Commercial air conditioning differs from domestic work in three ways that all cost money: the building is occupied while the work happens, somebody other than the occupier usually owns the fabric, and the system has to satisfy a duty to the people using the space rather than only a preference. Every one of those shapes the specification before the equipment is chosen.
Commercial air conditioning installation: the lease decides more than the survey
In most commercial premises the tenant wants the system and the landlord owns the elevation the condenser has to go on. Consent for alterations, restrictions on plant positions, reinstatement obligations at the end of the term and who owns the equipment afterwards are all lease questions, and they should be answered before a firm is asked to quote.
Commercial AC installation in an occupied building
Out of hours access, protecting the space, noise limits during trading, permits, insurance and method statements are normal requirements and they are labour rather than equipment. This is the main reason the same equipment costs more to install in a shop or an office than in a house, and it is why a commercial quote should say when the work is happening.
Specification follows the use
An office is a steady occupancy with a known equipment load. A restaurant has a kitchen adding heat and an extract system already moving air. A hotel has bedrooms that need individual control and quiet running at night, which usually means one head per room and an outdoor arrangement that neighbours will accept. The building type drives the system type.
Maintenance is part of the purchase
Commercial systems carry duties that domestic ones mostly do not: leak checking above certain refrigerant charges, record keeping, and for larger systems periodic energy inspections. A commercial quote that does not come with a maintenance proposal is half a quote, because the obligations start the day it is commissioned.
Questions people ask about commercial air conditioning
Do we need the landlord's consent?
Almost certainly, for anything fixed to the fabric or visible on the elevation. Most commercial leases require consent for alterations and many require reinstatement at the end of the term. Getting that consent in writing before ordering equipment avoids the worst outcome, which is a system that has to come out.
Is there a legal duty to provide cooling?
There is a duty to provide a reasonable working temperature and adequate ventilation rather than a duty to install air conditioning specifically. In practice, in a modern glazed building with a summer overheating problem, cooling is how that duty gets met.
What is different about hotel air conditioning?
Individual room control and night time noise. Guests expect to set their own temperature and expect to hear nothing, which pushes the design towards a head per room, careful outdoor unit placement and attention to duct and fan noise that an open plan office does not need.
Does a commercial system need statutory inspections?
Systems above certain refrigerant charges require periodic leak checking and record keeping, and larger air conditioning installations are subject to periodic energy inspection requirements. The obligations follow the size of the system, so establish which apply at the design stage.