Commercial Renovations & Upfits

What does a commercial contractor do on a renovation?

On a renovation, the general contractor manages the construction work defined in its contract, including trade coordination, scheduling, inspections, and closeout. In practice that means pricing the work, buying out and managing the trades, and handing the space back clean. The owner gets one contract and one point of accountability instead of a dozen separate trade relationships.

At Bihn, Joe Martin, Partner and Chief Preconstruction Officer, owns estimating, scheduling, value engineering, and constructability review. On a renovation that work matters more than on new ground, because the existing building decides what is possible. Walls get opened, ceilings come down, and what is found behind them changes the plan. Our preconstruction services exist to find those conditions before the schedule depends on them.

Renovation work we take on

Most commercial renovation work falls into a few patterns, and each one carries its own constraints.

• Office upfits and interior alterations. New partitions, ceilings, lighting, and finishes inside an existing shell. Our office and interiors page covers how we coordinate finishes, MEP trades, and tenant requirements.
• Institutional renovations. Offices, classrooms, and support space at colleges and schools, built around people who are still using the building. See our higher education and K-12 education work.
• Public facility renovations. City and county buildings, where documentation and inspections carry as much weight as the work itself. Our government and civic page explains how we run them.
• Tenant improvements. Build-outs for a new occupant, priced against the landlord's base building and the tenant's plans.

Spartanburg Community College: an office renovation on an active campus

For Spartanburg Community College, we took a run of dated offices and the corridor serving them back to the block and rebuilt them while the campus stayed in use. The scope ran in order: selective demolition, new metal stud partitions and interior glazing, new ceilings, lighting and MEP, then finishes throughout. Carpet tile and casework went into the offices, and new resilient tile and paint went down the corridor.

The photographs and the full scope are on the Spartanburg Community College project page.

Renovating a building that stays open

An occupied building changes the order of operations. Dust, noise, and egress have to be planned before demolition starts, and the people using the building need to know what is happening each week. We phase work around active operations with strict safety controls and daily communication, so the facility keeps running while we build.

Our process for public and commercial work carries every job from bid documents to closeout: preconstruction and buyout, mobilization and submittals, construction with progress reporting and inspections, then punch list, as-built documentation, and turnover.

How is a commercial renovation bought?

How you buy the work depends on how far the design has gone.

• If the design is complete and you want competitive pricing, design-bid-build puts the finished drawings out to bid under one accountable general contract.
• If you want the contractor pricing the work while the design is still moving, construction manager at risk brings us in early, with a Guaranteed Maximum Price at a defined design milestone and open-book accounting.
• If you want one contract covering design and construction, design-build keeps the designers and the builders on the same team from the first sketch.

South Carolina public owners must follow the procurement rules that apply to their agency or jurisdiction. Our guide to CMAR, design-build, and design-bid-build in South Carolina explains the state framework and the distinction for local owners.

Licensing, bonding, and insurance

We are bonded and can furnish bid, performance, and payment bonds appropriate to the project through our surety. Our current bonding capacity is available on request when you provide project value and scope. We carry general liability, workers' compensation, and commercial auto insurance. Owners can confirm any contractor's license through the South Carolina Contractor's Licensing Board, and our capabilities and prequalification page lists what we send for a prequalification file.

Start a renovation or invite us to bid

Mike Reda, Partner and Chief Growth Officer, is the first call for new project inquiries. Call (864) 305-5307, email invitations to bid, RFQs, and drawings to welcome@bihnconstruction.com, or send the details through our project inquiry form. Most consultations are scheduled within 48 hours.