If you are currently operating your business out of a building that is now much too small for your needs after your business has grown, then you should consider constructing a new business building that suits the needs of your business perfectly with the help of a commercial contractor.
Commercial contractors help business owners like you through the pre-design, design, and construction stages of a commercial building project.
However, before you begin planning your new commercial building project with your commercial contractor, read on to learn two tips that can help you before and during the commercial building process.
1. Expect Project Approval to Take Over Six Months
After the design stage of your construction process is completed, your commercial contractor must submit your building plans to the local building department to obtain a commercial building permit. Some business owners are surprised to learn that, after building plans are submitted to this department, it can take over six months for the city to approve the plans.
In addition, when the building department is evaluating the plans, they may ask your contractor to make changes to the plans to improve project compliance with local building ordinances and regulations. Every time your contractor is asked to make changes to the plans, it can increase the time it takes to get final approval.
Be sure to plan for this time period between project design completion and the start of the construction phase so it does not go to waste. For example, instead of ordering construction materials before the plans are submitted to the building department, plan to order them while construction plans are being approved.
2. Aim for Full Business ADA Compliance
While not all businesses are required to be Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant, many are and can face stiff penalties if they neglect this important aspect of the building design process. However, building a fully ADA-compliant business offers a business owner many benefits, whether they are required by law to make their building ADA-compliant or not.
First, the IRS offers a special tax credit to some businesses to help them recover the costs of making their businesses ADA compliant; this credit can be up to $15,000 per year in some instances.
In addition, due to the growing elderly population in the country, there are more people who require wheelchair ramps and other ADA-compliant building features, such as wider door frames, to enter a building independently. If you neglect ADA compliance inside and outside of your building, you will lose out on a large group of potential customers who could help your business flourish.
If you plan to build a new commercial building to run your business in, then keep these two tips in mind before starting the project and when working with your commercial contractors.