The honest answer is a range, and the range depends almost entirely on what the landlord hands you and what your use requires. A light refresh of a space that already fits your business can be done in weeks. A raw shell being finished out for a restaurant or clinic is a multi-month project no matter who builds it. The mistake most tenants make is not underestimating construction. It is forgetting everything that has to happen before and after construction, which is where schedules actually slip.
Timeline by Scope Band
| Scope band | Construction time | What it typically involves |
|---|---|---|
| Second-generation refresh | 2 to 4 weeks | Paint, flooring, lighting, minor fixtures in a space a similar business just left |
| Standard tenant improvement | 6 to 12 weeks | New partitions, MEP modifications, restroom updates, full finish package |
| Shell finish-out | 12 to 20 weeks | Full MEP distribution, restrooms from scratch, storefront, complete interior build |
| Restaurant / medical conversion | 12 to 24 weeks | Hood and grease or clinical plumbing, equipment rough-ins, added review layers |
Those figures are construction time only. Design and permitting sit in front of them. Across our markets, design to permit approval averages three to four weeks when the submission is clean, and inspections and the certificate of occupancy sit behind them. A tenant who hears twelve weeks and books the movers for week twelve has skipped both ends of the schedule.
What Actually Drives Duration
- Permits and plan review: three to four weeks on average, longer when comment rounds pile up or an extra review layer applies
- Long-lead equipment: rooftop HVAC units, storefront glazing, kitchen packages, and specialty doors routinely quote eight weeks or more
- Landlord approvals: most leases give the landlord drawing-approval rights, and that review sits on the same critical path as the city
- Inspections and the certificate of occupancy: each trade inspects separately, and a failed inspection repeats the wait
- Shell condition surprises: what demo reveals in an older space is the most common source of mid-project schedule loss
Of these, long-lead equipment is the one tenants control least intuitively. A build-out can be framed, wired, and finished, and still sit idle waiting on a rooftop unit or a storefront system that was ordered too late. The order date for long-lead items matters more to your opening than the start date of construction.
How to Compress the Schedule Safely
- 1.Overlap, do not sequence: pre-file permits while finish selections are still closing, and run landlord review in parallel with city review
- 2.Release long-lead orders against the approved scope rather than waiting for the issued permit
- 3.Choose second-generation space where your use allows, keeping existing restrooms, HVAC distribution, and a compatible layout removes whole trades from the schedule
- 4.Lock the scope before mobilization: change orders mid-build cost calendar time as well as money
- 5.Schedule backward from the date that matters (lease commencement or opening) and hold every milestone against it; the schedule planner does the subtraction for your space type
Written Scope
Planning this type of project?
Tell us your space, city, and timeline. We return a written scope with lump-sum pricing, no obligation.
What compression should never mean is starting permitted work before the permit or waving work past a missed inspection. Both trade a visible delay for a larger hidden one: a red tag freezes the whole project and adds a correction order on top of the time you were trying to save.
When After-Hours Phasing Changes the Math
If the space is occupied (your own operating business, or an active building where daytime noise is restricted) the calendar math changes. Work that would take six weeks of unrestricted days may run eight to ten weeks in night and weekend phases, because each shift loses time to setup, protection, and cleanup so the space is presentable each morning. The trade is usually worth it: the schedule runs longer, but revenue never stops. The key is deciding this up front, because a phasing plan bolted on mid-project costs far more than one the schedule was built around.
The Version of the Schedule Worth Trusting
A trustworthy build-out schedule names the permit submission date, the long-lead order dates, the landlord approval milestones, and the inspection sequence, not just a start and an end. When we scope a project we build that schedule backward from your lease commencement or opening date and flag the items that threaten it while there is still time to act on them.
Get a Real Schedule, Not a Guess
Tell us the space, its current condition, and the date you need to open. We walk it, confirm what carries over, and hand you an itemized scope with a schedule built backward from your date. Call (469) 721-0146. Response within 1 business day.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this topic from DFW tenants, landlords, and business owners.
How long does a commercial build-out take in DFW?
Construction alone runs about 2 to 4 weeks for a second-generation refresh, 6 to 12 weeks for a standard tenant improvement, and 12 to 20 or more weeks for a shell finish-out or a restaurant or medical conversion. Add design and permitting in front and inspections behind.
How much time do permits add?
Design to permit approval averages three to four weeks across our DFW markets when the submission is clean. Run properly, that review overlaps with finish selections and long-lead ordering instead of sitting as a block at the front of the schedule.
What is the most common cause of build-out delays?
Long-lead equipment ordered too late, followed by permit comment rounds and landlord drawing approvals nobody put on the schedule. Construction itself is usually the most predictable part of the timeline.
Can the schedule be compressed?
Yes, by overlapping rather than sequencing: pre-filing permits, releasing long-lead orders against the approved scope, and locking scope before mobilization. What we will not do is start permitted work early or push past a failed inspection, both cost more time than they save.
Does after-hours work make the project longer?
In calendar terms, usually yes, night and weekend phasing adds setup and cleanup time to every shift, so a six-week daytime scope may run eight to ten weeks. In business terms it is often shorter, because your operation never closes while the work runs.
About the author
Yelp
General contractor, Royse City, TX
Commercial tenant improvement, build-out and renovation, and residential outdoor living, fencing, additions and high-end kitchens and baths across Dallas-Fort Worth and East Texas.