Hiring a contractor for an office build-out, a tenant improvement, or a community amenity project is a different exercise from hiring one for a kitchen. The stakes are different — your business has to keep operating, a lease clock may be running, and more people have to sign off. Here's what actually matters when you vet a commercial general contractor in Orlando, from a licensed Florida CGC that does this work.
1. Check the License Class — Not Just “Licensed”
This is the single most-skipped step, because “licensed and insured” sounds like a yes/no question. In Florida it isn't — the state issues different construction license classes with very different limits:
- Certified Residential Contractor (CRC) — one-, two-, and three-family homes only. No commercial work.
- Certified Building Contractor (CBC) — commercial and residential, but capped at three stories.
- Certified General Contractor (CGC) — the broadest class: any structure, any height, any occupancy, valid in every Florida jurisdiction.
Plenty of excellent remodelers hold a CRC — and legally cannot touch your office. Verify the class yourself in two minutes on the state's official DBPR license portal (search the company or the license number). While you're there, confirm the license is current and check for discipline history.
2. Insurance That Matches Commercial Work
Ask for certificates of insurance — general liability and workers' compensation — sent directly from the contractor's insurance agent, and have your landlord or property manager confirm the coverage amounts meet the building's requirements. Many commercial leases set minimum coverage limits and require the landlord to be named as additional insured; a contractor who does commercial work regularly will handle that request without blinking.
3. A Phasing Plan Around Your Operations
The defining constraint of commercial remodeling is that the business usually can't stop. A contractor who's done this before will ask about your hours, your customers, and your quiet periods before pricing the job — and the proposal should say, in writing, how the work will be sequenced: what happens after hours, what happens behind sealed barriers during the day, and when the disruptive work (demolition, slab cuts, tie-ins) lands.
If the proposal is silent on phasing, the schedule was priced for an empty building — and one of you is going to be surprised.
4. Everyone Who Has to Say Yes
Commercial projects have more approvers than residential ones: a landlord, a property manager, sometimes an HOA or condo board, and the building department. Ask the contractor who they think has to approve the scope — it's a revealing question. The right answer walks through your lease's alteration clause, the landlord's review, and the permit path. We keep a plain-English guide to how permitting works office-by-office across Central Florida.
And the permits themselves should be pulled in the contractor's name, not yours — that keeps code responsibility with the people doing the work.
5. Fixed Price, Lien Releases, and Paper That Protects You
Get a fixed-price written contract with a detailed scope, a payment schedule tied to completed work, and a written change-order process. Two commercial-specific items to insist on:
- Lien releases with every payment. Under Florida's construction lien law, subcontractors and suppliers who go unpaid can lien the property even if you paid the general contractor. Releases with each draw are the standard protection — a professional expects to provide them.
- A certificate of final inspection / closed permits at the end. Open permits surface at the worst time: lease renewals, refinancing, or a sale of the property.
6. References From Business Clients
Ask for references from commercial projects specifically — an office manager, a property manager, a board member — and ask them the commercial questions: Did the crew actually work the agreed hours? Was the site secure and clean each morning? Did the schedule hold? How were surprises priced?
Red Flags, Commercial Edition
- A license class that doesn't cover your building (verify on DBPR — two minutes)
- No phasing plan, or a shrug when you ask about staying open
- Asks you or your landlord to pull the permits
- Won't provide lien releases with payments
- Big upfront deposit with a vague scope
- Can't name a business client you may call
Our Approach
Karhan Construction & Remodeling is a Florida Certified General Contractor (CGC) working across Orlando and Central Florida — office and professional build-outs, and HOA and community amenity projects, alongside our residential work. Fixed-price written contracts, permits pulled in our name, phasing built around your operating hours, and one point of contact from the first call to the final inspection.
Vetting contractors for a commercial project?
Call (407) 634-4099 or email estimates@karhancompanies.com — we'll give you a straight read on your project, even if we're not the right fit for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a residential remodeler take on my commercial project?
Often not legally. Florida's Certified Residential Contractor (CRC) license is limited to one-, two-, and three-family homes, and a Certified Building Contractor (CBC) is capped at buildings of three stories. Commercial work without those limits requires a Certified General Contractor (CGC). Check the license class — not just "licensed and insured" — on Florida's DBPR portal before you sign anything.
How long does a commercial build-out take?
It depends on scope, permitting, and how much of the work must happen outside your operating hours — a cosmetic refresh moves much faster than a full reconfiguration with new mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. A serious contractor will give you a written schedule with the estimate, sequenced around how your business needs to operate during construction.
Do we have to close while the work happens?
Usually not entirely. Commercial remodels are typically phased — a section at a time behind sealed dust barriers, with noisy or disruptive work scheduled for evenings and weekends. Agree on the phasing plan and your non-negotiable operating constraints in writing before demolition starts.
Who should pull the permits — the business, the landlord, or the contractor?
The contractor, in the contractor's own name. That puts responsibility for code compliance and inspections where it belongs. Be cautious of any contractor who asks the owner or tenant to pull permits for commercial work — it usually means they're avoiding accountability, and it can leave you holding liability for work you didn't perform.