How? The never ending question...

Ok, so... if you want to get permitted by the health department you have to have a big plan that looks like (at minimum) this. On that plan, each of the numbers has to correspond to an item. Each item has to have a "spec sheet". A spec sheet looks like this http://www.webstaurantstore.com/specsheets/92238119.pdf

So you have to have a spec sheet for each number on the visio drawing.

SO, if you are buying used equipment and don't have a place to store the items while you go thru this process, and the inventory of used items changes all the time, how do you figure out which spec sheets to use? And, if you find something used to for sale on Cragislist and you use that spec sheet, and then in two months when your plans are all approved the item is gone... THEN what? Do you just submit the new spec sheet for the item you end up with?

And some of the stuff... like a hood, I mean that is pretty specific! And how long does this all take? I will likely be expected to sign the lease on Feb 1st, and I will basically have three months lead time to get all of this stuff done before I have to start paying rent. We are not just slapping a coat of paint on there now, I have to trudge my butt down to the Health Department and get them to sign off on my stuff, then I need to go to planning and fire and get them to sign off on my stuff and then get real blueprints from David and start... start what? I feel like I don't even f*cking know.

But... I already looked up a bunch of hoods and figured out that I can go to a local Restaurant Equipment place and they will do a simple lay out for me, which I can then take to the Planning Department. I have two potential lay outs currently and I want to see which one David thinks is the best. But I also want to know what the permitting process is. It's almost always Health Department first.

So tomorrow I will figure it out!! I am starting to feel pretty worn down tho. I knew they would screw with the lease and go back on everything they said last time we talked, but they were much smaller amounts of screwage than I was expecting. And of course the Broker implied it was my fault for trying to talk to them myself instead of letting him do it (which is also mildly annoying considering his return-call rate). But the lease option was much better than I expected. I think I assumed they would try to double my rent in the option but it only went up very mildly. So basically I got a pretty decent rent to start (which is what I wanted), and it only goes up 20% over the next 5 years, which is not bad considering I am hoping the economy will rebound a lot better than that over the next 5 years. It is annoying they cannot stick to a deal to save their lives, but I am still getting a pretty good deal I think and now it is all in writing. So I am hoping the finaggeling will stop lol.

But now... I am really worried about whether I will be open before I have to start paying rent... my seed money is not a lot and I don't want to burn it all up before we even open. But the only thing I can do is try to figure out the process as best I can and get going on it. I really only have three months from Feb 1st if we sign the lease then. Wow. Scary.