Tenant Improvements & Commercial Build-Outs in Davis County, Utah (2026 Guide)

Davis County is one of Utah's fastest-growing commercial corridors. Between Station Park in Farmington, the retail along Antelope Drive in Layton, the office space sprouting up around Bountiful, and the mixed-use development across Centerville and Kaysville, demand for tenant improvements and commercial build-outs has never been higher.

If you are a property manager, broker, or business owner planning a tenant improvement (TI) or commercial build-out anywhere in Davis County, this guide covers what to expect in 2026 — scope, timelines, costs, permits, and how to choose the right commercial general contractor.

What is a tenant improvement (TI)?

A tenant improvement is the construction work that converts a leased commercial space — usually a vanilla shell or a previous tenant's build-out — into a finished space ready for the new tenant's business. TIs typically include:

• Demolition of existing partitions and finishes
• New metal stud framing and drywall
• Suspended (T-bar) ceilings
• Drywall taping, finishing, and texture
• Interior commercial painting
• Doors, frames, and finish hardware
• Coordination of MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) trades

The Davis County commercial market has a heavy mix of retail, restaurant, medical, and small-office TIs. Each type has slightly different scope — restaurants need grease-rated assemblies and detailed health-department coordination; medical needs HIPAA-compliant partitions and smoother finishes; office is the most flexible.

Typical Davis County TI cost ranges (2026)

Costs vary widely with scope, finish level, and existing conditions, but here are the ranges we see most often across Davis County in 2026:

These numbers include drywall, paint, ceiling, doors, and basic MEP coordination. Higher-end finishes (custom millwork, stone, specialty lighting) push costs above these ranges.

How long does a Davis County TI take?

For most office and small-retail TIs in Bountiful, Layton, Farmington, and the surrounding cities, expect:

• Permit & design: 2 – 6 weeks (Davis County and individual cities have different turnaround times)
• Demo: 3 – 7 days
• Framing & drywall: 1 – 3 weeks
• MEP rough-in: overlapping with framing, 1 – 2 weeks
• Finishes (paint, ceiling, doors, flooring): 1 – 2 weeks
• Punch list & inspection: 3 – 7 days

A typical 3,000 – 5,000 sqft office TI in Davis County runs 8 – 14 weeks from permit to keys. Restaurant and medical TIs usually take 16 – 24 weeks because of equipment and inspection complexity.

Permitting in Davis County cities

Each Davis County city handles commercial permits a little differently:

• Bountiful: Building permits go through the city. Plan reviews typically take 2 – 4 weeks.
• Layton: Larger commercial reviews can take 3 – 5 weeks. Pre-submittal meetings are recommended for anything over 5,000 sqft.
• Farmington: Faster than average for smaller TIs (often 2 – 3 weeks). Station Park area projects sometimes have additional design-review requirements.
• Centerville, Kaysville, Clearfield, Woods Cross, North Salt Lake: Generally 2 – 4 week reviews depending on complexity.
• Unincorporated Davis County: Goes through Davis County's building department.

A good Davis County commercial general contractor will know each city's permit submission requirements and can save 1 – 3 weeks just by submitting clean drawings the first time.

How to choose a Davis County commercial contractor

For TIs and commercial build-outs in Davis County, look for:

1. Licensed Utah general contractor with full commercial liability and workers' comp insurance
2. Local Davis County track record — they should know the cities, the building departments, and the local subcontractors
3. In-house drywall and paint crews — sub-subbing the largest line items adds cost and risk
4. Property-manager experience — TIs require coordination with the landlord, tenant, broker, architect, and the city; experience matters
5. After-hours scheduling — for build-outs in occupied centers, weekend and evening work is often required
6. Detailed, line-item bids — apples-to-apples bids let you compare contractors on real scope, not just bottom-line numbers

Drywall Techs handles the drywall, paint, ceiling, and finish carpentry portions of TIs in-house, which is usually 40 – 60% of a typical TI scope. We coordinate the rest of the trades and serve as your single point of contact across the entire build.

Where we work in Davis County

We handle commercial drywall, TIs, and build-outs across:

• Bountiful — retail and small office TIs along 500 South and Main Street
• Layton — office, retail, and medical TIs near Antelope Drive
• Farmington — TIs near Station Park and the Davis County government complex
• Centerville — retail and small office along Parrish Lane
• Kaysville — office and retail build-outs
• Clearfield — including Hill AFB area commercial
• Woods Cross — light industrial and retail TI along 500 South
• North Salt Lake — Center Street and Redwood Road corridor

Get a Davis County TI bid

Send drawings, scope, and a tentative timeline to alex@drywall-techs.com or call (801) 791-9053 and we'll get a written, line-item bid back to you fast.

**Request a commercial bid** or visit our commercial services page for the full list of what we cover.