Working with Local Government and Utilities to Get Your Laundromat Project Completed on Schedule and on Budget
[This is the second of a two-part feature. You can read Part 1 here.]
In Part 2 of PlanetLaundry‘s May cover story, laundromat owners shared their thoughts and first-hand experiences with their own store project challenges:
Wade Hickok
Big Waves Laundromat
Santa Monica, Calif.
For me, there hasn’t been one particular complicated issues. Rather, there have been several not-so-complicated yet perhaps difficult-to-understand problems. The challenge is managing all of these issues simultaneously.
For example, I had the natural gas company turn off my gas, issue me a violation and require me to convert the gas meter to how it had been prior to me taking over the property – except I didn’t know how it used to be, because I had just taken over.
The previous owner was required by the city to install earthquake shut-off mechanisms. However, in doing so, he had not gotten approval from the natural gas company – so they never found out what was done to the meter until I took over. Prior to that, the entire building had been closed to the public and gated.
Of course, only the natural gas company knew how my meter should be configured, so they had to perform the work, and they weren’t exactly in a rush to do so. After the meter was fixed, they conducted a full inspection, and finally turned my gas back on. We opened four days later.
This resulted in a delay of approximately one month, which isn’t terrible in the grand scheme of things. It could have been a lot worse.
The key is to get a point of contact at the utility or the city who is responsive and empathetic to your situation. Stick with this person, do what they ask and be grateful for their assistance. Stay on top of and manage any such issues.
Be persistent enough to where they want your problem solved, so you’ll finally go away – but also be personable enough so that they won’t hate you.
In general, I think all laundromat owners are experiencing longer timelines for new buildouts and retools. The main reasons are supply chain issues for washers, dryers and certain parts and materials, as well as contractors being heavily booked and more difficult to get scheduled.
The best advice I can share is simply to get organized. You will have a host of permits and licenses to obtain or transfer, and it will be the same story with your utilities. Even if you’re just retooling and rehabbing an existing store, there is a lot to keep track of. List everything, and make a schedule. Stay on top of things. When in doubt, call and email. Above all, review your utility/permit checklist every day.
Chuck Hinkel
Laundry Depot
Waterloo, N.Y.
The best advice I could give someone looking to build or retool in the future is to plan for delays, as they are almost inevitable. Order your equipment earlier, because there are long wait times for new equipment these days. Also, expect long wait times for receiving needed permits from your local municipalities, as well as from certain contractors who are experiencing worker shortages.
Whenever I plan for a retool or a new build, I know issues will arise that weren’t planned or even considered, so I budget 10 percent to 15 percent more than the cost projections, just in case I need those emergency funds.
Equipment pricing experienced a rather large increase this year – so talk to your equipment distributor to find out when a new pricing structure is going into place and try to place your equipment order before any planned increases.
If you’re organized and present yourself as having all of your ducks in a row to the utilities/government entities involved, it will help you avoid some of the red tape they might try to present to you.
Don’t get frustrated with the process. Remain focused, and keep your project moving forward.
Eric Pooler
Gold Star Cleaners
Brewer, Maine
Building a new laundromat poses some challenges at times, whether it’s a brand-new build or you’re rehabbing a building or rental. I’ve found little issue with permitting, as I generally rely on the experience of the builder to obtain all of the needed permits and to schedule inspections.
With that said, I remember an issue with getting three-phrase electricity to a utility pole that took months. Today’s equipment typically can hook up to either single- or three-phrase, but this may be relevant to some new buildings being built today.
The existing pole was owned by the electric company. The pole was on town property, but on a state road. In effect, we had to work with three different entities to complete putting in a new pole that would accommodate three-phrase power.
All I can suggest is to start this process on Day One and do not delay. The challenge with working with the state and the utility company was significant, time-consuming and frustrating to get to the proper decision-makers and schedulers working in a timely manner.
The assistance of an experienced master electrician is an absolute must to cutting through the red tape. In the end, it delayed the opening of the store by two weeks, which was a short period, compared to what it might have been had I handled this issue on my own.
There are a few things to look for with regard to both a new build and a renovation – a major one being sewer and water lines. It’s important to know where they are on the street, prior to committing to anything. I had one line go halfway out into a state road – fortunately, the small town in which we were building was extremely helpful and made the process easy.
We had a separate project in a larger town – this time on a busy state highway. Again, we were fortunate. The line was on our side of the road, so there was no issue connecting to the sewer and running an appropriately sized water line. However, had the water and sewer line been on the other side of the highway, there would have been major complications, possible delays and increased costs added to the installation. In fact, those extra costs could be enough for to recalculate and run back to the bank, or abandon the project altogether.
Of course, if you do the research, you can factor in the appropriate amount to the cost of the project prior to going to your bank.
Another past project of ours had some extreme added costs in the form of fees. This specific fee was levied from the sewer department and was deemed a sewer impact fee.
It didn’t matter that I was closing a laundromat and opening a new one with new equipment that would actually use less water. The fee was based on the previous occupant of the property, and the estimated difference – or impact – of the new occupant. I had the pleasure of being the very first business to be levied this fee, which was $84,000.
