Brand conversion: technical scope
For hotels moving to a brand. Survey, PIP gap pricing, MEP and FLS works, and support through the brand's opening inspection.
Brand conversions and refurbishment for open hotels
When a hotel changes flag or gets a refurbishment, the expensive surprises sit above the ceiling and inside the risers. We survey what is there, price the gap to the brand standard line by line, and build it floor by floor while the rest of the hotel keeps selling rooms.
Existing
Brand standard
03
Existing
Weak flow on upper floors, hot water slow to arrive, worn mixer.
Brand standard
Thermostatic mixer; flow and hot-water time tested at the top-floor room against the brand minimum; fittings meet SBC water efficiency without dropping below it.
CT-03King room 907 · PIP gapSCALE 1:50 (A3)Example
Drag the line across the room, or pick an item. Brand standards differ by brand and tier; this is an example only.
What's included
The technical side of a PIP, start to finish
Your interior designer designs the room and your FF&E supplier supplies the loose furniture. We build and connect the MEP and every interface their work plugs into, hangs from or hides behind, coordinated on one set of drawings so the ceilings only open once.
| Area | What we do | Typical items |
|---|---|---|
| Technical survey and gap pricing | Walk every system against the brand's technical standards and the PIP, then price each gap item so the owner can see where the money goes. | Sample rooms per floor, plant rooms, risers, roof, back of house, life-safety walk-through |
| HVAC replacement | Replace or refurbish plant and room units, re-balance the air and water side, and tie controls back to the BMS. | Chillers, AHUs, fan coils, thermostats, ductwork and grilles, testing and balancing |
| Electrical upgrades | Check the incoming supply and main switchboard can carry the new loads, then rewire rooms to the brand's power and lighting layout. | Room distribution boards, bedside and desk power, USB, key-card switches, LED lighting and controls |
| Fire and life safety upgrades | Bring detection, alarm and suppression in line with Civil Defense requirements and the brand's FLS standard. FLS drawings are prepared and stamped by a licensed engineering office and approved by Civil Defense before work starts; fire systems are installed only by Civil Defense-licensed contractors, under our site management, then tested and presented for inspection. | Sprinkler coverage throughout, including guest rooms and corridors; in-room alarm audible at the pillow (sounder bases or voice evacuation); visual alarms in accessible rooms; self-closing fire-rated guest-room and corridor doors; stair pressurisation and corridor smoke control; emergency lighting duration; fire-stopping of every new penetration |
| Plumbing and hot water | Fix pressure and temperature at the top floor before the new fixtures go in, so the new showers actually perform. | Booster sets and pressure-reducing valves, hot water plant and return loop, fixtures that meet water-efficiency rules at the brand's shower flow, drainage |
| Guest technology and extra-low-voltage (ELV) systems | Coordinate the brand's approved lock, Wi-Fi, IPTV, room-management and CCTV vendors: we provide the cabling containment, power and connections, run their work under our programme and the permits, agree who pulls each cable before the floor is opened, and test the interfaces to the PMS, POS and lock server before a floor returns to sale. The systems themselves are installed by the brand's or your nominated specialists. | ELV containment and IDF rooms, Wi-Fi backbone and access-point power, key-card holders, door-lock power and encoders, IPTV head-end interface, CCTV interface, GRMS thermostats, PMS interface tests |
| Lifts, LPG and pool plant | Interface and coordination only. The lift maker or a licensed lift contractor, the licensed gas contractor and the pool specialist keep their scope; we put their shutdowns in the same phasing plan and connect and test the points where they meet our work. | Lift-out-of-service days, fire recall and firefighting lift tested with the alarm, gas shut-off interlocks, pool plant power and controls |
| Testing, commissioning and re-flagging | Witnessed tests on every floor before it goes back on sale; for the brand's opening inspection we prepare the compliance checklist and attend. | Test records per floor, brand inspection snag list, as-built drawings, O&M manuals |
Design interface matrix
Designer designs, supplier supplies the loose furniture, CORETECH builds and connects the MEP and the interfaces. Joinery and FF&E supply stay with the owner's appointed designer and suppliers; who supplies each item is confirmed per project.
| Item | Designer specifies | FF&E supplier provides | CORETECH provides and connects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headboard with reading lights and USB | Design, fitting positions, finish | The headboard with its fittings | Power and switching at the agreed positions, connection and test |
| Bedside control panel | Position and faceplate | Nightstand cut-out, where built in | Back box, wiring to lighting, curtains and the room controller |
| TV and wall bracket | Height and position | Bracket or TV unit, as the owner orders | Wall backing, power and data, IPTV interface test |
| Minibar in the millwork | Millwork design and ventilation slots | Millwork, by the owner's joinery supplier | Socket inside the unit, kept live on the key-card circuit |
| Motorised curtain track | Track, pelmet and fabric | Track, motor and curtains | Ceiling fixing support, power and control wiring |
| Vanity mirror with demister and backlight | Mirror design and size | The mirror unit | Supply on the bathroom lighting circuit, protected and tested |
| Decorative lamps and ceiling fittings | Fittings and positions | Lamps and decorative fittings | Switched sockets, ceiling supports and connections |
Positions are fixed against the approved headboard and millwork shop drawings before first fix, not after. The interior designer and the FF&E supplier join the mock-up room sign-off.
Typical triggers
Usually there is a date on the calendar
A franchise signing, a handover between operators, a reopening. The technical scope is the part that moves that date, so it needs pricing early.
An independent hotel has signed with an international brand, and the PIP arrives with a technical section nobody on site can price.
