Restaurants and food service
Grease interceptor sizing, floor-drain layout, indirect waste, hot water at peak, three-compartment sink location. Get these wrong and health inspection fails on the first pass.
Commercial plumbing in Austin
Austin Commercial Plumbing Contractor
Bailey & Bear Construction is an Austin commercial plumbing contractor for tenant finish plumbing, grease waste and interceptor, floor sinks, gas sizing, ADA restroom rough-in, and commercial plumbing repair or replacement across Austin. We take standalone Austin commercial plumbing jobs and plumbing as part of a larger commercial buildout. Full commercial GC with licensed plumbers.
What Austin commercial plumbing actually covers
Bailey & Bear runs commercial plumbing scope inside full buildouts and as a stand-alone trade through licensed master and journeyman plumbers. Common Austin commercial plumbing scope includes new water and sewer service coordination with Austin Water, water heater sizing and installation, restroom rough-in and finish, grease-interceptor installation for restaurants and coffee shops, indirect-waste piping for kitchen equipment, backflow prevention with annual test coordination, fixture-count sizing per code, natural-gas rough-in where the AHJ requires plumber scope, medical-gas piping in vet and medical work, and process piping for breweries, distilleries, and specialty operations. Every scope runs against the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners license and the City of Austin plumbing code.
Where commercial plumbing scope decides project success
Medical and veterinary
Hand-wash sinks in every treatment room, ADA fixtures throughout, dedicated waste for lab or surgical use, medical gas where required.
Breweries and process
Trench drains sized for CIP flow, dedicated glycol and hot-liquor piping, backflow prevention on process supplies. Cheap process plumbing shows up in every state inspection.
Permits, licensing, and Austin Water
Commercial plumbing in Austin runs under permits from Austin Development Services, and the work is done by licensed plumbers under the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners. Water service upsizes, sewer taps, and grease-interceptor installations all interact with Austin Water — either through utility coordination for service work or through pretreatment permits for high-strength waste. Backflow preventers require initial testing and annual retesting by a licensed backflow tester whose credentials are on file with Austin Water. Bailey & Bear runs those coordination points inside our scope rather than passing them to the tenant to figure out.
What matters most on Austin commercial plumbing
Sizing and load
Fixture-count sizing is code, but real design comes from expected peak load. A ten-fixture restroom that peaks at intermission needs different pipe than one that trickles through the day.
Layout before slab
Every floor drain, trench drain, and clean-out has to be located before the slab is poured or cut. This is the trade where change orders are the most expensive.
Water heater strategy
Tank vs. tankless, gas vs. electric, single vs. multiple units. This is a real design conversation, not a default.
Reading a commercial plumbing bid
Confirm license and insurance up front — a Texas master plumber's license is the baseline. Then compare fixture count, water-heater sizing, and grease-interceptor sizing line by line across bids. Ask who is responsible for backflow prevention and annual testing. Ask about the coordination plan with Austin Water for any service upsize. Ask for two Austin commercial references in your project type — restaurant, medical, or brewery — because plumbing scope varies by use. On any project with slab work, ask when the plumbing rough-in has to be finalized so the sub is not the one delaying the concrete pour.
Building types where we run this scope
Bailey & Bear runs this trade inside larger buildouts across Austin. Common vertical combinations:
Restaurant Buildout
Hood, grease, health, kitchen equipment
Brewery Buildout
Trench drains, glycol, TABC layouts
Coffee Shop Buildout
Bar, plumbing, hoods, ADA restrooms
Medical Office Buildout
Exam, treatment, imaging, ADA
Salon & Spa Buildout
Stations, exhaust, TDLR compliance
Gym & Studio Buildout
Rubber floors, HVAC sizing, showers, rig anchors
Frequently asked questions
What does tenant finish plumbing include?
Tenant finish plumbing typically includes rough-in for restrooms and break rooms, grease waste and interceptor for food-service tenants, floor sinks, gas sizing to equipment, and hookup at fixture set. Bailey & Bear runs Austin commercial plumbing scopes end-to-end — rough-in through inspection sign-off.
Do you install grease interceptors and grease waste lines?
Yes. Bailey & Bear installs grease interceptors and grease waste lines for Austin restaurant, brewery, and commercial kitchen buildouts. Interceptor sizing, floor sink placement, and slope are engineered to Austin Public Health and TCEQ requirements.
Do you handle commercial gas sizing?
Yes. Bailey & Bear handles commercial gas sizing and installation across Austin. Gas sizing is engineered to the equipment load — undersized gas is one of the most common defects on cheap restaurant buildouts and shows up as low burner pressure once everything is on.