An office build-out, a tenant improvement, or a community amenity project runs on a different set of rails than any home remodel. There is a lease with its own rules, a landlord or board with veto power, a building full of people who have to keep working, and usually a clock — a rent-commencement date, a season, an opening. Vetting the general contractor is really vetting whether they can run that obstacle course, not just build well. This guide walks the project lifecycle in order: what has to be true before you shortlist anyone, and what separates commercial pros at each step. (Remodeling your own house instead? That's a different checklist — use our homeowner's guide to hiring a remodeling contractor.)
Step 1: Start With the Lease, Not the Contractor
If you're a tenant, your lease's alteration clause is the real project charter. Before you collect a single bid, know what it says about:
- Landlord consent — most leases require written approval of the scope, often with drawings, before permits are applied for.
- Contractor requirements — some buildings keep an approved-contractor list, set insurance minimums, or require specific trades to use the building's vendors (fire alarm and sprinkler tie-ins are the classic example).
- Restoration obligations — what you must undo at the end of the term changes what's worth building now.
A contractor who does commercial work regularly will ask to see the alteration clause early — that question is itself a good screen. Property owners and HOA or condo boards have a parallel version of this step: governing documents, reserve plans, and any owner-notification requirements come before bids.
Step 2: The License Class Decides Who's Even Eligible
Florida doesn't issue one contractor license — it issues classes, and the class determines what buildings a contractor may legally touch:
- Certified Residential Contractor (CRC) — one-, two-, and three-family homes only. No commercial work.
- Certified Building Contractor (CBC) — commercial and residential, but capped at buildings of 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), confirm it's current, and check for discipline history. Specialty scopes inside your project — fire alarm, sprinkler, elevator — carry their own licenses and are typically permitted separately by licensed specialty subcontractors; a commercial GC should be able to tell you exactly which pieces of your scope that applies to.
Step 3: Insurance the Building Will Actually Accept
Residential hiring says “ask for proof of insurance.” Commercial hiring says: get the certificates sent directly from the contractor's insurance agent, then put them in front of whoever manages the building. Commercial leases and building rules commonly set minimum coverage limits, require the landlord and property manager to be named as additional insured, and want the certificate on file with the management office before anyone badges in. A contractor who works in commercial buildings handles that request without blinking — hesitation here is data.
Step 4: Map the Approval Stack
A home remodel has one approver: the building department. Your project probably has four: landlord, property manager, board (sometimes), and the permitting authority — and they move at different speeds. Ask each candidate contractor to walk you through who they think has to say yes, in what order, and what each approver will want to see. It's one of the most revealing interview questions in commercial construction: the right answer traces your lease's consent process, the landlord's drawing review, and only then the permit path. We keep a plain-English guide to how permitting works office-by-office across Central Florida.
The permits themselves should be pulled in the contractor's name, not yours — that keeps code responsibility with the people doing the work.
Step 5: Demand an Occupied-Building Plan
The defining constraint of commercial remodeling is that the business usually can't stop. Before pricing, a real commercial GC asks about your hours, your customers, your quiet periods, and the building's own rules — loading dock windows, elevator reservations, when noisy trades are allowed. The proposal should then say, in writing:
- What happens after hours vs. behind sealed dust barriers during the day
- When the genuinely disruptive work lands — demolition, slab cuts, utility tie-ins — and how you'll be warned
- How the site is secured and cleaned before each business day opens
If the proposal is silent on phasing, the schedule was priced for an empty building — and one of you is going to be surprised.
Step 6: Commercial Paper — Fixed Price, Lien Releases, Closed Permits
Get a fixed-price written contract with a detailed scope, a payment schedule tied to completed work, and a written change-order process. Then add the two protections that matter most on commercial jobs:
- 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 in full. Releases with each draw are the standard protection — a professional expects to provide them, and your landlord may require them.
- Closed permits and final inspections at the end — plus an updated certificate of occupancy where the scope requires one. Open permits surface at the worst times: lease renewal, refinancing, or a sale of the property.
Step 7: References From People Who Run Buildings
Skip the generic reference call. Ask for commercial projects specifically — an office manager, a property manager, a board member — and ask the questions only they can answer: Did the crew actually keep the agreed hours? Was the site secure and clean each morning? Did the phasing plan survive contact with reality? How were surprises priced and communicated?
Red Flags, Commercial Edition
- A license class that doesn't cover your building (verify on DBPR — two minutes)
- Never asks to see the lease's alteration clause, or shrugs at landlord requirements
- No phasing plan, or vagueness about staying open during the work
- 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 works across Orlando and Central Florida — office and professional build-outs, and HOA and community amenity projects, alongside our residential work. Fixed-price written contracts, the permitting process handled for you, 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.
Does my landlord have to approve the build-out before work starts?
In almost every commercial lease, yes. The alteration clause typically requires the landlord's written consent to the scope — often with drawings — before a permit is even applied for, and may impose its own contractor requirements, insurance minimums, and working-hours rules. Starting work without that consent can put you in default of the lease, independent of anything the building department says.
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.
What happens at the end of a commercial project, paperwork-wise?
You want closed permits with passed final inspections, final lien releases from the general contractor and every subcontractor and supplier who served notice, and — where the scope requires it — an updated certificate of occupancy. Open permits and missing releases have a way of resurfacing at lease renewal, refinancing, or sale.