Opening a restaurant: why exhaust, 3-phase power and water matter

For a restaurant, the exhaust route, 3-phase power and water points decide whether the shop can work as a kitchen. If the exhaust cannot be routed cleanly, the power cannot carry your equipment or the drainage is in the wrong place, you face high costs, delays or complaints. Check all three before you sign.

A beautiful frontage with no exhaust route is not a restaurant site. Landlords often advertise F&B-ready units for this reason, and takeover adverts for F&B shops in Malaysia ask RM 68,000 to RM 80,000 in goodwill partly because the kitchen services are already in place. Getting these wrong can push your opening back by months.

• Walk to the back lane and look for existing ducts on the wall or roof of the unit.
• Ask how previous F&B tenants vented, and whether there were complaints.
• Check who occupies the neighbouring units. Residential or office tenants next to a ground-floor kitchen are the usual source of complaints.
• Ask the landlord in writing whether you may install a duct through the roof or along the rear wall.
• Ask your contractor for the duct length and fan size before committing.

Most heavy kitchen equipment, large chillers and commercial air conditioning are designed for 3-phase supply. Check the meter board. If the unit has single phase only, ask:

• whether the landlord will apply for an upgrade, and who pays
• how long the utility upgrade is likely to take
• whether the rent-free period covers the wait

Put the answer in the tenancy agreement, not in a WhatsApp message.

Plan the kitchen layout around the existing water inlet and floor traps where you can. Moving drainage in a ground-floor slab means hacking the floor, which adds cost and time. Check the fall of the drains to the back lane and ask whether the unit has flooded before. Neighbouring shopkeepers usually know.

Food streets and dense residential hubs where F&B has proven demand. Based on MCE analysis of portal adverts from the last six months (Nov 2026, shop units only, duplicate and bait adverts removed, middle half of asking prices):

• Approved use as a restaurant or food premises
• Landlord permission for the exhaust route, roof works and signage
• Who pays for a power upgrade and grease trap
• A rent-free fit-out period that starts at handover
• Reinstatement rules, because removing ducts and kitchens at the end costs money

Our tenancy clauses checklist covers each of these. If a unit is a takeover, use this list before agreeing any goodwill, as in our goodwill guide.