For: Commercial General Contractors
Commercial tenant improvement projects have different demands than ground-up construction — occupied spaces, brand-standard compliance, tight scheduling, and frequent after-hours work. Here's what GCs managing TI projects in Northwest Arkansas need to understand about the painting scope.
On many TI projects, the painting scope gets left as a general allowance until the owner or tenant finalizes selections. This creates scheduling problems. Once your painting sub is mobilized on a TI, they need confirmed color selections, surface specifications, and sheen requirements before they can purchase and stage materials. Any delay in selections ripples into your schedule. The best practice: get a preliminary product list from your painting sub early in design, allow for owner-confirmation substitution, and build a decision deadline into your RFI log.
If your TI is in an occupied building — a multi-tenant office, a retail center, or an active healthcare campus — your painting sub needs specific protocols: low-VOC products where required, off-hours scheduling, drop-cloth and protection requirements, and staged access. Not every painting contractor has the experience or the staffing to work around active tenants. Ask specifically about occupied-facility experience during your pre-bid process, and confirm the specific protocols they use.
National retail and restaurant tenants frequently require corporate brand-standard paint systems. Your painting sub needs to be able to source the specified products, submit for corporate review, and substitute only with written approval. This is standard practice for any commercial contractor who has done TI work for national brands, but it's not universal. Confirm product submittal capability before award — it will save you a change order mid-project.
TI projects in occupied buildings frequently require after-hours work — especially in the final push before turnover. A painting sub who can't work nights or weekends will hold up your schedule at the worst possible time. Confirm availability and any overtime premium structure in the subcontract, and get a specific commitment for your project's delivery window.
At project closeout, your owner's package typically includes paint specifications, product information, touch-up quantities, and as-built color documentation. A professional painting sub should be able to provide a complete closeout package — product data sheets, color names and codes, sheen specifications, and recommended touch-up procedure. Build this requirement into your subcontract language so it's not a last-minute scramble.
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