FIT-OUT PLUMBING
Tenant fit-out plumbing services
BASE BUILDING VS TENANT WORK
Fit-out plumbing starts with a boundary question
Every fit-out begins with the same question: where does the base building stop and the tenant work start? The answer is in the work letter, and it decides who pays for the water service, the sanitary stub, the vent penetration and the common restrooms.
We read that document before pricing. If the base building is supposed to deliver a two-inch water service at the demising wall and it has delivered a capped one-inch line, that is a landlord item, and finding it during the walk is worth considerably more than finding it during rough-in.
From there the fit-out plumbing is suite work: distributing water, waste, vent and gas through the new layout, building or altering restrooms, serving pantries and break rooms, and connecting whatever specialty equipment the tenant is bringing in.
Typical fit-out plumbing items
- Tie-in to base-building water, sanitary and vent
- Suite distribution through the new partition layout
- Pantry, break-room and coffee-point plumbing
- New or altered restrooms with accessible fixtures
- Janitor closets and mop basins
- Isolation valving so the suite can be shut down alone
FIT-OUT SERVICES
What we deliver on a fit-out
Base-building tie-ins
Connecting to the riser, the sanitary stub and the gas outlet the building provides, with the shutdown scheduled and noticed so other tenants are not affected.
Suite distribution
Water, waste, vent and gas routed through the new plan, above ceiling and in wall, coordinated with the ductwork and lighting layout.
Pantries and break rooms
Sinks, dishwashers, filtered water, coffee equipment and refrigerator lines, with the drainage and indirect waste those appliances need.
Restroom work
New suite restrooms or alterations to existing ones, with accessible clearances, correct mounting heights and carriers set to the specified fixtures.
Metering and isolation
Sub-meters where the lease requires them, and isolation valving that lets the suite be shut down without taking the floor or the riser out of service.
Landlord coordination
Building-management notices, certificates of insurance, after-hours work windows and riser access arranged in advance rather than on the day.
FIT-OUT PROCESS
How a fit-out runs
01
Work letter and base-building review
02
Survey the risers and points of connection
03
Estimate with landlord items separated
04
Permit and building approvals
05
Install around the occupied building
06
Inspection, certification and turnover
COMMON QUESTIONS
Fit-out plumbing questions
In practice they describe the same work, and the terms are used interchangeably in most US markets. “Fit-out” is used more often for office space inside multi-tenant buildings, and “tenant improvement” more often for retail and standalone suites, but the scope and the process are the same.
Normally the landlord, if the work letter says the base building provides a service of a given size and it does not. If the tenant’s use requires more than the base building was ever meant to deliver, that upgrade usually falls to the tenant. Either way it is worth settling before the lease is signed.
Yes. Riser tie-ins, shutdowns and any work that affects other tenants are normally scheduled outside business hours, with the notice period the building requires. We carry that cost in the estimate rather than raising it later.
Almost always. Most multi-tenant buildings require the landlord to approve the construction documents and the contractor before work starts, in addition to the municipal permit. The two reviews can run in parallel.
It can. If the fit-out increases occupancy beyond what the existing fixture count supports, or if the path of travel to the common restrooms is not accessible, the project may have to address it. We flag this during the walk so it is in the budget from the start.