Dental Office Construction Cost: Expectations vs Reality

How dental office construction cost is determined

David Company LLC is a design-build firm specializing in medical and dental clinics. When dentists wonder how much it will cost to build, here are the attributes that help us determine costs.

1. Location & building type
2. What the building owner is willing to provide for tenant improvement allowance, if any
3. Length of lease
4. What the client can get preapproved for
5. Practice type
6. What level of design and finishes are they looking for?

These are all the things we ask when we meet for the first time. Without having a space or location in mind, it is hard to provide a budget not to exceed. We only offer a budget after we have found the space and location for the proposed new practice. Then we give a construction budget number for the clients to take to the bank. Once the client is approved for a loan, we have our leasing agent start preparing an LOI for the building owner and then making it possible to execute the lease. Never have the client sign a lease without knowing the cost for design, construction, and equipment and without being preapproved by the bank.

Hire an experienced team to be on your side when determining costs

I have personally been in business for over 25 years. In that period, I have completed construction of over 202 medical and dental projects provided multiple designs, including various other types of TI and ground up based projects in the Puget Sound area. We are a small firm with a larger firm's abilities, which allows us to be very cost-effective.

We provide space planning, design, architectural stamped drawings to acquire building permits along with project managment and construction services. We are a single source point of contact to providing all the services needed for your new office facility. From small remodels to new construction projects, I can confidently say we have all your needs covered.

What David Company provides within the design process:

• We provide up to two different space plans allowing minor changes within our design fees.
• We provide design services for a complete permit set of plans to submit to the building department to secure your building permit. Included are the complete architectural stamped plans.
• We inspect any potential office space to ensure the power service is adequate, and heating & air condition units meet the clinic's needs.
• We provide preliminary construction budgets for you and your financial institution.
• We provide all the design and information needed for low voltage, telephone/data, computer systems, software, audio/visual, and other options.
• We provide management and construction services guaranteed to see your project completed on time and within the budget.
• We provide custom dental cabinets and designs if required.
• We also can refer you to local financial institutions that have the best terms and rates available.
• We also provide leasing services.
• We have an open book cost policy for all our projects, meaning we provide all bid results and costs from subcontractors and consultants to our clients. There are no hidden costs in our design-build process.

Items to consider when constructing a new facility

There are a few things you may not have considered and need to determine for your new facility. Will your new facility:

• Require a long commute from home?
• Be purchased or leased?
• A practice built from scratch.
• Be high or low volume?
• Be located by demographic research or other means. Location is one of the many items that are key to a successful practice.

Do you have a network of professional advisors? Without good advice, anyone will make a few poor decisions along the way. As a highly trained professional like yourself, you know that you will save time, money, and headaches by hiring a well-qualified and experienced design-build team for the task at hand.

In conclusion

Our design and construction process puts our client's in the driver's seat with all the control. It is almost like owning your own construction company without headaches and liabilities. I am available at your convenience anytime in the future if you would like to discuss our services. I have numerous letters of recommendations and pictures that are available. If you have any question contact us today.