Commercial Demolition NYC | Strip-Out & Building Take-Down

Commercial demolition under way on a New York job.

Commercial and industrial

When people call us about commercial demolition

A lease has ended and the space has to go back to shell condition
A new tenant is fitting out and the previous fit-out is in the way
A restaurant is being stripped, kitchen and ductwork included
A landlord is repositioning a floor between lettings

What commercial demolition covers

Partitions, ceilings, raised floors and joinery
Shopfronts, signage fixings and display systems
Commercial kitchens: equipment, extract ductwork, canopies and grease runs
Redundant MEP back to the point of isolation
Floor finishes and screeds
Making good back to a defined shell-and-core standard
Whole-building take-down: DOB demolition filing, site safety submission, utility disconnect certifications and adjoining-owner notice
Soft strip then structural take-down in a designed sequence, foundations out, ground cleared to grade

"Back to shell" means whatever the lease says it means

Dilapidations and reinstatement clauses vary a great deal, and the difference between stripping to the demise and stripping to the structure can be a large number. Before we quote we would rather read the schedule or the reinstatement clause than assume. It is the single most common cause of an argument at the end of a commercial strip-out, and it is entirely avoidable.

How commercial demolition runs

The same order every time, whatever the scale.

We walk the site

We look at what is coming out, what is staying, and how we get to it. Access decides most of the plan in this city: a fourth-floor walk-up and a loading dock are two different jobs even when the scope is identical.

We tell you which filing you need

Full structure, interior gut, or work small enough to sit outside a filing. You get a straight answer on which path applies and what it needs before we quote, not after you have committed.

Asbestos gets settled first

Anything built before April 1987 needs an asbestos assessment before a permit is issued. We arrange the investigator and the ACP-5 filing. This is the step that most often moves a start date, so we start it early.

We protect, then we start

Floors, stairs, lift lobbies and anything staying get covered before a tool comes out. Utilities are proved dead. Then the work runs in a set order, with the route material takes out of the building settled before any of it moves.

You get the site back clean

Loads leave covered, to a permitted transfer station, with documentation for each one. We sweep out and hand over a space the next trade can start in.

What moves the price on commercial demolition

Every one of these moves the number, so you can see what a quote is actually responding to — and tell us the ones you already know when you call.

The reinstatement standard the lease actually requires
Whether work has to run out of hours or overnight
Loading access, service lift availability and the goods route
Whether a commercial kitchen with extract and grease is involved
Abatement in older buildings, which is common in ceiling voids and floor tile

The DOB permit process

Commercial demolition: your questions

Can you work overnight?

Yes, and in occupied retail and office buildings that is often the only workable answer. It has to be agreed with building management, and the noise and access rules do not stop applying at six.

What happens to the extract duct in a restaurant?

Grease-laden ductwork is removed as a contaminated item rather than as clean metal. It is dirty, heavy work and it should be priced in from the start, not discovered.

Do we need a permit for a fit-out strip?

Usually an Alt-2 filing, because it involves several trades without changing the building’s use, egress or occupancy. We will confirm against your actual scope.