Fitting out a commercial unit involves something that never applies to a home: every day the shutters stay down costs money. That is why the programme here is not a preference, it is part of the brief, and the works are planned backwards from the day you have to open.
At Grupo Construcciones Alicante we fit out shops, offices, hospitality venues and industrial units across Alicante and the province. We handle the whole unit: layout, services sized for the activity, finishes, accessibility and the technical requirements the council will look at when you apply for your licence. We work with your own architect or introduce you to practices that know how the local authority handles these applications.
We call you back and come to see it. Reply the same working day.
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A well-designed unit sells more, and that is not a slogan: the lighting, the route customers take through the space and the position of the counter change how long people stay and what they see while they wait. In hospitality, the difference between a well-planned kitchen and an improvised one is measured in covers per service.
The other benefit is avoiding the classic problem: finishing the works and discovering something is missing for the activity licence. Insufficient ventilation, a toilet that fails accessibility, a badly resolved extraction flue or compartmentation in the wrong place all mean redoing work in a unit that is already fitted out. Design those requirements in from day one and the job is done once.
In a commercial unit the calendar rules. This is how we organise the fit-out from the first visit:
We visit the unit and check what governs everything: contracted electrical supply, available connections, clear height, extraction route, means of escape and the condition of the structure. Also what activity you plan to run, because that sets the requirements.
A fixed quote broken down by trade and with a programme showing which week each one starts and a realistic opening date. Here the dates matter as much as the price.
We strip out the unit keeping whatever stays, and leave the incoming services and service routes ready before anything is built. Moving a waste pipe later costs three times as much.
We install services, partitions and finishes, overlapping trades wherever possible, which is the only real way to shorten the programme without losing quality.
We test the electrical board, air conditioning, extraction and wastes under load before finishing surfaces, and check the dimensions the council inspector will later review.
We hand over the unit finished and clean, with the installation certificates and the technical documentation you need to submit your activity declaration.
Retail. The shop front and the lighting rule. We work on the customer’s route through the space, the till point, the stockroom and the fitting room, with flooring that takes the traffic and finishes that are easy to clean. Brand identity is built into the works, not stuck on at the end.
Hospitality. The most demanding fit-out of all: extraction ducted to roof level, forced ventilation, acoustic insulation to avoid problems with residents above, cold rooms and a kitchen with hygienic finishes, and a bar designed around the actual service. Extraction and noise requirements are what delay most projects when they are left until last.
Offices and clinics. Flexible layouts with drylining and glazed partitions, structured cabling, lighting suited to screen work and acoustic control between rooms. Clinics add specific health requirements for finishes and services.
Industrial units. Slab, doors, internal offices, mezzanines, industrial lighting and ventilation. Here the key is usually how the floor stands up to forklift traffic and the fire compartmentation.
Before signing a lease it is worth checking four things, because they are what later blows the budget: the available electrical supply (increasing it can cost a fortune and take months), whether there is an extraction route to roof level if you plan a kitchen, the clear height once the ceiling is fitted with its ductwork, and whether your intended activity is even permitted in that location under the local planning rules.
A unit can have a wonderful rent and still be unusable for your business because of any one of those four points. Tell us before you sign and we will view it with you and explain what you are taking on. Half an hour that saves very expensive disappointments.
The other piece of advice is not to start on site without knowing which consent applies. Many activities now open under a responsible declaration, which lets you start trading once the technical documentation is submitted, but that does not mean there are no requirements: it means the inspection comes afterwards, and if something fails, you correct it with the business already open.
Commercial fit-outs we carry out regularly in Alicante:
It depends on the activity. Many retail and office uses are now processed through a responsible declaration, submitting the technical report and certificates; activities with greater impact (kitchens, public assembly, noisy or hazardous uses) require an environmental licence and take considerably longer. The building consent for the fit-out runs alongside. We tell you which applies and coordinate with the engineer who signs the documentation.
A medium-sized retail unit in reasonable condition is usually six to eight weeks. Hospitality runs to ten or twelve because of the extraction, air conditioning and kitchen. If the unit is a shell or the incoming supplies need renewing, add the time the utility companies take, which is what we control least and what delays most openings.
Not during a complete fit-out, but refurbishments can be phased, closing one area while the rest keeps trading. In shops we have done this by concentrating the noisy work outside opening hours. It lengthens the overall programme but keeps the till ringing; we weigh it up with you based on what each closed day costs your business.
In most premises open to the public, yes, and its dimensions and fittings are regulated: turning space, a door wide enough, drop-down grab rails and set heights for the fittings. Access from the street must also be step-free, resolved with a ramp or whatever the frontage allows. It is one of the points most often overlooked, and the one that then holds up the opening.
Yes, and it should be resolved before anything else. In hospitality the duct normally has to run to roof level above the building, which means crossing the light well or the façade and, almost always, negotiating with the residents’ association and obtaining their consent. If the unit has no existing duct and the association refuses, a cooking business may simply not be viable there. That is why it is the first thing we check.
Of course: we build the design you give us and coordinate with the appointed supervising engineer. If you don’t yet have one, we work regularly with practices in the province who know the local authority process and can introduce you. Either way, the person signing the design and supervision is independent from the contractor, and that is a safeguard for you.