Infrastructure Questions to Ask Before Signing a Lease

The wrong answers to these questions can add $50,000+ to your buildout. Ask them before you sign.

Infrastructure considerations often get overlooked during lease negotiations, but they can significantly impact your buildout costs and timeline. A space with existing cable trays and adequate power may cost less to build out than a "blank slate" that requires new conduit runs and electrical upgrades.

Real estate teams focused on square footage, location, and rental rates may not know what questions to ask about infrastructure. Meanwhile, IT teams who understand infrastructure requirements often aren't involved in site selection until after the lease is signed—when the leverage to negotiate infrastructure improvements has evaporated.

This guide helps bridge that gap, outlining the infrastructure factors that matter most during lease negotiations and site selection.

Assessing Existing Infrastructure

Before signing a lease, understand what infrastructure exists and what condition it's in. Previous tenants may have left behind cabling that can be reused—or cabling that's so outdated it needs to be removed before you can install new systems.

Key questions to ask: What cable categories are in place? Where do pathway routes run? Are there existing IDF/MDF locations with adequate power and cooling? What's the condition of any existing access control or surveillance infrastructure?

Building Access and Construction Requirements

Multi-tenant buildings often have restrictions on when construction work can happen, how materials can be delivered, and what noise levels are acceptable. These constraints can extend your buildout timeline and increase labor costs if your contractor needs to work evenings or weekends.

Understanding these requirements during lease negotiations gives you leverage to request accommodations—or to factor the constraints into your timeline and budget projections.

Landlord Requirements and Approvals

Some landlords require approved contractor lists, insurance minimums, or specific construction practices. Others may have requirements about how infrastructure connects to building systems—particularly for access control that interfaces with building security.

Discovering these requirements after lease signing can delay your buildout while you scramble to meet unexpected conditions. Better to identify them upfront when you can negotiate terms or choose a different space.

The Value of a Pre-Lease Site Walk

A 30-minute site walk with your low voltage contractor can identify thousands of dollars in hidden buildout costs—or confirm that a space is better suited for your needs than initially apparent. For multi-location enterprises evaluating several sites simultaneously, this assessment becomes even more valuable.

A national low voltage contractor can provide consistent site assessments across different markets, giving your real estate team reliable data to compare locations regardless of geography.

Existing Infrastructure

Building Access

Landlord Requirements

Pre-Lease Site Walk

Before signing, have your national low voltage contractor walk the space with you. They can identify issues that aren't obvious from floor plans and provide realistic budget estimates.