Restaurant Construction and Build-Out Estimating
We estimate restaurant construction and build-out from your drawings — kitchen equipment and its utilities, hood and ventilation systems, grease waste, front of house finishes — with the utility capacity and the equipment responsibility boundary established first, because those two questions decide whether a space works at all.
Get a Free QuoteTwo Questions Come Before Any Measurement
On a restaurant build-out these decide whether the project is viable, not just what it costs.
Can the space deliver the utilities the kitchen needs?. Gas capacity, electrical service, water supply and ventilation and make-up air. A commercial kitchen demands far more of all four than the retail or office use the space was built for, and the upgrade is frequently the largest single item.
Who supplies and who connects the equipment?. Kitchen equipment is frequently owner or vendor supplied, with rough-in, setting and final connection remaining construction scope. Where the responsibility matrix is absent, every party prices the favourable reading.
Both are answerable before bid. And both change the number by more than any finish decision. An estimate that assumes adequate utilities and a clean equipment boundary has assumed away the two biggest variables in the project.
So we state what we assumed. On the face of the estimate, item by item. On restaurant work that statement is worth more than any refinement elsewhere in the document.
What We Quantify
Kitchen equipment and rough-in. Equipment counted against the schedule with the plumbing, gas, electrical and drainage rough-in each unit requires, whether or not this package supplies the equipment.
Hood and ventilation systems. Exhaust hood, exhaust fan, make-up air unit, ductwork, fire suppression within the hood, gas shutoff on activation and the controls interlock — a system spanning five packages and the most reliably mishandled interface in restaurant work.
Grease waste. Grease interceptor or trap sized to the fixture load, the drainage to it, and its location, access and maintenance requirements — which frequently drives underslab work in an existing building.
Walk-in coolers and freezers. With the floor, drainage, refrigeration, electrical and the structural opening each requires, plus the remote condensing unit and its location.
Front of house. Dining room finishes, lighting, millwork, bar and back-bar, host station and the acoustic treatment that stops a restaurant being unusable at capacity.
Restrooms and accessibility. To current accessibility requirements, which in an existing building frequently means reconfiguration rather than refresh.
Fire protection and life safety. Sprinkler modification to the layout, hood suppression, exit and egress requirements driven by the occupant load, and the interface between them.
Exterior and signage. Storefront, entry, patio where included, and signage — with the permits each of those carries in a leased or landmarked location.
Where Restaurant Estimates Go Wrong
Utility capacity assumed adequate
Gas, electrical service, water and ventilation for a commercial kitchen exceed what most retail spaces were built for. The upgrade is frequently the largest item in the project and it has nothing to do with the restaurant fit-out.
Hood system interface unassigned
Hood, exhaust, make-up air, in-hood suppression, gas shutoff and the controls interlock span equipment, mechanical, fire protection, electrical and controls. Each package prices its own piece and the integration belongs to nobody.
Grease interceptor underestimated
Sizing follows the fixture load, and in an existing building the location frequently means breaking slab, excavating and reinstating. That is structural and civil work inside a fit-out.
Equipment boundary unstated
Owner-supplied equipment still needs rough-in, setting, final connection and coordination. Pricing it at zero because someone else buys it leaves a substantial residual scope uncovered.
Health department requirements missed
Finish requirements for floors, walls and ceilings in food preparation areas, hand sink counts and placement, and the review the health department runs in addition to the building department.
Landlord work letter not read
In a leased space, what the landlord delivers and what the tenant carries follows the same logic as an office fit-out, and the gap is just as expensive when nobody reads it.
What Moves a Restaurant Number
Kitchen intensity. A quick service kitchen, a full service kitchen and a display or exhibition kitchen carry very different equipment, ventilation and utility loads. The menu decides the kitchen and the kitchen decides the project.
Existing building conditions. A second generation restaurant space with usable infrastructure and a former retail shell are entirely different starting points, and the second requires everything from the utility service inward.
Front of house finish level. Fast casual and fine dining differ by a wide margin in finishes, lighting, millwork and acoustic treatment across the same dining area.
Occupant load and egress. Occupant load drives exits, restroom fixture counts and accessibility requirements, and in an existing building meeting them can require structural work.
Location constraints. Urban ground floor space with restricted delivery, limited service access, landmark review or a residential neighbour above brings constraints that a freestanding suburban building does not.
Programme and rent commencement. Restaurant build-outs are usually compressed against a rent clock. Compression means overtime and additional crews, and that is priced rather than hoped through.
Trades in a Restaurant Build-Out
Weighted toward MEP and equipment rather than finishes.
What You Receive
- An estimate in editable Excel organized by trade or CSI division
- Kitchen equipment rough-in quantified per unit whether or not the equipment is in scope
- The equipment furnish-and-install boundary stated explicitly, item by item
- Hood system scope split across the packages that carry it, with the controls interlock assigned
- Utility capacity assumptions stated on the face of the estimate
- A marked-up plan set showing where every quantity came from
- An assumptions and exclusions schedule
- The pricing basis and the date that basis was current
Documents We Need
- Floor plans, reflected ceiling plans and finish plans
- The kitchen equipment schedule with utility requirements and responsibility
- Kitchen equipment plans and the hood schedule
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing drawings
- Existing utility capacity — gas, electrical service size and water service
- The landlord work letter, where the space is leased
- Health department requirements for the jurisdiction
- Occupant load calculation and egress plan
- For second generation space: what existing infrastructure remains usable
Tools and Standards
Quantities, rates and assemblies are read against the published references that govern this work. Where a project specification conflicts with any general reference, the specification governs:
- NFPA 96 — Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations
- NFPA 17A — wet chemical extinguishing systems, for hood suppression
- The FDA Food Code and the local health department requirements adopting it
- International Mechanical Code provisions for commercial kitchen ventilation
- ADA Standards for Accessible Design, for dining, restroom and service counter requirements
- CSI MasterFormat — the division structure the estimate is organized against
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the biggest variable in a restaurant build-out?
Utility capacity. Gas, electrical service, water supply and ventilation for a commercial kitchen exceed what most retail or office spaces were built for, and the upgrade is frequently the largest single item in the project while having nothing to do with the restaurant itself. It is answerable before bid and worth answering.
Do you handle the kitchen hood system?
Yes, and we treat the interface as the coordination problem it is. Hood, exhaust fan, make-up air, in-hood fire suppression, gas shutoff on activation and the controls interlock span five packages, and the integration between them is the piece that routinely belongs to nobody.
Do you price owner-supplied kitchen equipment?
Not the equipment, but the rough-in, setting, final connections and coordination that remain construction scope. Pricing owner-supplied equipment at zero because someone else buys it leaves a substantial residual scope uncovered, and we state the boundary item by item.
Do you include the grease interceptor?
Yes, sized to the fixture load with the drainage to it. In an existing building the location frequently means breaking slab, excavating and reinstating, which is structural and civil work sitting inside a fit-out and is routinely underestimated.
Do you account for health department requirements?
Yes. Finish requirements for floors, walls and ceilings in food preparation areas, hand sink counts and placement, and the separate review the health department runs alongside the building department are all carried.
Can you estimate a second generation restaurant space?
Yes, and it is usually the better starting point. What existing infrastructure remains usable — hood, grease interceptor, utility capacity — changes the number enormously against a former retail shell, so tell us what is there and we will say what it saves.
Send the plans and the equipment schedule
Upload your plans or tell us what you need. We’ll reply with pricing and a delivery date.
Need to add trades, ZIP code, target date or project state? Use the full quote form ↗