Medical practice and clinic fit-out in Geneva
Planning building work? Apartment, house or building renovation, a new storey or a roof extension, running the project is our job.
HMG Construction Management SA runs the fit-out of your medical practice or clinic in Geneva. The firm turns your clinical needs into plans, files the permit application as an agent registered on the Geneva MPQ list (mandataires professionnellement qualifiés, the cantonal register of qualified building professionals), works out the cost, appoints the contractors and manages the works to SIA standards until the first patient walks in.
How do you get your practice fit-out done without the worry? By handing the management and the coordination of the contractors to HMG. HMG is there for you.
What sets a medical practice apart from other premises?
A practice looks like an office, yet it is built differently. Each consulting room normally has its own basin, which multiplies the pipework and the drainage. Floors, walls and worktops have to be easy to clean and disinfect. Partitions and doors are chosen so that a conversation stays inside the room, because confidentiality is a matter of acoustics.
The way people move shapes the layout. Reception, waiting area, treatment rooms, sterilisation and staff rooms follow one another so that patients never cross the path of used instruments. Access is also planned for a person with reduced mobility, from the street to the treatment room. Some equipment also brings its own requirements, such as a dedicated power supply, a strengthened floor, special ventilation or radiation shielding specified by the equipment specialist.
Which procedures apply in Geneva to a practice or a clinic?
Building permits are issued by the Office des autorisations de construire (OAC), the cantonal building permit office. The Canton's page on permit types (in French) places interior changes to an existing building under the fast-track procedure, called APA. Projects beyond that scope follow the ordinary procedure, a full application called DD (demande définitive). The file is prepared as set out on the official page Je prépare ma demande and submitted online on AC-Démat.
Setting up a practice in former offices or in a flat can amount to a change of use of the premises. This should be clarified before you sign a lease or a purchase deed. If the premises are currently a home in a residential building, the LDTR, the Geneva law on demolition, conversion and renovation of housing, governs the works, and HMG looks at that case first. Our guide to building permits and procedures in Geneva describes each procedure. The requirements specific to your profession and your equipment are gathered from you and your suppliers, then carried onto the drawings.
Who do you call first?
You can approach the project in two ways.
- You entrust everything to HMG. The firm draws up the plans with you, files the permit application, prices the works, appoints the contractors and runs the site through to commissioning.
- An architect or a planner who specialises in healthcare has designed your practice. They obtain the permit, and HMG then takes over the construction phase and works with them.
Either way, you carry on treating patients while someone else follows the contractors, the costs and the dates.
How HMG manages your practice fit-out
The work begins with a room by room brief. For each room, HMG records its use, its equipment, its sockets, its water points and its ventilation needs. This table underpins the plans, the cost estimate by trade and the tenders. It prevents the omissions that become expensive once the partitions are closed.
Coordination with the equipment suppliers is the delicate part. The treatment chair, the imaging unit or the steriliser come with connection drawings that the electrician, the plumber and the ventilation contractor must follow precisely. HMG collects these drawings, has them approved before the work is carried out and checks the connection points before the finishes go on. The firm chairs the site meetings, verifies the invoices and organises the testing of the installations before acceptance. The same method applies to clinics.
Usual steps and timing
- Visit of the premises and brief for each room, drawn up with the practitioner.
- Plans, cost estimate and check of the permitted use of the premises.
- Permit application and consent of the owner or the property manager (régie).
- Tenders, selection of contractors and collection of the equipment suppliers' drawings.
- Works, from services to finishes, then installation and connection of the equipment.
- Testing, acceptance, snagging and final account.
The timetable depends on the permit procedure and on the delivery times of the equipment. HMG sets it with you, taking into account the end of your current lease or the date on which you want to see patients.
Clinics delivered under HMG's management
Frequently asked questions
Can a medical practice be set up in former offices?
Often yes, provided three things are checked before you commit. Medical use has to be allowed in the premises, the water pipes must be able to reach every room and the access must suit all patients. HMG carries out this check at the first visit.
Can the practice stay open during the works?
For a refurbishment, the site can move forward in phases, room after room, with noisy work outside consulting hours. Dust and hygiene nevertheless call for a strict separation between the works area and the treatment area. HMG tells you plainly whether this is realistic in your premises.
How much does a medical practice fit-out cost in Geneva?
The cost depends on the floor area, the number of rooms with water, the ventilation to be installed and the equipment to be connected. HMG prices these items trade by trade as soon as the room brief is settled, then confirms the budget when the bids come in. The medical equipment itself has a separate budget, kept with your suppliers.
Who coordinates the medical equipment suppliers?
The construction project manager does. They pass the connection drawings to the contractors, set the delivery date of each item in the schedule and make sure the room is ready and clean at that moment.
Related guides and pages
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