7 Things to Consider Before Starting a Major Building Project

Discover 7 key things to consider before starting a major building project, from budgeting and planning to permits, timelines, materials, contractors, and risks.

A restaurant in your neighborhood closed for “renovations” eighteen months ago. It’s still closed. Somewhere between the design meeting and the ribbon cutting, something went wrong, and it probably wasn’t the paint color.

Building a restaurant, café, or bar involves very different challenges from renovating a home. A delayed home renovation is frustrating, but a delayed hospitality project can mean months of rent, payroll, and loan payments without any revenue coming in. That makes careful planning essential from the beginning.

Before signing a construction contract, consider these seven important factors.

1. Define the Guest Experience Before the Floor Plan

Many building projects begin with square footage and a budget. For a hospitality space, it makes more sense to start by considering how guests and employees will move through the building.

Think about the journey from the entrance to the host stand, seating area, bar, and restrooms. At the same time, staff need clear routes between the kitchen, tables, storage areas, and service stations.

These decisions can affect everything from seating capacity to service speed and staffing requirements. They should therefore be discussed before construction begins.

Ask questions such as:

• Where will customers wait during busy periods?

• How far does food need to travel from the kitchen to the farthest table?

• Can employees move efficiently when the dining room is full?

• Can staff access important areas without interrupting guests?

Good commercial building design should account for how the finished space will actually operate, not simply how it looks on paper.

2. Understand Every Permit and Approval

Permitting can quickly become one of the biggest sources of delay. A hospitality project may require several approvals, including building permits, health department reviews, fire inspections, and liquor licensing.

These processes often run on different schedules, so treating them as one step can create problems later.

For example, kitchen plans may need health department approval, while fire safety requirements can affect hood systems, exits, and occupancy. A liquor license may involve its own application process, background checks, public notices, and hearings.

Start these processes as early as possible. A finished building cannot generate revenue if the necessary approvals are still pending.

It is also important to clarify who is responsible for each approval. Your contractor may handle building permits and inspections, while the owner may need to manage licensing and other business-specific requirements.

3. Plan Kitchen and Bar Infrastructure Early

One of the easiest ways to create expensive changes later is to treat mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work as an afterthought.

Commercial kitchens and bars have substantial infrastructure requirements. Grease interceptors, ventilation systems, floor drains, electrical capacity, plumbing, and equipment connections all need to be considered during the design stage.

These aren't details that can always be added easily after the walls and ceilings are finished.

For example, an undersized hood system or grease interceptor may require major changes if discovered late in the project. Those changes can affect multiple parts of the building and increase both costs and construction time.

Before choosing finishes, make sure the infrastructure can support the equipment and operations you plan to use.

4. Budget for the Things You Don't See

A visually pleasing illustration can make the process seem easy. But some of the highest costs that you'll incur are not reflected in the initial illustrations.

Fire suppression systems, accessible restrooms, acoustics, grease traps, electrical upgrades, drainage, and other code issues can raise costs considerably.

It's a good idea to request an estimate where the visible work and finishes are separated from the construction issues and codes. It will be easier to see how the budget is spent and to figure out where changes can be made.

The following are some of the costs that may be overlooked:

• Fire suppression systems

• Accessible restrooms

• Acoustic treatment

• Permits for exterior signage

• Kitchen equipment

• Construction contingency funds

Contingency funds become even more important if there are special lead times or unforeseen conditions in an existing building.

5. Choose a Contractor With Relevant Experience

Not all contractors work on the same kind of projects. While one contractor may be excellent at doing residential renovations, he may not have that experience in managing inspections and other requirements for restaurants or other hospitality venues.

In considering potential contractors for your project, do not rely simply on a list of completed projects. Rather, inquire further into projects that are similar to yours and how the contractor tackled problems in those projects.

Previous clients are a good source of information. Talk to previous clients to learn whether the project was completed on time, how unexpected problems were managed, and how well the contractor communicates.

Experience is important since minor mistakes can be costly once construction has already started.

6. Build the Timeline Around Financial Reality

Construction schedules matter, but equally so do the financial implications of delays.

If a company fails to open on time, it may continue paying rent, electricity bills, salaries, insurance, and loan installments without making any money from its operations. This means that even a small delay in the construction schedule may have huge financial implications for the business.

Plan your contingency time during the planning of the construction schedule instead of relying on things going absolutely fine.

A phased opening or soft opening, depending on the situation, may also be considered for the project. With this kind of opening, you would be able to start making money while your staff would be able to get used to the environment.

The most important thing is to think about all these options while there is still some flexibility in the construction schedule.

7. Choose Materials for Real-World Use

A space can look fantastic in photographs and still be difficult to maintain during everyday operations.

Hospitality spaces experience constant traffic, spills, cleaning, moving furniture, and heavy employee use. Materials therefore need to be selected for durability as well as appearance.

Before choosing a finish, ask how it will perform during a busy Friday night.

Consider whether:

• Upholstery can withstand frequent cleaning

• Countertops resist stains and etching

• Flooring remains safe when wet

• Lighting fixtures are easy to maintain

• Wall and ceiling finishes can handle everyday wear

The best design decisions balance appearance with practicality. A beautiful material that requires constant repairs or replacement may cost more in the long run than a slightly less dramatic option that can withstand years of use.

Bringing It All Together

A major hospitality building project is about much more than putting up walls and choosing finishes. The permitting process, infrastructure, budget, contractor experience, schedule, and durability of the finished space all influence whether the project succeeds.

The earlier these issues are addressed, the easier it becomes to identify potential problems before they turn into expensive changes.

A thoughtful plan won't eliminate every construction surprise, but it can make the process more predictable and help ensure that the finished building works as well in real life as it looked in the original plans.