A commercial tenant improvement runs through a dependency chain: due diligence and design, permits and approvals, procurement of long-lead items, construction, inspections, then fixturing and move-in. How long it takes is controlled less by floor area than by the slowest dependencies — approval rhythms (landlord, corporate, municipal), long-lead procurement like millwork and mechanical equipment, existing-condition surprises, and owner decision speed. A credible schedule is a milestone plan built backwards from those constraints for your specific project, not a generic duration.
A Schedule Is a Dependency Chain, Not a Number
The most common timeline question we hear — how long does a buildout take? — has an honest answer that nobody's marketing department loves: it depends on the chain of dependencies specific to your project, and the fastest way to a real answer is mapping that chain. Two identical-sized units can be months apart in schedule because one needed custom millwork with a long lead time and a landlord with a slow approval process, and the other didn't. What follows is the chain itself: the phases every tenant improvement moves through, and what controls the length of each.
| Phase | What happens | What controls its length | Can it overlap? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Due diligence & scope | Site walk, existing-conditions review, preliminary scope and estimate | Access to the space; quality of existing drawings | Ideally starts before the lease is signed |
| Design & drawings | Layout, permit drawings, specifications | Decision speed; complexity of the use; consultant coordination | Overlaps with due diligence and early procurement planning |
| Approvals | Landlord review, corporate or franchise sign-off where applicable, municipal permits | Each approver's own rhythm — these are calendars you don't control, only plan around | Runs alongside procurement once drawings are set |
| Procurement | Ordering long-lead items: millwork, mechanical equipment, storefront, specialty systems | Supplier lead times — often the single longest pole in the schedule | Yes — the earlier cutoffs are hit, the shorter the whole chain |
| Construction | Demolition through finishes, inspections along the way | Scope, site logistics (occupied buildings, mall rules, after-hours limits), surprises behind walls | Phased where the building or business requires it |
| Closeout & fixturing | Final inspections, deficiencies, equipment install, staff move-in | Inspection scheduling; equipment vendors; training needs | Partially — plan the handover sequence deliberately |
The Four Things That Actually Control Duration
- Approval rhythms: Landlords, corporate standards teams, franchisors, and municipalities each review on their own clock. A schedule that pretends otherwise isn't a schedule — the realistic move is to know each approver's process up front and sequence the work so their reviews run in parallel with things you control.
- Long-lead procurement: Custom millwork, mechanical and electrical equipment, storefront glazing, and specialty items routinely carry the longest lead times in the project. The schedule is protected by hitting procurement cutoffs early — which means design decisions that affect those items get made first, not last.
- Existing conditions: What's above the ceiling and behind the walls of a previously improved space is discovered, not assumed. Early investigation shrinks the surprise window; contingency in the schedule absorbs what's left.
- Owner decision speed: The quietest schedule-killer is a decision that sits for two weeks. Finish selections, equipment choices, change approvals — a good contractor gives you a decision calendar with dates, because your calendar is part of the critical path too.
What Can Run in Parallel
Schedule compression that doesn't sacrifice quality comes from overlap, not speed: due diligence during lease negotiation, procurement planning during design, permit review running while long-lead orders are placed, and fixturing planned while construction finishes. The sequence that cannot be rushed is the legal one — work that requires permits doesn't start before they're issued — but a well-run project has plenty happening legitimately on either side of that gate. This is also where the fixturing period from your lease meets reality: the rent-free window only helps if the dependency chain actually fits inside it, which is worth testing before the lease is signed rather than after.
What a Credible Schedule Looks Like
Ask any contractor bidding your project for a milestone schedule, and look for four things: dependencies shown explicitly (what waits on what), the approval and procurement poles identified by name, decision dates assigned to you as the owner, and a handover sequence for fixturing and move-in — not just a construction end date. A single duration with no structure behind it tells you the schedule hasn't been thought through; a milestone plan tied to your project's actual constraints tells you it has. That's the standard we hold our own schedules to on tenant improvements across the Lower Mainland.
Protecting an Opening Date
- Start due diligence and scoping before the lease is signed — the earliest phase is the cheapest place to find problems
- Test the fixturing period against a realistic dependency chain before committing to it
- Make design decisions affecting long-lead items first, and hit procurement cutoffs early
- Learn each approver's process — landlord, corporate, municipality — and build their rhythms into the plan
- Agree a decision calendar for owner choices, and staff it on your side
- Hold schedule contingency for existing-condition surprises instead of pretending there won't be any
- Plan the closeout sequence — inspections, equipment, training, soft opening — with the same care as construction itself