Commercial interiors
Tenant-improvement permits that clear to a certificate of occupancy.
Commercial interior fit-outs — restaurant, retail, office, and medical — we prepare the TI package with occupancy, egress, ADA, and MEP scope, file it, and carry it through review, inspections, and the certificate of occupancy.
Who it's for
Who needs tenant-improvement permitting
Tenant improvements are deceptively multi-disciplinary: even a modest fit-out can trigger building, fire, zoning-use, and health review, plus ADA path-of-travel and energy compliance. And there's almost always a lease commencement date the permit is racing.
GCs, brands, and landlords use us to run that multi-department review in parallel and keep the TI on the lease clock — through corrections, inspections, and the certificate of occupancy that lets the tenant open.
General contractors
Interior fit-outs where building, fire, and health review must move together to hit the open date.
National brands & franchises
Repeatable build-outs across markets, each with its own occupancy and health rules.
Landlords & developers
Delivering tenant spaces where the CO gates lease commencement and rent.
Restaurant & medical operators
Food-service and medical fit-outs with added health, grease, and specialty review.
Typical projects
The scopes we file this permit type for most often.
Required documents
What a complete, first-pass submittal package needs. Exact requirements vary by jurisdiction — we confirm the local checklist before filing.
| Document | Why it's needed / notes |
|---|---|
| TI plan set | Architectural interior plans plus MEP, sealed as the jurisdiction requires. |
| Occupancy & egress analysis | Occupancy classification, load, and egress / exiting compliance. |
| Accessibility (ADA) compliance | Path of travel, restrooms, and accessibility per the adopted standard. |
| Energy compliance | COMcheck / Title 24 for altered lighting, mechanical, and envelope scope. |
| Health documentation (food / medical) | Health-department plan review for food-service or medical build-outs. |
| Application, valuation & authorization | Application, valuation, license, and landlord / tenant authorization. |
Common rejection causes
The issues that send this permit type back at intake or plan review — and what we pre-check to prevent them.
Occupancy / egress problems
Occupant load or exiting that doesn't comply. We check the occupancy and egress basis before filing.
ADA path-of-travel gaps
Accessibility upgrades triggered by the work but not shown. We confirm the ADA scope.
Unknown existing conditions
Plans that don't reconcile with as-built conditions, drawing comments. We flag reconciliation needs.
Change-of-use trigger missed
A fit-out that actually changes occupancy without addressing it. We check whether change-of-use applies.
Health review omitted
Food or medical scopes filed without health-department review. We route it in parallel.
Energy compliance missing
Altered lighting / mechanical without the required energy documentation.
Agencies involved
The review bodies that can touch this permit. Coordinating across them — in the right order — is where projects stall without an expediter.
Building department
Reviews the interior construction and MEP and issues the permit.
Fire marshal
Egress, occupancy load, and life-safety review for the space.
Health department
Food-service and medical build-out plan review.
Planning / zoning
Confirms the tenant use is permitted, especially if it differs from prior use.
Accessibility review
ADA / accessibility compliance where separately reviewed.
How Alliance handles the process
One accountable team owns the permit end to end. Here's the path for this service.
Scope & use check
We confirm the jurisdiction, whether the fit-out triggers change-of-use, and which departments (building, fire, health, zoning) review the scope.
Package assembly
We compile the TI plan set, occupancy / egress and ADA analysis, energy compliance, and health documentation to spec.
Multi-department filing
We file and route building, fire, and health review in parallel to protect the lease clock.
Review & corrections
We track each department and resolve occupancy, ADA, and health comments quickly.
Issuance & inspections
We deliver the permit and schedule inspections across trades.
Certificate of occupancy
We carry the project through final and the certificate of occupancy so the tenant can open.
What we handle vs. what you stay responsible for
We are a permit documentation and submission company — not a contractor, architect, or engineer. Clear lines keep your project moving and compliant.
Alliance handles
- Confirming use, occupancy, and required departments
- Assembling the TI, ADA, energy, and health package
- Filing and running multi-department review in parallel
- Tracking corrections across building / fire / health
- Driving inspections and the certificate of occupancy
You (or your design/build team) handle
- Interior design and sealed plans
- Occupancy, egress, and ADA design decisions
- The physical build-out and MEP work
- Contractor licensing
- Landlord / tenant authorizations and lease terms
Typical timeline variables
Nobody can promise a date the jurisdiction controls. These are the factors that actually move this permit's timeline — the ones we manage to keep it short.
Related jurisdictions
TI review depends on the jurisdiction's occupancy interpretation, health-department role, and whether your fit-out changes the use — all of which vary locally. We confirm the department mix up front so the lease clock isn't lost to a surprise reviewer.
See local requirements in our permit guides, or tell us the space and use.
Case study
A representative engagement. Client details are anonymized; the permit specifics are typical of this service.
The challenge
A chain opening locations against fixed lease-commencement dates kept losing time because building, fire, and health review weren't run in parallel, and one location's fit-out quietly triggered a change of use nobody had addressed.
What Alliance did
We confirmed occupancy and use per location, ran building / fire / health review in parallel, and handled the change-of-use analysis where the prior use differed — tracking every department to the open date.
The result
The build-outs reached certificate of occupancy on the lease clock, and the change-of-use location was caught at filing instead of at a failed inspection.
Trusted by leading builders and brands — including Dream Finders Homes, Tesla, Verizon, Hyatt, and Sunnova.
Frequently asked questions
Specific to tenant-improvement permits. Ask us anything we didn't cover.
Does my fit-out need a permit if the space is already built?
Almost always — interior alterations, MEP changes, and finishes typically require a TI permit, and the work can trigger ADA, energy, and occupancy review. We confirm the scope and file it.
Will a build-out trigger a change of use?
Sometimes — if the new tenant's use differs from the prior occupancy. We check this up front so it's addressed at filing, not discovered at inspection.
Do you handle restaurant and medical build-outs?
Yes — food-service and medical fit-outs add health-department review, which we run in parallel with building and fire.
Can you hit our lease commencement date?
We sequence and run departments in parallel to protect the date, and give you honest, jurisdiction-specific timing. The office's queue still governs the floor.
Do you take it all the way to the CO?
Yes — through corrections, inspections, and the certificate of occupancy that lets the tenant open.
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