mportantin

Space Assessment

Before you sign the lease or buy space for putting in a restaurant, it is prudent to get an engineer to do am assessment of the available services, access to the outside; preferably the roof, municipal requirements, available electrical power, natural gas, adequate domestic water supply and sanitary connections. The list goes on, but a professional can help you save all aggravation for a fraction of the cost.

Interior Design

Once you have made the decision, you will need an interior designer or an architect who will usually put your concept/dream on the paper. They will work with you to see how best the layout of the new restaurant can be. A Kitchen Consultant will provide the actual Kitchen Layout with appliances and equipment and when finalized, the engineers would provide services to these.

Once the Interior designer or the architect has put together a layout, it might be a good idea to send it to the Health Department to see if their requirements are met. It is quite common that they will ask to add a hand sink or move one to another place. Health Department ensures proper hygiene is maintained in kitchens which offer public food. Based on the occupancy and the scope, an architect might be required to complete the drawings. Architects work with the interior designers to finalize the layout and design and make the building permit submission.

Engineering

Once the layout is good to go, the engineers (Mechanical and Electrical) will do the engineering design and produce to the drawings for building permit and construction. For heavy equipment, a structural engineer might be required. Now is the time, the interior designers or the architects would work on the interior finishes and aesthetics. A structural engineer might be required in areas where seismic activity is high, where measurements must be taken for the integrity of the system in case of an earthquake.

Building Permit

A building permit can take anywhere from 2-12 weeks depending upon the municipality. There might be inputs from the city plan checkers which might need to change certain things on the design. The main thing the city department reviews life safety and code compliance. It is always prudent to wait for the start of construction. It is not legal to start without the building permit has been issued. Some municipalities have their submission forms for kitchen ventilation systems – which need to be completed alongside the building permit letters of assurance (schedules).

When the building permit is awarded, the construction can begin. Sometimes the municipality will give the builder a demolition permit earlier than the actual building permit, which allows the project to progress to excavate and install all under slab piping. Some contractors are very savvy and time the construction efficiently to call their first inspection only a day after they get the permit. A properly scheduled project can be done in much less time. So it is advisable to hire a reputable contractor who has experience in building restaurants.  It is advisable to seek references for similar projects and interview them. Your engineers and architects can assist you in making the selection. To make a business case to hire the right contractor, who most likely will be higher than what your brother-in-law suggested, a qualified contractor with the right project manager can reduce the construction time by months. On average I have seen 4-6 months of easily avoidable delays – that is how late your opening will be. Now instead of counting the revenue of the initial months, I would advise to be fair to your self and add up the lost revenue of the final months of the lease… This is months 55 to 60 on the 5-year lease. Invariably, these will be your highest revenue months, and the amount is substantial to justify the extra added expense of a qualified contractor.

Construction

The general contractor generally will team up with different trade sub-contractors and provide a price. There are various forms of contracts, but the mostly fixed price with a preset mark-up for extras and changes is used for restaurants in Canada. General Contractor, also called GC, will manage the contract for you.

Certain milestones will be identified, and it is reasonable to expect a construction schedule from the general contractor. The architects and engineers can schedule their site reviews based on the project pan. The engineers and architects must be aware of the progress, as they have provided assurance to the city and are legally obligated to conduct field reviews for general compliance of the drawings. Any changes the contractor might have must be executed after the engineer reviews and issues direction.

One thing to remember is Engineers and architects have your interest at the top. They are morally and contractually required to fend for your interest. So – get them involved in the process. They will ensure you are getting what you paid for.

MILESTONES

1. Identifying the property and checking if the site would work. It could be seriously undersized on electrical power, sanitary main or the water connection.
2. Prepare plans and engineering drawings.
3. Tendering the drawings to get competitive pricing.
4. Award of the project
5. Building Permit application along with a full set of required documentation
6. Start-up meeting and Construction Schedule and Project Plan
7. Shop drawing submission to the engineers
8. Demolition and excavation
9. Inspection of below-grade piping and systems.
10. Inspection of all piping, electrical rough-ins before the walls are boarded up.
11. Inspection of all ducting and in-ceiling installations before the ceiling is installed.
12. Inspection of all fire-stopping of all penetrations in fire-rated walls.
13. Substantial completion.
14. Final inspection for fire safety and general completion.

Mechanical and Electrical Engineering

HVAC Systems

Design of HVAC systems would include general Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning systems. Generally, restaurants have a high density of people in them. High occupancies require adequate outdoor/ treated air as required by ASHRAE. Air from the washrooms would be required to be exhausted. Energy or Heat Recovery Ventilators provide an effective way to recoup the energy/heat which otherwise would go waste.

Commercial Kitchen Ventilation

Design of Commercial Kitchen ventilation: Most kitchens have grease-laden vapours to be exhausted. These grease-laden vapours are prone to catching fire and therefore must be exhausted through special exhaust hoods governed by NFPA 96. It could be a lot of air which needs to be exhausted, which brings in the need for make-up air. In colder climates, this outdoor / treated air needs to be treated. There is various way to achieve this. With multiple hoods or larger hoods, it could be a lot of airflows taken out via the kitchen exhaust hood/canopy. Demand ventilation is a smart way to control the exhaust and corresponding make-up air which will control the amount of air with heat sensors. ASHRAE 90.1 will soon mandate demand ventilation for all exhaust systems.

Fire Suppression Systems

NFPA compliant hoods which deal with grease laden vaours (fire hazard), also called Type 1 hood, also require to have a wet chemical fire suppression systems that sprays “an aqueous solution of organic salts” to knock down flame and cool the area around the fire. These are designed according to the actual appliances under the hood – providing a nozzle for each appliance.  If you change the appliance, chances are the nozzle serving it would need to be changed as well. This system requires annual testing. Some spaces will have sprinklers which might need to be modified to suit the new layout. Hydraulic calculations and sprinkler layouts might be required.

Here is a good simulation of how the system works in Ansul System. The automatic wet chemical is much more effetive than the conventional fire man’s fire blankets and dry powder fire extinguishng (Ansul versus handheld fire extinguisher). Maintaining this system is as important as having one.  Monthly visual inspections can be done by the restairant owners or managers themselves, while you must get a licensed technician to perform every 6 months. 

What happens when a fire occurs? 

• When he system is tripped (automatically by actual fire or manually with the pull station), it will automatically shut off the gas valve and electrical source under the hood, thus eliminating the fuel source of the fire.
• The fires mostly will continue to burn and spread even after the gas has been shut off. This is why restaurant fire suppression systems have that second component — a series of nozzles installed in the hood over your cooking station. 
• The nozzles will discharge the wet chemical fire suppressant. This suppressant is specially developed to suppress grease fires and prevent them from re-igniting. 
• Finally, the kitchen hood exhaust fan will start to remove smoke from the kitchen. 

Electrical Systems

Lighting layout, power layout, fire alarm layout will be done by the electrical engineer. The interlocking of fans, equipment voltages, automation and power to any of the controls will be coordinated with the mechanical engineer.

Plumbing Systems

Design of Plumbing Systems would include general plumbing – domestic cold and hot water, sizing and selection of domestic water heaters and boosters, sanitary and adequate venting.

Almost all restaurants have to grease-laden sewage, and the grease and fats must be captured by Grease Interceptors before being discharged to the municipal / city’s sanitary mains. WHY? Check out here…