A Space for Your New Business, Expansion of an Existing Business,
Moving your Business to a New Space-
I know many people dream of starting their own
business, being their own boss, I certainly did and have never
wanted to work for anyone else since. You may also have had an
established business for some time but might want to expand into a
neighboring space, open an additional outlet of your business in
another location, or any number of other possibilities that might
require some kind of permit. Most of the calls I get for new
tenant improvement jobs like this come only after the owner may have
spent months trying to get that permit on their own, with perhaps
just some rough plans drawn by a draftsman of some kind, only
to eventually be told by a Building or Health Department that they
really need to consult an architect. By the time they get to
me, they have already lost several months of rent, as well as lost
revenue from their proposed business. This happens all the
time, I hope reading this will get you started in the right
direction, before you waste all that time and money.
Same Questions-
I have had clients ask the same questions over and over during
this time and with the advent of the internet, have been surprised
to find how little comprehensive information is available to people
interested in all the things it takes to get a permit for a new
tenant improvement work. I hope you find the following information
helpful. The process of obtaining a permit can seem daunting but is
still done every day and with a lot of persistence, and good
planning, is still achievable if you put your mind to it.
Hiring an Architect
-
Up until even the recent past (4/07 as of this writing), some
Building Departments were still accepting plans for commercial tenant
improvement projects (mostly in older, existing buildings) prepared by
non-licensed professionals. In my experience, this has been
changing rapidly and most departments now require the plans be prepared
by an architect, no matter the size of the project. Some Health
Departments still don't require this, but if the Building Department
then subsequently does you have already lost time and money, as the
plans have to be the same for both and require concurrent approval.
This has been a common source of confusion for people which I hope is
resolved soon.
Your Landlord-
The first people to check with before embarking on
your tenant improvement plans would be your landlord. They may
have specific requirements for the style, signage, type and other
parts of your project. Sometimes they are trying to maintain
some kind of consistency of the visual aspects, and sometimes they
are also trying to maintain a variety of different kinds of
businesses within the development overall. They may want to
review your plans prior to you submitting to any other authority.
Food Service?-
The first thing to be aware of is that if your proposed business
has any kind of food service involved with it, you will be required
to get a separate permit from the Health Department in conjunction
with any building permit that may be required. Usually, these
applications can be made simultaneously and can run concurrently
with each other, but the building permit will not be issued until
you have the permit from the Health Department. You local
Health Department will typically be a County-Wide office that
will cover all the cities within that county. See the
County Links
Page for your local department.
The Health Department-
So, I will first assume that you will need that
Health Department permit, if not you can just skip down the the
Building Department section. The Health Department will typically
have a very specific list of requirements for the plans you must
submit to them for approval. This list may even be available
online. These may include many of the
same things that the Building Department will require but the two
different departments have different responsibilities.
Below are the main types of plans, notes, and details that you will
typically be required to submit.
Floor Plan/ Equipment Plan &
Schedule-
These two plans may be combined into one plan for
smaller and simpler projects. For larger and more complex
projects, these may need to be two separate plans to keep the
information more clear and the plans less crowded with information.
The
floor plan
will be much like the floor plan for any commercial building, but
will also include the seating layout (tables, chairs, booths, etc.)
For a tenant improvement of just one space in a larger building, you
will usually just need to show a plan for your particular space, and
maybe just a little bit of each of the adjacent spaces.
It may also include the information contained in the
equipment plan. For each piece of equipment in the plan
and equipment schedule, you will need to provide, in a separate 8-1/2x11 package, specifications of each piece of equipment.
All of this equipment will need to be
NSF and/or
FDA approved.
This approval will normally be shown on the specification sheets
provided by the manufacturer. These specification sheets are
also often called "cut sheets".
Finish Schedule-
This will usually be another copy of the floor
plan which may just show the walls, windows, doors, etc. and then
indicate in some way the different rooms, often with some kind of
pattern giving some indication of the intended floor covering.
Then, the Finish
Schedule, will be either on the same page or it will indicate
somewhere on the page where the schedule is.
Hoods-
For any food service equipment that is gas-fired,
or produces a significant amount of heat (like an electric oven),
you will typically be required to install a custom stainless steel
hood, exhaust system, and fire-suppression system. These have
become quite complex and involved and should really be designed and
constructed by a qualified specialist. Normally, the plans and
specifications for these will be provided as part of your purchase
of the system. But these are one of the items most scrutinized
by the Health Department.
