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Part of Industrial space: costs, choices and current rules
9 industrial space mistakes that can cost time or money
Nine industrial space mistakes named by whoever finds them first: the forklift driver, the insurer, the fire official, the utility, and then the lawyer.
Industrial mistakes have a particular quality: each one is discovered by a specific person, at a specific moment, and never by the person who signed the lease. The nine below are named by who finds them. If you know who will catch the error, you know who to ask before you sign.
What to take away
- Every industrial error is caught by someone outside the deal: a driver, an insurer, a fire official, the utility, the planning office, a neighbor, or your lawyer at the end.
- Ask each of those people their question before signature, with your operation described honestly.
- The mistakes with no fix are the physical ones. Prioritize those.
1. The forklift driver finds it
The mistake: taking the clear height from the listing, which quotes the peak, and planning racking to it. The driver finds the ducts, the lights and the sprinkler heads on the first day, and the top beam level is lowered across the building.
Ask beforehand: measure under the lowest obstruction at several points, and plan to that. The reasoning is in industrial space.
2. The insurer finds it
The mistake: assuming a sprinklered building is protected for your goods. The insurer surveys after signing, finds a system designed for a lower hazard, and either loads the premium or declines the cover.
Ask beforehand: send the sprinkler design to the insurer and a fire protection engineer, with your commodity, packaging and storage height described. The design basis they compare it against is a standard such as NFPA 13, in the edition your local fire authority enforces.
3. The fire official finds it
The mistake: storing flammable, combustible or aerosol products in quantities that need a permit, or installing racking above the height at which the fire authority requires a review, without asking. The official finds it on the first inspection.
Ask beforehand: describe the inventory to the fire authority and ask what permits and what in-rack protection apply. Racking and mezzanines commonly need their own approval.
4. The utility finds it
The mistake: taking the incoming service size as available power. The utility, when asked to connect your equipment, explains that the capacity is committed elsewhere and an upgrade will take longer than your fit-out.
Ask beforehand: the utility, not the landlord, with your connected and starting loads. Get the answer and the lead time in writing.
5. The truck driver finds it
The mistake: counting doors and not measuring the court. The first full-length trailer cannot back onto the dock without a shunt, or cannot leave without reversing onto the road. Federal guidance on the equipment and traffic involved in loading is collected on OSHA's powered industrial trucks page, and it is a reminder that a yard is a working area, not spare land.
Ask beforehand: walk the route with the largest vehicle in mind, and watch a delivery if the current tenant will let you.
6. The planning office finds it
The mistake: using the yard for storage, running a night shift, or operating a process that the district's use table treats as conditional or prohibited, because the last tenant did. The office finds it through a complaint or an inspection.
Ask beforehand: the zoning district, the use table for your process, the performance standards, and the outdoor storage rules, in writing. The method is in zoning and permits.
7. The neighbor finds it
The mistake: ignoring who shares the park. Your trailers stand in their turning area, their drainage runs across your yard, their process makes noise at your quiet hours, or your process makes noise at theirs. The neighbor finds it and complains to the landlord, the municipality or both.
Ask beforehand: who the neighbors are, what they do, when they operate, and where the shared entrance, fire lanes and drainage run. Visit at your busiest hour.
8. The accountant finds it
The mistake: treating the quoted rate as the rent on a net lease. The first reconciliation arrives with the roof repair, the car park resurfacing and a management fee on top, all allocated under a clause nobody read.
Ask beforehand: the operating expense history, the definition of the premises for repair purposes, and whether capital items can be charged. The rules for reading these are in commercial leasing.
9. The lawyer finds it, at the end
The mistake: installing a mezzanine, racking, a spray booth or refrigeration under a lease that requires the premises to be returned to their original condition, with no agreement on what stays. The lawyer finds it when the landlord's surrender schedule arrives.
Ask beforehand: which installations may remain, which must be removed, and to what standard the slab and walls must be made good. Settle it when the improvements are agreed, on the principles in tenant improvements.
The nine, in order of how hard they are to fix
| Found by | Mistake | Fixable after signing? |
|---|---|---|
| Forklift driver | Clear height from the listing | No |
| Truck driver | Court too shallow | No |
| Fire official | Commodity or racking not permitted | Sometimes, at cost |
| Insurer | Sprinklers designed for something else | Sometimes, at cost |
| Utility | Power already committed | Slowly, at cost |
| Planning office | Yard, hours or process not permitted | Rarely |
| Neighbor | Shared yard and drainage conflicts | With difficulty |
| Accountant | Net charges not read | Only by negotiation |
| Lawyer | Surrender obligation | Only by negotiation |
The physical mistakes at the top have no remedy. The commercial ones at the bottom can be negotiated, but from a weak position. Ask everyone their question before you sign.
Common questions
Which of these does the landlord's representative catch for you?
None reliably. Their job is the deal. The physical and regulatory checks are yours, or your engineer's.
Is there a mistake here that a short lease protects against?
Only the commercial ones. A short term does not shorten a utility upgrade or change the use table.
What if the fire authority and the insurer disagree?
Satisfy both. The fire authority controls occupancy and the insurer controls cover, and a building that has one without the other is not usable.
Who should I ask first?
The utility and the planning office, because their answers take longest to arrive and are hardest to change.