Commercial

Commercial fit-outs & kitchens

Mechanical first and second fix for cafes, restaurants and retail units, worked around a trading date.

Mechanical fit-out for cafes, restaurants, shops and offices, from first fix in a bare shell through to commissioning before you open. We work to the programme and the trading date, alongside the shopfitter, the electrician and the ventilation contractor. Based just outside Nottingham and working across Nottinghamshire.

From first fix to commissioning

Most jobs start in a shell or after a strip-out, and the first thing to establish is where the incoming water, gas and drainage actually are, rather than where the drawing puts them. We set out and first fix while the walls and floor are open: hot and cold pipework, waste runs, gas carcass, and the positions for the boiler, water heater or cylinder. That is pressure tested and signed off before anything is boarded, screeded or tiled over.

Second fix follows the shopfitter. Sanitaryware, taps, sinks, dishwashers, glasswashers, beverage equipment and catering appliances go in once the units, worktops and floor finishes are down. We then commission: fill, flush, test, set flow rates and temperatures, and leave the system running under load rather than simply connected.

Catering kitchens, grease and gas

A commercial kitchen puts fat, starch and solids through its waste that a domestic system never sees. Where the local authority or the landlord's fit-out guide calls for grease management, we install a trap or recovery unit sized to the equipment schedule, run the pot wash, dishwasher and combi oven waste through it, and site it where the cleaning contractor can actually get to it.

Appliance connections are worked out from the manufacturer's data: gas rate, isolation, flexible hose and restraint on anything that pulls out for cleaning, and clearance behind the line. Gas work is carried out under our Gas Safe registration and tested on completion. If the total gas load is more than the existing supply and meter will carry, that needs finding at survey stage, because an upgrade is a lead-time item and not something to discover at second fix.

Water regulations, programme and access

Everything installed has to meet the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations, which on a catering or retail fit-out usually means backflow protection matched to the fluid category of each connection, correct air gaps on sinks and equipment, and notifying the water undertaker where the work requires it. We are water regulations registered, and at survey we go through the equipment schedule with you and flag the items that need a particular type of protection.

Programme and access are agreed before we start, not worked out on site. Our working hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and we plan our part of the programme to fit inside them. We keep the areas we work in clean and protected, and we will tell you which parts of our programme depend on another trade finishing first.

Common questions

Can you work to our trading date?

We do not commit to a trading date before we have seen the drawings and the equipment schedule, and the earlier we see them the better. What puts a fit-out behind is rarely the pipework; it is lead times on catering equipment, a meter or supply upgrade, or another trade running late. We will tell you at the outset if a date looks tight and what it depends on, rather than agreeing to it and letting it slip.

Do we need a grease trap?

A kitchen with a pot wash and a dishwasher will usually need some form of grease management, but it is not a given. Rather than assume either way, we check your local authority's position and the landlord's fit-out guide against what actually goes down the sinks. Sizing follows the equipment schedule and the flow it has to handle, and the unit has to sit somewhere it can be opened and serviced.

Can you work outside our opening hours?

Our working hours are Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and we programme our part of the fit-out to sit inside them. If your building or landlord restricts when noisy or disruptive work can be done, tell us before the dates are fixed so the programme is built around those restrictions.

How is the work priced?

We work on open and transparent pricing: rates and procedure are explained and agreed with you at the time the job is booked. A fit-out is normally priced from the drawings and the equipment schedule, so the more settled those are, the firmer the price. Where something changes on site, such as a different appliance or a drain that is not where the survey said, we agree the variation with you before carrying it out.