Building or Refreshing Your Dental Practice. American Dental Association

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firm, its service may be limited to completing your construction documents and sending them to you. You may then have to hire an additional architect with a license in your state to file for your permit. There may be certain regional exceptions to this regulation, so do your homework to understand the time and total costs involved.

      After review, the architect will receive the initial “city comments” from the planning board. These comments are typically questions or concerns that the city planners want your architect to address before they issue a permit.

      Creating a Custom Dental Equipment Specification Sheet with Your Dental Equipment Consultant/Supplier

      Consider these two alternate scenarios:

      1. Before the engineering stage, my architect and dental equipment consultant/supplier created a custom “dental equipment specification sheet.” This sheet became part of my official construction documents that went out to contractors to bid. When the contractor finished my project, the final payout was virtually identical to the original bid quoted. I stayed within my budget.

      2. My architect and dental equipment consultant/ supplier were lax in providing the necessary written detailed equipment information. As a result, many equipment requirements were missing from my construction documents. This lack of detail created an abundance of change orders during tenant improvements, and my construction costs spiraled out of control. When the contractor finished my project, the final payout was much higher than the original bid quoted. I was well over my budget, and my available working capital shrunk dramatically.

      Unfortunately, the second scenario happens too often in the dental industry. The industry’s failure to provide the architect’s engineers with detailed written dental equipment requirements is the single biggest flaw in the process of opening a new dental office. Not having complete control of the engineering phase in your project will adversely affect your budget. Only two people can provide this written information for the engineers, your dental equipment consultant/supplier and your architect. Spend more up front to hire the companies willing to create a custom dental equipment specification sheet for you. They will save you many times the cost of this investment, as well as time delays and complications.

      Custom Dental Equipment Specification Sheet Checklist

      The more written details included in your custom dental equipment specification sheet, the better your protection against change orders. A thorough custom dental equipment specification sheet should be completed before the engineering phase begins and before the construction documents go out to bid to the contractors, and should include the following:

       A detailed list of every piece of dental equipment and dental manufactured cabinetry going into a given office, either now or in the future, no matter if you are buying equipment new from a dental equipment company, moving used equipment, or buying it on eBay®.

       An assigned numerical identification, followed by the quantity, for every piece of equipment, to identify the exact location in your office that you want it located.

       Columns for cold water, hot water, drain, air, vacuum, natural gas, nitrous oxide, oxygen, and vent. Any piece of equipment that requires any of these features receives a check in the corresponding box.

       The number of electrical amps each piece of equipment draws, as well as whether it requires a 110- or 220-volt circuit.

       Identification of any equipment that requires dedicated circuits, low-voltage wiring, a remote switch, or any unusual nema (plug) configurations.

       A “remarks” column carrying descriptions more detailed than those the bidding electricians and plumbers will see in their corresponding pages in the construction documents.

       Columns clarifying who is responsible for providing and installing every piece of equipment or cabinetry going into your new office.

       A highlighted comment on each of the engineer’s respective mechanical, plumbing, and electrical pages. This comment might read: “Please refer to dental equipment specification sheet for further dental equipment requirements.” It will alert the bidding subcontractors to additional equipment requirements that aren’t on their sheets, which they will request from their contractor.

       A list of “Dental Equipment General Notes,” equipment requirements that require further clarification.

      Spend more up front to hire the companies willing to create a custom dental equipment specification sheet for you. They will save you many times the cost of this investment, as well as time delays and complications.

      When your architect is ready to send the finished set of construction documents to the city for review, ask him to delay sending them out to bid until your equipment consultant/supplier has reviewed the plans one last time. The consultant/supplier should review the mechanical, electric, and plumbing pages for any remaining omissions, discrepancies, or errors in the dental equipment requirements.

      The consultant/supplier can then meet with the architect and create a list (addendum) of these remaining missing requirements. The addendum becomes part of the official construction documents that will be sent to the contractors to bid. These requirements must be on paper to protect you from “change orders” during the construction phase of your project. This extra effort from your dental equipment consultant/supplier and architect is worth its weight in gold.

      Designing Cabinetry for Your Office

      The architect and the contractor are both qualified to design cabinets for your new office, but it may be preferable to have your architect be responsible for cabinetry design and include the drawings in your construction documents.

      First, when your construction documents go out to the contractors for bid, a separate line item indicates the cost to build your new dental office cabinetry. If these drawings are not included in your construction documents, the cost quoted for building your cabinets may only be a wild guess. Remember, any contractor trying to win your project will have an incentive to quote a cost in the low range if specific design features are not detailed. This situation can leave you vulnerable to change orders.

      Second, the cabinetry design phase can be quite time consuming, as can the construction itself. If this process doesn’t begin until after tenant improvements are underway, you run the risk of project delays when the cabinets aren’t ready to install at the appropriate time. If your architect has included the cabinetry design in your construction documents, delays will not become an issue.

      Monitoring the Contractor Bidding Process

      Monitoring a construction bidding process involves much more than looking

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