Vancouver Restaurant & Food-Service Build-Out Contractor

01What a restaurant build-out includes.

Scope varies with the menu, the kitchen and the base building, but a Metro Vancouver food-service build-out is built around the same demanding set of trades. Enduro coordinates all of them under one contract and one schedule:

• Demolition & strip-out of existing partitions and services
• Type I exhaust hoods — grease-rated canopy, duct and make-up air over the cooking line
• Type II hoods — heat and steam capture over dishwashers, ovens and steamers
• Kitchen mechanical / HVAC — make-up air balancing, ventilation and controls
• Gas piping & connections — cooking line and appliance hook-ups
• Plumbing & drainage — floor drains, hot water, mop and prep sinks
• Grease interceptor — sized to code on the sanitary side
• Walk-in coolers & freezers — refrigeration lines, condensers and controls
• Electrical — kitchen equipment power, distribution, lighting and controls
• Hood fire suppression — wet-chemical system plus building sprinkler and alarm
• Food-safe finishes — FRP wall panels, quarry or epoxy floors, coved bases, washable ceilings
• Millwork & casework — bar, service counter, host station and back-of-house
• Storefront & interior glazing — entry, feature walls and patio connection
• Washrooms & accessibility upgrades to the BC Building Code
• Health-authority coordination — Vancouver Coastal or Fraser Health plan approval
• Permits & code coordination — building, gas, plumbing, electrical and mechanical
• Commissioning & testing — hood balancing, gas certification, inspection readiness
• Closeout, warranty & O&M documentation

02The experience behind a build-out.

Restaurant experience on our team is first-hand. Our project managers have run restaurant builds from site selection and permits through to opening, and the trades a kitchen depends on are ones we manage on every fit-out.

In construction terms, a restaurant is a commercial fit-out with heavy kitchen mechanical, a fire-suppression system and a health review on top. Here is where that experience comes from:

Tell us about your space and your menu, and we will tell you plainly whether it fits and what it needs before you sign anything.

03General contractor or construction manager — which fits?

Enduro can deliver a food-service build-out two ways. The right one depends on how settled your design is and how much of the process you want to hold yourself.

Simply put: GC to build it, CM to steer it. Not sure which? Tell us where your project stands and we'll give you a straight recommendation — see our plain-language CM-or-GC guide.

04How a Metro Vancouver build-out runs, step by step.

A restaurant build-out in Metro Vancouver turns on its kitchen mechanical, its health approval and its trade coordination. The finishes are the straightforward part. Here is how we run one:

1. Feasibility & budget

   We walk the space, test your menu and kitchen against the base building, gas capacity and lease, and give you an early, honest number — so you know what fits before design gets expensive.

2. Design & health-plan coordination

   We work alongside your architect, kitchen designer and mechanical consultants, cross-checking drawings for buildability, code and the health-authority plan review — Vancouver Coastal or Fraser Health — that a food premises must clear.

3. Permits & approvals

   Most build-outs need a City of Vancouver building permit — gas, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits follow once it's issued — plus the separate health plan approval. A change of use from retail or office to food premises can trigger deeper review. Before demolition, we coordinate the WorkSafeBC-required hazardous-materials (asbestos) survey by a qualified person.

4. Procurement & long-lead

   We lock trade and material commitments at agreed prices and place long-lead orders — exhaust hoods, walk-in refrigeration, gas equipment, custom millwork — early, so nothing stalls your opening date.

5. Construction

   Subcontracted trades are sequenced and managed under one contract, with a super on site running trades, deliveries and safety day to day. We file the WorkSafeBC Notice of Project where the work requires it, and check quality as it's installed.

6. Commissioning, health inspection & closeout

   The mechanical subtrade balances the hoods and make-up air. The gas work is inspected under its permit, and refrigeration and life safety are tested. We work the deficiency list to zero and have the space ready for the pre-opening health inspection. Then you get the keys, with as-builts, warranties and O&M manuals.

05What a restaurant build-out costs in Vancouver BC.

Food-service cost is driven by the kitchen — how much exhaust, gas, refrigeration and grease infrastructure the space needs — and by the level of dining-room finish.

The kitchen is where the money concentrates: exhaust hoods, make-up air, gas, a grease interceptor and walk-in refrigeration can carry a large share of the budget before a single finish is chosen. Base-building condition, roof and gas capacity, health-driven upgrades and finish level all move the real number in either direction.

Enduro prices off real drawings when they exist and builds a costed budget with you when they don't — then confirms the number in writing after a site visit. For where 2026 costs are heading, read our Vancouver fit-out outlook.

06How long it takes.

Design coordination, health-plan approval and City of Vancouver permitting usually drive the overall schedule, and long-lead kitchen equipment can too. The phases of a Metro Vancouver food-service build-out:

Every restaurant is different: the space, the menu, the equipment and the permit path all set the schedule. We give you yours once we have seen the space and the drawings, with the long-lead equipment ordered early so it is on site when the kitchen is ready for it. See the Vancouver permit guide.

