A restaurant site survey checklist records the building as it is before anyone draws a layout: dimensions and ceiling heights, structure and roof, electrical service, gas, water and sewer, grease interceptor options, existing heating and cooling, hood exhaust paths, storefront and doors, the accessible route and restrooms, slab and floor drains, and code red flags.
- Do a quick site check before the lease and a full survey before the first test fit.
- Group the checklist by area and write "not verified" instead of leaving a blank.
- A Matterport scan is a measurable record of every visible surface, but it cannot see inside walls or read utility capacity.
- Field-verify power, gas, water and sewer before equipment orders go out.
- Put what the survey finds into the landlord work letter while you still have leverage.
The drawings that come with a lease describe the building someone meant to build. Your kitchen has to fit the one that is actually there. A site survey closes the gap: before anyone draws a layout, someone records the dimensions, structure, utilities and problems. Miss one and it comes back as a redesign, a change order or a failed inspection. Here is the restaurant site survey checklist we would hand a surveyor, grouped by area.
What is a restaurant site survey, and when should it happen?
A restaurant site survey, also called an existing conditions survey, is a record of the space as it is today: measured dimensions, structure, utilities, roof, storefront and accessibility. Do a quick check before you sign the lease, then a full survey after the lease and before the first test fit. Every drawing that follows is only as good as the survey under it.
Before the lease, look for deal-breakers: no gas, a small electrical service, no path for a hood duct. Our free site check gives you the questions to ask the landlord. After the lease, the design and the landlord work letter both need the full record. In the restaurant opening timeline, the survey sits right before test fit, so whatever it misses travels into design, pricing and construction.
What should a restaurant site survey checklist cover?
Everything the designers, engineers and general contractor (GC) would otherwise guess: the shell, structure, each utility from street to panel, the roof, storefront, accessible route, slab and anything that looks like a code problem. Group it by area and write "not verified" instead of leaving a blank. Our site survey workspace enforces that before the technician leaves.
Space, dimensions and ceiling heights
- Suite dimensions wall to wall, column centers and column sizes
- Demising wall locations, construction and fire-rating labels
- Height to the roof deck, to the bottom of the joists and to any existing ceiling
- Ceiling obstructions: beams, ducts, sprinkler mains, conduit, roof drain lines
- Existing walls, doors and finishes, marked stay or remove
Structure and roof
New rooftop units (RTUs) and hood fans add weight and holes. You cannot confirm roof capacity in the field, but you can capture what the structural engineer needs.
- Roof framing type (bar joists, wood trusses, steel beams), member size, spacing and direction
- Beams or columns near the likely hood, walk-in and RTU spots
- Roofing type, approximate age and who holds the roof warranty
- Existing curbs and penetrations worth reusing
- Any shell or structural drawings the landlord has
Electrical service
- Service size in amps, voltage and phase (for example, 120/208V three-phase)
- Panel and subpanel locations, with readable photos of every label and schedule
- Spare breaker spaces
- Meter location, and whether the service is dedicated to your suite or shared
- Transformer location and utility name
Gas service
- Whether gas reaches the suite at all, and whether it is active
- Meter location, rating in cubic feet per hour, and delivery pressure
- Size and route of existing gas piping
- Utility name, so the load request can go out early
Water, sewer and grease
Grease rules come from the local sewer authority as much as the plumbing code. Seattle, for example, requires restaurants and commercial kitchens to install and maintain a grease interceptor 1. Size, type and location rules vary by jurisdiction, so record what exists and how much room you have.
- Water line size, meter size, main shutoff and backflow preventer
- Static water pressure, if you can test it
- Water heater type, capacity and location, with a nameplate photo
- Sewer line size, location, flow direction and depth at each cleanout
- Existing grease interceptor: size, location, lids, condition and last pump-out
- Room for an in-ground interceptor outside, or a smaller unit inside
- Sewer authority name and its fats, oils and grease (FOG) contact
Heating, cooling and hood exhaust paths
The hood is where a thin survey hurts most. Hood plans go through fire and mechanical review, often against NFPA 96, the National Fire Protection Association standard for commercial cooking ventilation. Delaware's State Fire Marshal, for one, wants hood plans drawn to scale in accordance with NFPA 96, with termination details on a roof plan or wall elevation 2. If the survey shows no clear duct path, the design is guessing.
- Existing RTUs: count, location and nameplate photo
- Existing exhaust and make-up air fans, and whether they run
- A clear vertical path from the likely hood location to the roof, obstructions noted
- Distances from the likely fan spot to roof edges, parapets, air intakes and neighboring units
- Any existing hood: type, size, nameplate and fire suppression tag
Storefront, doors and the delivery path
Equipment people make the same point from the other end: a survey tells you the dimensions you have to work with when ordering 3.