The management company is changing, and the incoming operator's audit lists items the outgoing one never raised.
Guest reviews keep mentioning a noisy air conditioner, a weak shower and nowhere to charge a phone.
An office or residential building is being converted into a hotel, and the services were never designed for guest rooms.
The owner wants to renovate a few floors at a time, without closing, and needs to know how many rooms come out of inventory each month.
A reopening date is set, and the fire and life safety systems have to pass Civil Defense inspection before it.
How the engagement works
One mock-up room before a single floor is opened
The mock-up room is where the brand, the operator and the owner agree what finished looks like. After that, every floor is built to the same sheet.
Survey and gap report
Sample rooms on every floor, all plant rooms, and the PIP read line by line.
Scope, phasing, price
A priced scope and a phasing plan built from your occupancy forecast, with room-nights out of inventory by week.
Design approvals and brand submittal
MEP and FLS drawings and key equipment submittals sent to the brand's technical services for review, and stamped FLS drawings approved by Civil Defense. Comments are closed before anything is ordered.
Mock-up room
One room finished and tested first, then signed off before rollout.
Floor-by-floor works
Each floor isolated at its own branch valves and board where the risers allow it (where fan coils are fed from vertical risers, isolations are planned by riser stack), guest routes kept separate, noisy work in agreed hours.
Test and hand back
Witnessed tests per floor, a taking-over certificate from your owner's representative, then the rooms go back to housekeeping.
| Gap report and priced scope | Owner, with the operator's review |
|---|---|
| Design submittal | Brand technical services; FLS drawings by Civil Defense |
| Mock-up room | Brand technical services and the operator, with your interior designer and FF&E supplier |
| Taking-over certificate per floor | Owner's representative, on our application |
| Return to sale | Hotel chief engineer and executive housekeeper, after the joint inspection |
| Fire and life safety systems | Civil Defense inspection, which we prepare for and attend with you |
| Brand opening inspection and approval to open | Brand technical services; we prepare the compliance checklist and attend |
| Tourism licence or classification visit | Ministry of Tourism; technical items closed before the visit |
| Final handover | Owner's representative |
Hotel renovation
For existing hotels refreshing rooms or public areas. Technical scope, phasing around occupancy, works and handover per floor.
What you receive
A document trail the brand will ask for
Brand technical teams inspect against paper as much as against the building. These are the documents a conversion is contracted to produce, with the same codes as our full register.
| Ref | Document | What's in it | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| CT-03 | PIP technical gap reportView a sample | Each PIP line with the current condition, the work needed and a price, grouped by system, plus a risk register that keeps provisional quantities (PQ: quantity × tendered rate, remeasured) apart from named provisional sums (PS: spent only on your instruction). | Before you commit |
| CT-04 | Brand submittal and comment log | MEP and FLS drawings and key equipment sent to the brand for review, with each comment and how it was closed; the Civil Defense FLS approval. | Before procurement |
| CT-06 | Phasing plan and room release scheduleView a sample | Floor sequence, rooms and room-nights out of inventory per week, the dates each floor is released and returned, guest routes and work hours. | With the price |
| CT-10 | Mock-up room sign-off | Agreed details, photos and the signed checklist every floor is built to. | Before rollout |
| CT-11 | Test and commissioning records | HVAC testing and balancing, controls, power, FLS (fire and life safety) and water tests for each floor, witnessed and signed. | Per floor |
| CT-13 | Brand compliance checklist | The brand's technical checklist completed, with snag items closed out. | Before opening |
| CT-14 | Taking-over certificate | Each floor accepted by your owner's representative with its snags closed, on our application. | Per floor |
| CT-15 · CT-16 | As-builts and O&M manuals | Drawings of what was installed, equipment data, spares lists, and the manufacturers' warranties, listed separately from our defects period. | At handover |
Before you start a conversion
Can you price the PIP before we sign the franchise agreement?
Yes, and it is the best time to do it. The Hotel Technical Assessment (CT-01) gives you a priced gap report you can use in the negotiation with the brand, including items you may be able to phase or defer.
Do you handle interiors and furniture?
Your interior designer designs the room and your FF&E supplier supplies the furniture and joinery. We build and connect the MEP and every interface behind it, set out in the design interface matrix above, so ceilings, sockets and light positions match their drawings the first time.
How many rooms will be out of service at once?
That depends on the building, the riser layout and your occupancy forecast. We size each phase with your revenue and operations teams and write the rooms and room-nights out of inventory into the phasing plan, week by week. The home page has a worked example with one or two floors out at a time.
What if you find something above the ceiling we didn't price?
The mock-up room is opened up first, so concealed conditions are found before rollout pricing is fixed. What can be measured only once ceilings are open is a provisional quantity at a tendered rate and remeasured; what cannot yet be defined is a named provisional sum, spent only on your instruction.
Is our PIP kept confidential?
Yes. PIPs and brand standards are confidential, so we sign your NDA (or send ours) before reviewing them, and you can share them by email instead of uploading. Brand documents are used only for the gap report and returned or deleted afterwards.
Who installs the work?
Our engineers plan and manage the works and check them daily. Crews we prequalify install under the permits, and fire systems are installed only by Civil Defense-licensed contractors. You have one contract and one project manager, and CORETECH is liable to you for every subcontractor's work.
Codes we work to
The Saudi regulations and standards behind this service, with what each covers and how we apply it.
Other services
Start with the PIP
Send us the PIP and we will tell you what it means for the building
PIPs and brand standards are confidential. We sign your NDA before reviewing them, and you can send them by email instead of uploading.