Commercial building projects or tenant improvement projects in Long Beach are never simple. There are many steps that have to be completed before they are considered finished. One of the first, and most important, steps is having a set of commercial building plans drawn up by an architect that can be submitted to the City of Long Beach for approvals and to general contractors for bids.
Obtaining a well-executed set of plans from a Long Beach architect does more than just get your project started—it helps to ensure that the project will move forward without any major hiccups. It will help make the entire process smooth for everyone involved, including you, your general contractor, and city officials. Here are the benefits of providing a great set of commercial building plans to the various parties:
Commercial Building Plans That Benefit our Clients, General Contractors, and City Officials
When it comes to commercial projects, we tend to work with building owners on ground-up commercial builds, and with commercial tenants on tenant improvement projects. Both types of clients can benefit from receiving a good set of commercial building plans from their Long Beach architect.
As the saying goes, “time is money.” With commercial spaces, someone is always paying for the space, whether it is the building owner or the tenant—and whether they are currently making money from the space or not. This makes it extremely important for the approval process on commercial builds or tenant improvements to be completed as quickly as possible. A well-executed set of plans will travel through the city approval process much more quickly than incomplete or poorly designed building plans. There will be less back-and-forth that needs to happen between the city and the architect, which means the project can move forward much more quickly.
The project can also progress more quickly through the actual building process with a good set of plans. The general contractors we’ve worked with appreciate the fact that they don’t have to spend a lot of their valuable time waiting to get answers from us or the engineers to fill in any missing information. Instead, they can just follow the plans, knowing that they include all the necessary details. Poorly drawn up plans, on the other hand, can bring a project to a standstill because the general contractor is unable to keep things moving until he or she gets the needed information.
A detailed, well-executed set of commercial plans can also help our clients more accurately estimate their costs on a commercial project. It removes the need for a general contractor to add on “surprise” costs mid-project by removing any interpretation from the bid phase of the project. In other words, a general contractor can provide more accurate bids to potential clients from the get-go when they have a clear and complete set of plans from which to work, and when they know exactly what is to be included in the project.
Most of our commercial clients like to get multiple bids on their projects. When they have a clear and complete set of plans to present to different general contractors, there will be less variation between the bidders’ cost estimates, and the decision to whom they award the contract can be made based on other factors, such as the contractor’s reputation, their rapport, and the estimated project timeline.
The people at the City of Long Beach’s Development Services Department also appreciate a good set of commercial building plans. They spend a lot of time looking at plan submissions and know what a good set of plans looks like almost as soon as it comes across their desk. When the City receives a well-executed set of commercial building plans, it makes their job easier. There is less back-and-forth needed. The process is smooth and moves forward as it is designed to. At Grisafe Architecture, we’ve been told by City officials that we are one of the architecture firms that they are happy to see walk through their doors, because they know they will be receiving a well-executed set of plans.
What Grisafe Architecture Does to Provide Long Beach Clients with Great Commercial Building Plans
At our Long Beach architecture firm, we do a number of things to make sure the building plans we provide our clients are as thorough and complete as possible. First of all, we only work with highly skilled engineers and sub-consultants. This means, not only are our site plans, floor plans, building elevations, and 3D models well designed, so are the mechanical engineering plans, electrical engineering plans, plumbing engineering plans, soils reports, and public works plans that are produced by our sub-consultants. We don’t cut corners by hiring the cheapest engineers and sub-consultants we can find. They are all reputable and knowledgeable in their respective fields and produce great work.
We are also not afraid to get familiar with the commercial spaces we work on. On most existing commercial projects that are being remodeled or having tenant improvements done, we will get any existing drawings for the building. We will also go to the site, climb on the roof (checking on the condition of the rooftop equipment and the roof itself), and look at the existing electrical panels and plumbing. We’ll check on existing accessibility compliance, both inside and outside the building, and we’ll do our best to understand the building’s structure and how changes might impact it. Understanding all of this information helps us provide our Long Beach clients with a better set of commercial building plans that take into account actual building conditions, rather than assumed conditions.
If you are a business owner who is moving into a new building and needs to provide the City of Long Beach with the required site plan and floor plan for your new space, Grisafe Architecture will help you move through the approval process more smoothly by taking a proactive approach, as described here.
Going through the process of completing a commercial building remodel, tenant improvement project, or ground-up commercial build is going to be a lengthy and involved process, no matter what. But you can make it a little less lengthy and involved by hiring a Long Beach architect that has your best interests in mind and who will provide you with the commercial building plans you need to keep things moving forward.
Contact us at Grisafe Architecture to get started on your commercial building project or tenant improvement project.
