Commercial strip-out step by step

What is a commercial strip-out?

A commercial strip-out is the removal of everything a previous occupier added to a commercial unit so that the space returns to a defined condition, usually called the shell. On the Costa del Sol this typically means shops on a high street, bars and restaurants on a promenade, offices in a business centre or ground-floor units in a residential block.

The key word is defined. "Back to shell" can mean very different things: bare structure and external walls, or a unit that keeps its electrical supply, toilets and shopfront. The first step of any strip-out is therefore to agree in writing what stays, because everything else depends on it.

Step 1: survey and scope

A walk-through of the unit, ideally with the owner or tenant and their técnico, produces the scope. We look at:

• what the lease, the buyer or the incoming tenant expects at handover;
• fixtures that stay: shopfront, toilets, extraction, fire protection, electrical board;
• what is built in: counters, bar structures, cold rooms, kitchens, mezzanines;
• ceilings and floors: false ceilings, raised floors, tiles on screed, resin or timber finishes;
• access: street, loading restrictions, rear access, shared corridors in a building;
• suspect materials that need a closer look, especially in older units.

From this we prepare a written scope with the order of works, the waste fractions expected and the logistics. If you are an owner abroad, a video survey followed by a site visit with your local representative works well.

Step 2: paperwork and the lease

Two separate sets of rules apply before work starts: the town hall's and the building's.

On the town hall side, total or partial demolition in Andalusia is normally done through a declaración responsable, while protected buildings, protected settings and archaeological zones need a licence. In Málaga city, the OMLU asks for a declaración responsable for works with a proyecto or memoria técnica signed by a técnico competente, a certificado técnico, a separate document if the works occupy the public road, and photographs. Other towns concrete their documents in their own ordinances; consult your técnico or the ayuntamiento. The owner or tenant files this, usually through the técnico; we do not.

On the building side, a unit in a community of owners is subject to the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal: the community must be informed before walls, structure or façade elements are demolished, and works affecting common elements – a shopfront in the façade, shared ducts, the structure – need the owners' meeting agreement.

The lease is the third document to check. Many leases specify the condition in which a unit must be returned; that clause, not the contractor, defines the scope.

Step 3: isolating services

Nothing is cut until electricity, water, gas and any extraction or refrigeration systems are isolated in the areas to be stripped. This is done by qualified installers appointed by the owner or tenant, and the supply that must stay live – for example the temporary lighting and sockets the crew will use – is clearly separated.

Old bar and restaurant units deserve special care: refrigeration circuits, gas lines to kitchens and grease-laden extraction ducts all need to be dealt with by the right trade before demolition starts. Fire protection systems that stay must be protected and, where needed, temporarily isolated according to the installer's instructions.

Step 4: soft strip

The soft strip removes everything that is not part of the building fabric. It is mostly dismantling rather than breaking:

1. loose furniture, shelving, display units and stock left behind;
2. signage, light fittings, audiovisual equipment and cabling made redundant;
3. counters, bar fronts, kitchen equipment and cold rooms;
4. doors, glazed partitions, toilet cubicles and fitted joinery;
5. false ceilings, ceiling tiles and their grids;
6. raised floors, carpet tiles, vinyl and timber flooring.

Done carefully, the soft strip produces cleaner fractions – metal, wood, plastic, glass, plasterboard – that are easier to recycle and to document. Elements that someone wants to reuse are set aside at this stage, as the waste law expects.

Step 5: heavier removal

Once the space is empty, the heavier phase starts: brick and block partitions, tiled floors on screed, wall tiles, built-in bar structures in masonry, plinths and steps. This is hand demolition work with breakers and saws in most units, and on ground floors with good access and sufficient slab capacity a compact demolition machine can sometimes speed up the heaviest elements.

Floors and ceilings often carry the most volume. Removing tiles and screed down to the slab, or taking out plaster ceilings, is covered in detail on our floors and ceilings removal page.

Step 6: waste sorting and removal

Commercial strip-outs produce a wide mix of materials, and the Ley 7/2022 on waste requires construction and demolition waste to be sorted at least into wood, mineral fractions, metals, glass, plastic and gypsum, with selective demolition mandatory since 1 January 2024. A typical breakdown from a shop or office:

Everything goes to an authorised manager, and the delivery receipts are handed over at the end. The town hall requires a fianza or guarantee for construction waste, returned when delivery to an authorised manager is proven, so those receipts have a practical value. Our sister site explains the wider framework in construction and demolition waste rules in Spain.

Step 7: handover

A strip-out ends with a unit that is clean, safe and documented. Our handover normally includes:

• removal of the last rubble and a broom-clean floor;
• a walk-through against the written scope, with the owner, tenant or their representative;
• photos of every room, of the elements that stayed and of any issue found during the works;
• the waste delivery receipts;
• a note of anything the next trades should know: exposed pipes, slab condition, items the técnico should look at.

If you are not in Spain, the photo set and receipts are sent to you directly, and your técnico or agent can do the physical walk-through.

Health and safety when several trades are involved

Commercial strip-outs often overlap with other trades: installers disconnecting services, shopfitters measuring for the new fit-out, landlords' surveyors. Under Real Decreto 1627/1997, every job has an estudio de seguridad y salud or an estudio básico, the contractor prepares its plan de seguridad y salud from it, and when several companies or self-employed workers take part the promotor appoints a safety coordinator during execution.

In practice that means agreed working zones, a single point of contact for access, and no other trades in areas where breaking or cutting is under way. It also keeps the programme realistic: a strip-out that is constantly interrupted by visits takes longer than one with fixed visiting times.

What drives the time and the cost

Every unit is different, but the same factors set the effort of a commercial strip-out:

• floor area and height, and how much is built in rather than freestanding;
• floor and ceiling build-ups – tiles on thick screed take far longer than carpet tiles;
• masonry counters, bar structures and partitions;
• access for loading, street restrictions and whether a skip can stand outside;
• the number of waste fractions and any hazardous materials found;
• working-time restrictions in a residential building above the unit.

We do not publish prices on this site; an indicative band is available on the demolition cost calculator of our sister site, and a firm quote follows a survey. When the unit is in a residential block, the noise, dust and working hours guide is worth reading before agreeing dates. For a flat rather than a commercial unit, see interior demolition.