Starting, Owning and Marketing A Restaurant Blog|Starting and Owning a Restaurant - Construction, Planning, Marketing, Opening and Managing a New Restaurant

Whenever you are waiting on a municipality to issue your building permits, time is like a money pit that you know is filling up. If you have a good relationship with your contractor, ask him about ways to short cut the building process by taking a few calculated risks now.

Calculated risks are those that you know the penalty under a worst case scenario. We decided to take a couple of these risks this week. Since we had a demolition permit, we decided to make the cuts in the concrete floor for drains, water lines and a grease trap. Technically this falls under plumbing and should not be done until the drawings are approved.

The risks? First, the county could “red tag” the job and fine us $25-$100 for work done without the proper permit. Second, our architect’s drawings may not be approved as submitted for the plumbing permit and we may have to change some aspects of the work already done.

Since every day you cannot move forward, the delay is costing you a day towards your projected opening date. In this case we are attempting a November 15th opening. Delays could cost us significantly if we miss the holiday season. The risk-reward ratio is worth the gamble. Only you and your contractor can make the decision.

In light of our decision to get a few things done while waiting on all the permits, we:

• made the floor cuts, removed the cement and ran the major plumbing for drains.
• placed our grease trap in the ground and connected it to the dish drain, floor drain(s) and three compartment sink area. Keep in mind, none of the equipment is installed. However, our plans are used to locate the general area.
• completed all the major circuits to boxes in the general area. These are called “homeruns”. From these homeruns, individual circuits will feed various equipment through out the building.
• started bringing various building components into the space such as metal framing, conduit, wiring and various small parts for construction.

This week we also sent out our projected equipment list to four equipment suppliers for quotes, both new and used. We received two of the quotes back by the end of the week. Suppliers were told we would pay for any equipment purchased now, but they must hold it for up to thirty days before delivery. This allows us to take advantage of any bargains that may come along. More on this process in another post.