A fit-out has two clients whether anyone says so or not. Your plans and the landlord specification both have to be satisfied, and the boundary between them is far cheaper to settle before the work than during it.
Your tenant fit out plan and the landlord specification
Most disputes on a fit-out are not about workmanship. They are about who was responsible for what, discovered halfway through. The specification usually sets out how the supply is taken, what metering is required, and what may not be altered, and it is worth reading before quoting rather than after. Commercial electrical covers how we approach site work generally.
The boundary matters most at the distribution. Where the landlord supply ends and your installation begins decides who pays for what, who holds the certificate, and who is responsible when something fails. Permits and certificates covers the document side of that.
Metering is the other early item. If the landlord recovers energy costs, the arrangement has to be designed in rather than added, which is the same point made in property management electrical from the owner side.
Fresh install
How it runs
A tenant fit out in Buffalo, four steps
Read the specification
Before quoting, not after. It sets how the supply is taken, what metering is required and what may not be altered.
Agree the boundary
Where landlord work ends and yours begins, in writing. This is what most fit-out disputes turn out to be about.
Fix the fixed positions
Floor boxes, feature lighting and anything in a slab. Expensive to move once the space is finished.
Build reversibly
Alterations kept recoverable and documented, so reinstatement at the end of the lease is a task rather than a shock.
The end of the lease
Tenant fit out reinstatement costs less designed in
Many leases require the space to be returned to its original condition, and that clause is read carefully at the end of a term even where nobody mentioned it at the start.
The other thing worth doing early is deciding the fixed positions. Floor boxes, feature lighting and anything in a slab are expensive to move once the space is finished, and outlet and switch installation makes the same point about deciding placement before it is built rather than after.
Where the fit-out is a food space rather than an office, the equipment schedule dominates everything else, and restaurant electrical covers what that changes. For an operating retail unit, retail electrical covers working around trading.
That boundary is set by the landlord specification and it should be agreed in writing before work starts. Most fit-out disputes turn out to be about exactly this.
If the landlord recovers energy costs, usually yes, and it has to be designed in rather than added because it affects where the distribution sits.
Many leases require the space returned to its original condition. It costs almost nothing to design for and a great deal to retrofit at the end.
Before the floor is built. Anything in a slab is effectively permanent, and moving it later means breaking up finished work.
Yes, and it is usually quicker. Getting the specification and the boundary settled between us saves you relaying technical questions.
Rough-in has to be inspected before anything closes up, and final testing needs the equipment in place. Give us the handover date early and we book backwards from it.