- Storefront width, door locations, swing and hardware
- Rear door size and the full truck-to-kitchen route, every turn measured
- Clear openings for walk-in panels, hood sections and the largest piece of equipment
- Sign band dimensions and landlord sign criteria
Accessible route and restrooms
Measure what the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards measure. Under the 2010 ADA Standards, doors on an accessible route need a clear width of 32 inches minimum, and thresholds are capped at 1/2 inch, with a narrow exception for existing beveled thresholds 4. Alter a primary function area, such as the dining room, and the accessible path of travel to it, including the restrooms serving it, must be upgraded too, up to a cost cap: the regulations define "disproportionate" as over 20% of the cost of the alteration to that area 5. State and local codes can be stricter; confirm with your plan reviewer.
- Route from parking and the sidewalk to the entrance: slopes, curb ramps, level changes
- Entry door clear width, threshold height and landing
- Restroom dimensions, door clear width, fixtures and fixture clearances
Slab, floor drains and code red flags
- Slab-on-grade or elevated floor, plus cracks, patches or level problems
- Floor drains and floor sinks, measured to column lines
- Saw-cut slab patches, which hint at where under-slab plumbing runs
- Fire sprinkler riser and fire alarm panel locations
- Number and location of exits
- Previous use: if it was not a restaurant, ask your plan reviewer what a change of use triggers
- Open permits, visible unpermitted work, and any environmental report on an older building
Tape and photos or a Matterport scan: which should you use?
Use the scan for the record and the tape for the dimensions that matter most. A tape-and-photo survey is fast and cheap, but it only captures what the surveyor thought to measure. A Matterport scan captures every visible surface, so a designer can measure later without a return trip. Neither one sees inside walls or tells you what a gas meter can deliver.
Matterport publishes its own accuracy figure for the Pro3 camera: "Pro3 has an error rate of approximately 20 millimeters at a 10 meter range for raw depth output." 6 That is roughly three-quarters of an inch at 33 feet, and Matterport recommends measuring between near points, within 10 m, for the most consistent results 6. For layout, test fit and as-built drawings of a restaurant-sized space, that is workable. For tight spots, such as a walk-in between two columns or a hood under a beam, check the critical dimension on site with a tape or laser measure.
What a scan will not do:
- See inside walls, under the slab or above a hard ceiling
- Read a panel schedule or nameplate nobody photographed up close
- Tell you service capacity, gas or water pressure, or sewer depth
- Confirm what the utility company will actually deliver
The utility half is still field work: open the panel, read the meter, pull the cleanout cap, call the utility. If you buy drawings made from a scan, ask what accuracy they are produced to. The U.S. Institute of Building Documentation publishes a Level of Accuracy (LOA) Specification as a standard for documenting and verifying the accuracy of building documentation deliverables 7. Name the level you need in the scope.
What does Concept Services capture, and why?
We capture each site three ways and deliver all three into the project before design starts: a Matterport scan, as-built drawings in DWG (AutoCAD) and PDF, and a field-verified utility report. The utility report covers what a camera cannot see.
What do you do with the survey once you have it?
Put it in the project file everyone works from, then use it for three things: landlord asks, equipment orders and design.
- Landlord asks. Raise a small service, missing gas or a missing interceptor in the work letter while you still have leverage.
- Equipment. Foodservice Equipment & Supplies magazine's advice to equipment buyers is to complete the survey before finalizing orders 3. That matters most for anything on the long-lead equipment list.
- Design. The test fit and permit drawings start from the as-built, not the prototype plan.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a site survey and an as-built drawing?
The site survey is the field work: measuring, photographing, scanning and checking utilities. The as-built drawing is the product of that work, a plan of the space as it actually exists that designers and engineers draw on. A good as-built comes with the scan, photos and notes that prove its lines.
Is a Matterport scan accurate enough for restaurant design?
For layout, test fit and most as-built drawings, usually yes. Matterport publishes its own accuracy figures, and they are covered in this guide. For tight conditions, such as a walk-in between columns or a hood under a beam, check the critical dimension on site. Utilities always need field verification.
Who should do a restaurant site survey?
Someone who knows what the kitchen and MEP designers will need, not just someone with a camera. The surveyor should open panels, read meters and nameplates, find cleanouts and lift ceiling tiles, then record anything they could not verify.
When should the site survey happen?
Run a quick check for deal-breakers before you sign the lease. Do the full survey after the lease is signed and before the first test fit, so the layout, the landlord work letter and the equipment plan all start from the real building.
Sources
- Fats, Oils, & Grease: Commercial Kitchens, Seattle Public Utilities. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.
- Kitchen Hood Duct Mechanical Plan Submittals, Delaware State Fire Marshal. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.
- Avoid Installation Errors, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.
- 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, U.S. Department of Justice, ADA.gov. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.
- Guide to the ADA Accessibility Standards, Chapter 2: Alterations and Additions, U.S. Access Board. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.
- Pro3, Matterport. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.
- Level of Accuracy (LOA), U.S. Institute of Building Documentation. Accessed Oct 5, 2026.