AHR Expo booth furniture for 2027 comes down to one date: December 28, 2026. That is the deadline to tell show management you are bringing your own furniture vendor. Miss it and your booth furniture comes from the official contractor’s catalog. AHR Expo 2027 runs January 25 to 27 at McCormick Place, with about 1,900 HVACR exhibitors and roughly 50,000 attendees, according to the show. This guide covers the dates, the outside-vendor process and what AHR Expo booths actually need.
Dates come from the AHR Expo exhibitor manual. Check it for any updates before you lock your schedule.
McCormick Place lets exhibitors use an outside contractor for booth furniture, but only through the show’s Exhibitor Appointed Contractor process. For AHR Expo, the exhibitor files the notification, not the vendor. The steps:
Our McCormick Place EAC guide explains the process in more detail, and it works the same way at most shows in the building.
AHR Expo booths are built around equipment: units, controls, cutaways and live demos. The furniture’s job is to support the conversations around that equipment without competing with it. Three things matter most:
Move-in runs January 21 to 24, and Chicago weather in late January can slow freight. We deliver from our Elk Grove Village warehouse and schedule your booth delivery inside the move-in window, so the furniture is in place before the floor opens on January 25. Tell us your booth’s target move-in time and we plan around it.
Many AHR Expo exhibitors also host customer dinners, distributor meetings and receptions at hotels near McCormick Place. Those events are outside the booth, so the EAC deadline doesn’t apply. Our guide to hospitality suite furniture rental in Chicago covers how to plan them.
Furniture rented for use inside Chicago, including McCormick Place, is subject to the city’s 15% lease tax as of 2026. Our Chicago rental tax guide explains how it works. For full booth packages, see our trade show furniture rental page.
AHR Expo 2027 runs January 25 to 27, 2027, at McCormick Place in Chicago, in the North and South Buildings. Exhibitor move-in is January 21 to 24 and move-out is January 27 to 30.
Exhibitors who plan to use an Exhibitor Appointed Contractor (EAC) must notify show management by December 28, 2026. File one notification for each contractor you plan to use.
Your booth number, your booth layout or a sketch, the furniture list and the name of your on-site contact. We supply our certificates of insurance for liability and workers’ compensation, which the show requires before any contractor goes on the floor.
Yes. If an exhibit house is building your booth and is already registered as your EAC, it can subcontract furniture to us. We work alongside exhibit houses at McCormick Place.
Yes. Rentals used inside Chicago, including at McCormick Place, are subject to the city’s 15% Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax as of 2026.
Modern Event Rental provides event furniture for trade shows, conferences and corporate events across Chicago, from lounges and LED bars to custom branded counters. Tell us about your event and we’ll put together a quote.
