MEP

MEP is shorthand for the three systems that make a space actually work: mechanical (heating, cooling, ventilation), electrical (power, lighting, data), and plumbing (water, waste, and for practices, specialty lines). For a dental or medical office, MEP is where most of the complexity and cost lives.

Healthcare uses push MEP well beyond a normal office: compressed air and vacuum for dental, medical gas for some practices, extra electrical capacity for imaging and lasers, dedicated plumbing for sterilization, and HVAC that holds precise conditions room by room. That is why practice build-outs cost far more per square foot than a standard office.

MEP is the single biggest cost driver in a healthcare build-out, and the part you cannot see when you tour a space. A suite that already has strong electrical, plumbing, and HVAC can be dramatically cheaper to build out, even at a higher rent. Have your contractor assess the MEP before you choose a space, not after.

Two Chicago suites rent for the same price, but one already has heavy electrical service and plumbing stubbed in from a prior medical tenant. For a dentist, that existing MEP can save 50,000 dollars or more versus building it all from scratch in a plain office suite.