Now, that was a deal-breaker for me. I went directly to the city manager – and I wasn’t very nice about it. I was pissed off – but it was my fault for not doing my job and checking with the city for any and every impact fee.
In retrospect, I should have asked the city manager, the economic director, the water department, the sewer department and – if the washers and dryers were considered vending machines that required annual permitting – the tax department, too. (I’m sure there are plenty of other required fees and permits, depending on the particular project and the specific municipality – and it’s up to you to find them and deal with them.)
In the end, I was able to organize a special city council meeting and get the ordinance changed. My final impact fee was $17,000. I still wasn’t happy about it, but at least I could move forward with the project.
Cary Lipman
CL Consulting Services
Atlanta
When building a new laundromat, I always began by visiting the building department to be sure a laundry was an allowable use on my site. I also contacted the local gas, electric and water/sewer authority.
I fondly remember planning to build a new laundromat in a county with a very high sewer impact fee. During my conversation with my water/sewer contact, he informed me there would be a fee to install my washers in a 2,200-square-foot storefront. He was using water consumption statistics for washers manufactured during the 1950s, and he didn’t care that I wanted to show him actual water usage in one of my other laundries in another county – with the very same machines.
When he told me the impact fee would be $127,000, I was tempted to go into turns per day, water use per machine, estimated monthly gallons, and on and on. Instead, I simply asked, “Does that come with dinner and drinks?” He dropped the phone laughing, and then actually agreed to see the blueprint and to look at the consumption of my proposed washers.
My sewer impact fee was ultimately changed to $62,000, which I happily paid – for what turned out to be a great shopping center location.
Honestly, I could write a book about all of the bureaucratic minefields and municipal red tape I’ve had to navigate while building and opening numerous laundromats over the last 37 years.
But let me simply advise you to do your best to personally meet early on with the various authorities you’ll be relying on to provide and install your resources. You also must understand that no one else will share the same passion as you for building your laundromat – so keep your sense of humor and always be professional so the powers that be will work with you to help achieve your goal in a timely, cost-efficient manner.
Dan Marrazzo
Laundry Depot
Morrisville, Pa.
The construction industry has become a difficult theater to navigate in recent years, and even more difficult as it applies to laundromats.
Now that we seem to be at the end of the COVID challenge, most building departments are somewhat back to normal. In the Northeast, it’s almost a requirement these days to have an architect or engineer involved, and that’s good for a construction process.
Use your distributor and manufacturer to provide cut sheets of all the machinery you plan to install – explaining the need for traps, gas delivery and water supply, just to mention a few. Of course, if you can direct drain washers without a trap assembly, it will save you many hours of fishing refuse from clogged traps.
Most electrical codes mandate that you have an electrical disconnect for each machine in clear sight of the machine. Place your electrical distribution panels close to the washers and dryers, to be able to use a breaker to shut them off while servicing.
Makeup air for dryer function is foreign to many code officials. Be able to show how much makeup air is required per machine, and how you will achieve it with vents to the outside.
Venting for the plumbing may require battery vents in many jurisdictions, where a parallel vent pipe to the drain is installed and vented several times through the roof.
All of your tradesmen on the job likely will be the most qualified to suggest the best way to satisfy the local code officials. A prudent idea is to reverse engineer your laundry project by asking the tradesmen the best way to complete their respective tasks – and then submit those ideas to the architect, saving time from reviews and changes in the field.
Often, the most experienced inspector may not be sure how laundry equipment is best installed and connected to mechanical systems. By providing catalogs sheets showing specifications for each machine, you can streamline the approval process and the inspection time in the field.
No doubt, delays also can occur with the utility suppliers for your project. Many years ago, we had a new laundromat built and ready to open, but we were delayed by the payment required by the sewer authority for the privilege to connect to the sewer. Once we delivered the large check that was necessary, we were permitted to open.
Other the years, other delays have occurred, such as getting a street opening permit to cross the road with a properly sized water line capable of supplying an assortment of large washers. In one instance, Philadelphia Electric took several months to place a transformer so that we could supply 800-amp service. And many utilities, especially sewer authorities, need to assess wastewater outflow for a new or renovated store to decide whether or not they can handle the increased capacity – and they may want to be paid handsomely for it.
Being prepared will save you time and money, and it often can make the difference between mediocrity and real success. Measuring twice and cutting once will get you to your construction goal quickly.
In today’s construction schedules, there are many delays that are new to the building of a new laundry facility. Just as you may not be able to find capable employees, cities and townships across the U.S. are experiencing the same issue. With inspection licenses requiring class time and experience, it has been difficult to quickly find capable inspectors to hire.
Additionally, supplies like PVC pipe were hampered by the freeze in Texas, HVAC equipment and ducts have fallen behind in production, and contractors expanding schedules have extended an already lengthy process. An honest and experienced general contractor is well worth the investment to help you navigate the construction process.
In this environment, it would be wise to add 60 days or more to account for all of these anticipated delays. With laundry machinery production times taking four months or more, plan your construction around delivery. After all, without machinery delivery scheduled properly, you could find yourself with a finished store and a monthly rent payment – while you wait for your equipment to arrive.
