Plumbing for tenant improvements in northern Utah

Tenant improvement plumbing is the plumbing work that fits a leased commercial space to the business moving in. It is also called commercial build-out plumbing or commercial remodel plumbing. The space may be a bare shell, with a concrete floor and capped water and sewer lines. It may be a second-generation space, where the last tenant's plumbing is still in place.

The work usually includes:

• Restrooms added, moved, or enlarged.
• Break room sinks and hand sinks.
• Floor drains and a mop sink.
• A water heater sized for the new use.
• Gas piping to kitchen or heating equipment.
• Backflow protection where the water provider calls for it.

Someone else runs the build-out: the tenant, the landlord, or a general contractor, who also hires the other trades. Plumbing is one trade on that job. If the building itself is not built yet, see new construction plumbing.

A restaurant or food business build-out needs far more plumbing than an office or a store. A typical kitchen has:

• Hand sinks near every food prep and dishwashing area.
• A three-compartment sink for washing, rinsing, and sanitizing.
• A mop sink.
• Floor drains and floor sinks. Sinks and equipment that touch food or dishes drain into a floor sink through an open gap, so sewage cannot back up into them.
• A grease trap or interceptor. The sewer provider sets the size and type. See grease trap services.
• Gas lines to the cooking equipment.
• Backflow protection on the water supply. See backflow testing.

The local health department reviews a food business's plans first. The Salt Lake County Health Department requires plans before a food service facility is built, converted, or remodeled. It asks for a minimum of 10 working days to approve them, and says work may not begin before plan approval (source).

An office, retail, or medical build-out needs less plumbing than a kitchen, but the layout still has to be settled before the walls go up.

• Office. Restrooms if the suite has its own, a break room sink, water lines to a dishwasher, an ice maker, or a coffee machine, and often a small water heater.
• Retail store. A restroom, a mop sink, and a drinking fountain where the code calls for one.
• Medical or dental office. A sink in each exam or treatment room, plus water and drain connections for the equipment the practice brings.
• Salon. Shampoo bowls with hot water at each one, and often a laundry hookup.

The building code sets how many toilets and sinks a space needs from its use and the number of people it holds. The water provider looks at what backflow protection the building needs. Draper City, for example, says its backflow administrator performs a hazard assessment of all commercial buildings (source).

A plumber needs five things to quote the plumbing for a build-out:

1. The plans. The floor plan and the plumbing sheets, even in draft.
2. The fixture schedule. Every sink, toilet, drain, water heater, and piece of equipment, with the model if it is chosen. For a food business, the Salt Lake County Health Department's plan review checklist asks for a plumbing schedule that shows the locations of all plumbing fixtures, including floor sinks and drains, and how all equipment is to be drained (source).
3. The existing utilities. Where the sewer, water, and gas lines enter the space, and their sizes.
4. The landlord's rules. The hours work is allowed, and who approves cutting the floor, a wall, or the roof.
5. The schedule. The opening date and the order of the other trades.

Send what you have and ask for a commercial quote. Estimates are free.

Build-out plumbing is done in stages, and each stage is inspected before the next trade covers it up.

1. Underground. In a slab floor, the concrete is cut and trenched and the drain lines are laid. The inspector sees them before the trench is filled and the concrete is poured back.
2. Rough-in. Once the walls are framed, the water, drain, vent, and gas piping goes into the walls and ceiling. It is tested and inspected before drywall.
3. Finish. After flooring and paint, the fixtures, the water heater, and the equipment connections go in.
4. Final inspection. The building department checks the finished work.

The standard is statewide. Utah adopts the 2024 International Plumbing Code and the 2024 International Fuel Gas Code, with state and local amendments (source). A new backflow assembly needs a test too. Salt Lake City Public Utilities says backflow preventers must be tested annually or 10 days after installation (source).

Plumbing work in an occupied building is planned around the people already in it. The other tenants keep their water and their restrooms, so the property manager is part of the plan from the start.

• Water shut-offs. Tying into a shared water line means shutting off part of the building. The property manager picks the time and gives the other tenants notice.
• Noisy work. Cutting concrete and drilling through floors is loud and dusty. Many buildings allow it only before or after business hours.
• The space below. In a building with more than one floor, new drain lines often run in the ceiling of the suite underneath. That tenant has to allow access.
• Shared lines. The building's main drain and water service stay in use by everyone else while the work goes on.

Tell us the building's rules and the hours it allows work when you ask for an estimate, so the estimate accounts for them.

We give free estimates and do not post prices. These are the things that change the cost of tenant improvement plumbing:

• The number and kind of fixtures. A kitchen with a dozen sinks and drains is a bigger job than one restroom and a break room sink.
• Shell or second-generation space. Plumbing that can be reused means less new work. Plumbing that has to be removed or replaced adds to it.
• Underground work. Cutting and patching a concrete floor takes more labor than piping in open walls.
• Distance. Long runs to the sewer, the water line, the gas meter, or a vent through the roof add pipe and labor.
• Grease equipment. A buried interceptor outside is a larger job than a small trap indoors.
• Gas load. More cooking equipment means larger gas piping.
• Working conditions. Limited work hours and an occupied building take longer.

We tell you the cost before we start the work.