Who Carries the Risk in an Industrial Delivery Date? Five Questions Brokers Can Ask Before Their Client Signs

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When an industrial delivery date slips, the cause is often a step that had to happen before construction could finish: a utility connection, a township approval, an equipment order. The brokers who protect clients best look at who is responsible for each of those steps and whether the work is done before the lease is signed.

Developers handle this differently. Some leave the tenant to coordinate the utility, the municipality, and the contractors. Others take that work on and finish much of it in advance. Mericle’s ReadyToGo! sites in Northeastern Pennsylvania are one example, with permits and approvals secured and site grading complete before a tenant signs the lease. Five questions help show which arrangement a broker is looking at.

1. Who is responsible for power, and is it confirmed in writing? Ask the developer to share the utility’s own commitment and timeline. Demand for power is rising in many markets. In Pennsylvania, for example, the Public Utility Commission projects industrial electricity use to grow an average of 18.56% a year through 2030, driven mostly by large new loads. ¹
2. Who has secured the approvals? Ask what is already on file with the municipality and what is still pending.
3. Who orders the long-lead items, and when? Electrical gear and dock equipment can carry long lead times. Ask whether they are already on order.
4. How many separate parties control the schedule? Every handoff between developer, general contractor, and subcontractors is a place for a date to slip.
5. What happens if the date moves? Ask about remedies and how early the tenant would be told.

Mericle designs, builds, leases, and manages its own industrial buildings, with no general contractor or subcontractor markup between the tenant and the work. With fewer handoffs, tenants save time and money, and Mericle has never missed a tenant occupancy deadline.

Check out Mericle’s current ReadyToGo! sites and buildings across Northeastern Pennsylvania.

¹ Source: Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Electric Power Outlook for Pennsylvania 2025-2030.