck also follows the convention center's own rules, which NAHB links for exhibitors. Plans go to the LVCC's Safety and Fire Prevention Office at least 30 days before the first move-in day, any occupied upper deck needs plans stamped by an engineer registered in Nevada, a deck over 300 square feet or holding more than nine people needs two exits, and spiral stairs aren't allowed. Single-level booths over 1,000 square feet submit CAD plans too. The IBS contract asks for multi-level plans 60 days before the show, so treat that earlier date as the real deadline.
Designing an IBS booth around materials, mockups, and demos
Builders and remodelers judge a product by how it goes together. Wall sections, roof and window cutaways, and assemblies at full scale do more selling than a big screen, and a dealer counter stocked with samples and spec sheets gives distributors a place to talk programs. Put heavy mockups where the floor and the foot traffic can take them, and build cabinets into the counters for brochures and samples.
The 2027 rules set limits on live content. Sound can't exceed 80 decibels, speakers face into the booth, and a stage needs room for its audience off the aisle. Generators, smoke and fog machines, drones, popcorn and peanuts, small balloons, and live animals other than service animals are prohibited. Food samples need an approved form and stay at 2 ounces of food or 3 ounces of a non-alcoholic drink, cooking surfaces are generally limited to 288 square inches, fryers must be electric, and alcohol is poured by the venue's bartenders. Orders can be written on the floor, but nothing sold is delivered at the show.
Fireplaces, vehicles, and outdoor builds at IBS
Products that burn, from fireplaces to fire pits and grills, need a Clark County temporary operational fire permit and the LVCC's fireplace and fire pit form, with at least a 5-pound 3A:40BC extinguisher in the booth. Vehicles inside the halls get no more than a quarter tank or 5 gallons of fuel, whichever is less, a disconnected battery cable, no charging indoors, 36 inches of clearance, and at least 20 feet to an exit.
The Silver Lot brings its own requirements. Any temporary outdoor structure with a footprint over 2,500 square feet needs a Clark County fire permit, a multi-level structure outside needs drawings from a Nevada design professional and a third-party inspection, and one area of the lot is marked no-staking with a 250-pound-per-square-foot load limit. Outdoor space is sold in 400-square-foot minimums, and February wind argues for weighted bases and graphics that can take a gust.
IBS move-in, Freeman freight, and labor
Move-in runs Wednesday, January 27 through Monday, February 1, 2027, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, with deliveries targeted by booth: 20-by-20 booths on Saturday, January 30, and every inline booth on Monday morning. Empty containers must leave the hall by noon Monday, and each exhibit must be completely set by 5 p.m. that day with its crates emptied and labeled. Booths stay staffed and intact until the 5 p.m. close on Thursday, dismantling early costs priority points, and move-out runs until noon on Sunday, February 7.
Freeman's advance warehouse at 6675 W Sunset Road takes freight from December 28, 2026, with an after-deadline charge for anything arriving after January 20, and trucks check in at the marshaling yard at 6555 W Serene Avenue before heading to the docks. Exhibitors can set up with their own full-time employees carrying company ID, while electrical distribution, rigging, and freight handling stay with official contractors. An outside builder needs approval as an exhibitor-appointed contractor, with a written request, insurance, and permits; NAHB's deadline sheet says January 15, 2027, but its contract says January 2, so file by the earlier date.
An IBS 2027 planning timeline from October
As general guidance, built on NAHB's 2027 deadline sheet and Freeman's dates. The guide to what a custom booth costs helps set the budget, the Las Vegas trade show calendar tracks February alongside the rest of the year, and our trade show checklist covers the smaller tasks:
- October 2026: confirm your hall and its height limit, brief your builder, and send the show guide listing by October 23
- November: concept and 3D design, with product mockups, sign rigging, and any fire-burning displays drawn in
- Early December: multi-level plans to NAHB and the LVCC, then badge requests by December 11 and Freeman's discount deadline on December 30
- January 2027: catering orders by January 4, contractor paperwork by January 2 to be safe, and freight at the warehouse by January 20
- January 27 to February 1: targeted move-in, with the booth set by 5 p.m. on February 1