1. Establish the document set
Start with the current lease and work letter, available amendments, landlord construction rules, test fit, and dated drawings. Record the version and date of each. An estimate based on an earlier drawing set needs reconciliation before you treat it as the project budget. Ask which documents the landlord and contractor used when defining their scope.
2. Record the landlord’s delivery obligations
Separate the condition promised at handover from work the tenant plans to add. List HVAC, electrical capacity, restrooms, fire protection, accessibility work, and any existing systems requiring investigation. A phrase such as “existing HVAC” does not establish the capacity available for your proposed occupancy. Assign capacity questions to the responsible engineer and building team.
3. Read the allowance conditions
Record the allowance amount, eligible expenses, submission deadlines, required supporting records, and payment process. Ask whether design, permits, technology, furniture, or management fees qualify under the executed agreement. Track any landlord coordination charges separately. Plan for the cash required between contractor payment and allowance reimbursement.
4. Build a responsibility list
Use one row per scope item. Record the source document and page, the proposed work, the party carrying the cost, the budget status, and the person responsible for resolving an open question. Keep disputed items visible until the parties document an agreement. Have legal counsel address lease interpretation and contract language.
5. Compare the scope with the drawings
Review building systems and tenant requirements together. Ask whether a new load, equipment connection, or room configuration creates work absent from the allowance assumptions. When a drawing shows an upgrade, trace it back to the work letter and estimate. The goal is a coordinated cost responsibility record before procurement.
6. Connect handover to move-in
Record landlord delivery, access for investigations, design decisions, permit milestones, procurement, construction, and commissioning in one schedule. Identify assumptions about early access or occupied work. Ask who carries the consequence of a late decision or delivery and record the answer in the appropriate agreement.
Leave the review with a decision record
Your working package should include a document register, responsibility list, allowance tracker, preliminary budget, schedule assumptions, and unresolved decisions. a.i. Const PM supports this review as part of senior-led owner’s representation across the San Francisco Bay Area. AI supports document comparisons. Your senior PM verifies findings and coordinates the next action.