Why this page exists
Almost every operator who calls us about a new walk-in has a date in mind, and almost every one of those dates was set by when the equipment can be delivered rather than by when it can legally be installed and switched on. Those are two very different numbers in Boston.
We would rather tell you that before you sign anything than after.
The approvals involved
Health plan review, Inspectional Services
Any change to a food establishment’s layout or equipment generally requires plan review before the work happens. This is the long pole. Submission, review, comments, resubmission where needed. Two to six weeks is typical, and it is not a queue you can jump by starting the work and asking afterwards.
Building permit
A walk-in is a structure. Depending on size, location and whether anything is being altered to accommodate it, a building permit applies. Where the installation involves any structural modification — a doorway widened, a floor reinforced, a wall opened to get panels in — this becomes a more substantial submission.
Electrical permit
New circuits for the condensing unit, the evaporator, the lighting, the door and anti-sweat heaters, and on a freezer the under-floor heating. Licensed electrical work, permitted and inspected.
Plumbing permit
The condensate drain has to terminate correctly, with an air gap and a trap in the right place. Running a drain to the nearest convenient floor sink without a permit is the kind of shortcut that surfaces at the final inspection.
Fire department sign-off
Where the installation affects egress, sprinkler coverage or suppression, Boston Fire becomes involved. A walk-in placed under an existing sprinkler head changes that head’s coverage, and that has to be addressed rather than noticed.
The realistic timeline
- Survey and design, 1 to 2 weeks. Measuring the space, confirming access, sizing the refrigeration to the actual load rather than the catalogue.
- Drawings and submission, 1 to 2 weeks.
- Plan review, 2 to 6 weeks. Out of anybody’s hands.
- Equipment lead time, 2 to 8 weeks, running in parallel where the specification is settled.
- Installation, 3 to 10 days depending on size and access.
- Inspections and sign-off, 1 to 2 weeks.
Eight to fourteen weeks end to end on a job with no complications. If you need a box running for a seasonal opening, count backwards from that date now.
The things that add time
- Access. Basement boxes in the older restaurant stock around the North End and Chinatown mean panels carried down narrow stairs, which limits panel size and sometimes decides the whole design.
- Rooftop condensing units mean rigging, sometimes a crane, a street occupancy permit for the lift, and a roofing sign-off on any penetration.
- Seaport and downtown loading restrictions, which dictate when deliveries can happen at all.
- Ventilation for an enclosed condensing unit. If the only available space has no make-up air, that has to be solved at design stage rather than discovered in July.
- Existing non-compliance uncovered during review. Plan review looks at the whole establishment, not only your new box.
What we handle
We manage the permitting process rather than handing you a list of offices to visit. Survey, drawings, submission, responding to review comments, coordinating the licensed electrical and plumbing trades, and being there for inspections. Installations are warranted up to ten years depending on scope.
What we will not do is tell you a date we cannot hold. If plan review takes six weeks, it takes six weeks, and a contractor who promises otherwise is either planning to install without approval or has not read the process.