General Contracting & Maintenance
Tenant improvement & finish-out.
A suite goes from signed lease to occupied through five trades that have to arrive in the right order. Getting that sequence right is most of the job — and it is where a finish-out either lands on the date you promised a tenant, or does not.
What this covers
- Demising & partition walls
- Ceilings, grid & lighting
- HVAC distribution & zoning
- Power, data & device rough-in
- Restroom & break-room plumbing
- Doors, hardware & millwork
- Finishes, paint & flooring prep
- Punch list & closeout
Find out what the space actually is
“White box” means different things to different landlords, and the gap between the term and the condition is where budgets go wrong. Before pricing anything we want to know what is really there: whether the demising walls are built and fire-rated to the deck, whether the ceiling grid and lighting exist, how much HVAC capacity is actually available at the suite rather than at the building, whether the panel has spare capacity for the tenant's load, and what condition the restroom is in against current accessibility requirements. A second-generation suite adds another question — how much of what the last tenant built is worth keeping, because demolition is a cost too.
Read the work letter against the space
Most finish-out disputes are not about workmanship. They are scope gaps — an item both sides assumed the other was carrying. The landlord's base building obligations and the tenant's scope are described in the lease and the work letter, and the useful exercise is to walk the suite with that document in hand and price the difference. A panel upgrade, a rooftop unit at the end of its life, or a restroom that needs bringing up to current requirements are the usual suspects. Every one of them is cheaper to find during scoping than during construction.
Lead times set the schedule, not labour
The work itself is rarely the long pole. Permitting, rooftop units, electrical gear, and custom glass or door packages routinely take longer to arrive than to install, and a schedule built without them is a schedule that slips. We would rather tell you at quote time that a piece of equipment governs your date than discover it in week three — particularly when a tenant has been given a move-in date and a rent commencement is attached to it.
Closeout is part of the job
A finish-out is not finished when the work looks done. It is finished when inspections have passed, the punch list is closed, every outlet and valve has been verified, and the tenant can actually occupy. Because we cover the trades ourselves rather than coordinating four separate subs, punch items get resolved on the same visit instead of waiting for whoever is available next week. That is usually the difference between closing out on schedule and losing a fortnight to scheduling.
Related
- Small projects & punch lists — the same work at a smaller scale, including make-ready turnovers.
- Mechanical & HVAC — capacity, distribution and zoning, usually the long-lead item.
- Electrical — panel capacity, circuits, lighting and device rough-in.
- Sherman & Denison — where a lot of new commercial finish-out demand is coming from.
FAQ
Tenant improvement questions we get asked
What is the difference between a shell, a white box, and second-generation space?
Shell space is the building envelope and little else — often no interior walls, no ceiling grid, and utilities stubbed to the suite. A white box (or vanilla box) has been brought to a neutral starting point: demised walls, basic ceiling and lighting, HVAC distribution, and a code-compliant restroom in many cases. Second-generation space is a suite a previous tenant already improved. Each starting point implies a very different scope and cost, which is why the first question on any finish-out is what condition the space is actually in — not what the listing calls it.
Who pays for tenant improvements — the landlord or the tenant?
It depends on the lease. Landlords commonly offer a tenant improvement allowance, quoted as a dollar figure per square foot, which the tenant draws against; anything above it is the tenant’s cost. Sometimes the landlord manages the build and delivers a finished suite instead. Both arrangements are normal. What matters practically is knowing which one you are in before scoping, because it determines who holds the contract, who approves changes, and who carries an overrun.
How long does a finish-out take?
The construction itself is often the shorter half. Permitting and long-lead equipment usually set the real schedule — rooftop units, electrical gear, and custom glass or doors can take longer to arrive than the work takes to install. The honest answer for any specific suite comes after we see the space and the drawings. What we will not do is quote you a timeline that ignores the lead times, because that is the version that slips.
Do you handle permits and inspections?
Commercial finish-out is permitted work and requirements vary by jurisdiction across North Texas. Permit-required trade work is performed by appropriately licensed personnel, and we coordinate inspections through to closeout. Tell us the municipality and the scope and we will confirm exactly what your project requires before anything starts.
Can you take on a small suite, or only large build-outs?
Small suites are a good fit. A modest office or retail finish-out is often too small for a large general contractor to prioritise, which is exactly the gap we work in — the same problem as a punch list, at a larger scale.
What causes most finish-out disputes?
Scope gaps between the landlord’s base building obligations and the tenant’s scope. Both sides assume the other is covering the same item — a panel upgrade, an HVAC unit, a restroom brought up to current accessibility requirements — and nobody prices it. Reading the work letter against the actual space before pricing catches most of these while they are still cheap.
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