07Building inside a live plaza.

Many Metro Vancouver restaurants go into a working building: a strip mall still trading, a food hall still open, a mixed-use tower with tenants above. We phase the build so the neighbours keep operating:

The goal is a restaurant that opens on its date without shutting down the business next door. We built Maison Margiela at Oakridge this way in 2025: the noisy trades and deliveries moved to after-hours windows, and the hoarding had to look finished to shoppers while the mall stayed open. We also kept UBC's Biological Sciences Building running through planned water, sanitary, electrical and sprinkler shutdowns while rebuilding a research lab inside it.

08Work that shows the same trades.

Finished Enduro projects with the hard parts of a restaurant in them: a live mall after hours, exhaust and balancing, and a regulated store with roof work.

Live mall, after hours Maison Margiela Oakridge Park, Vancouver, BC Fume extraction, balancing UBC Chemistry Lab Vancouver, BC Regulated store, rooftop unit Norgate Cannabis North Vancouver, BC

See the full portfolio

09Restaurant build-out FAQ.

How much does a restaurant build-out cost in Vancouver BC?

A café or quick-service project may use a limited cooking line; a full-service restaurant adds Type I exhaust, make-up air, gas and refrigeration; a cold-shell or high-finish restaurant requires the most base-building and kitchen infrastructure. The existing building, services and finish level determine the actual number, which Enduro confirms from drawings and a site visit. These are scope bands, not a quote — Enduro confirms your number in writing after a site visit.

How long does a restaurant build-out take in Metro Vancouver?

Every space is different, so we set the schedule after we have seen the space, the drawings and the equipment list. Design coordination, Vancouver Coastal Health plan approval, City of Vancouver permitting and long-lead kitchen equipment usually drive the overall schedule, so the hoods and refrigeration are ordered early to protect your opening date.

What restaurant experience does Enduro bring?

Restaurant experience sits with the people who run your job. Our project managers have managed restaurant builds before joining Enduro, including new locations for a national quick-service chain, taken from site selection and permits through construction to opening. The trades around a kitchen (exhaust and balancing, sprinkler and fire alarm changes, plumbing, permits, after-hours work in buildings that stay open) are work we run on every fit-out. The hood, grease duct, fire suppression and gas go to subtrades who do that work every day, under one contract with us.

Do you install commercial kitchen exhaust hoods and grease interceptors?

Enduro is the general contractor. The Type I hood and grease duct, the Type II hoods, the wet-chemical fire-suppression system, the gas piping and the grease interceptor are each supplied and installed by a subtrade that specializes in that work, under its own permit where one is needed. We plan the sequence, set the schedule, check the work as it goes in and answer for all of it under one contract.

How does Vancouver Coastal Health approval work for a new restaurant?

Before a food premises opens, the health authority — Vancouver Coastal Health in Vancouver and the North Shore, Fraser Health in the Fraser Valley — reviews the plans and inspects the finished space. The review covers kitchen layout, food-safe finishes, handwashing and warewashing, refrigeration, ventilation and washrooms, and runs in parallel with the City building permit. Enduro builds to the approved health plans and readies the space for the pre-opening inspection.

What permits does a restaurant build-out need in Vancouver BC?

Most need a City of Vancouver building permit, with gas, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits following once it's issued, plus a separate health-authority plan approval; a liquor or food-primary licence is its own process. A change of use to a food premises commonly triggers deeper code review. Confirm current rules with the City and your health authority.

Can you build a restaurant in an occupied plaza?

Yes. Loud and disruptive work (core drilling, roof and hood penetrations, gas tie-ins) goes after hours. The space is hoarded and sealed, with dust and negative-air control. Exits and life safety stay live for the neighbours, and roof, grease-duct and gas shutdowns are booked with building management. We built the Maison Margiela boutique at Oakridge Park after hours while the mall stayed open.

Does Enduro self-perform the trades?

No. Enduro is the general contractor and construction manager — we hold the contract, plan and sequence the work, run daily site control and quality, and manage the subcontracted trades as your single point of accountability. On food-service work that means bringing the right kitchen-mechanical, refrigeration, gas and fire-suppression specialists onto the team. One company answers for budget, schedule and the finished space.

Are you licensed and insured to work in BC?

Yes — Enduro is licensed in the municipalities where it builds, carries $10-million commercial general liability insurance, is bondable, and is registered in good standing with WorkSafeBC. On commercial work we file the WorkSafeBC Notice of Project where required and coordinate any hazardous-materials survey the demolition scope calls for.

What areas do you serve?

Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Sea-to-Sky — including Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, North and West Vancouver, the Tri-Cities, Pitt Meadows, Squamish and Chilliwack.

10Keep reading.