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Commercial · Cannabis Retail StoresCannabis Retail Store HVAC
Cannabis retail store HVAC has a deadline most build-outs do not: the AGCO inspects the store before it issues a Retail Store Authorization, and the security and secure storage it checks cannot be finished until the ductwork and ceilings are closed. That puts HVAC on the critical path, so rooftop and duct work should be complete before the security installer starts, not overlapping with it. We handle the build-out, harden every duct and roof opening into the store, and maintain the system after opening.
The schedule works backward from the inspection. The AGCO's pre-authorization inspection confirms the store meets the Registrar's Standards, including video surveillance and secure storage, and the inspector contacts you beforehand to confirm the location is ready. Cameras and the storage room cannot be signed off above an open ceiling, and the ceiling cannot close until ducts, diffusers and thermostat wiring are in. Rent runs the whole time, so order long-lead equipment the week the lease is signed and get the building permit application in early.
Security is where this differs from any other shop. Standard 2.4 says all points of access to the premises must be secure and protected against unauthorized access, and Standard 2.2 requires cannabis to be stored securely and reachable only by staff. The Standards do not mention ducts by name. A rooftop unit curb, a return-air opening or a transfer grille large enough for a person is still a way in, so we treat each one as a point of access and fit welded steel security bars inside the curb and the duct.
The secure storage room needs conditioning without a hole in its security. Its walls normally run to the underside of the roof deck, which rules out the usual open-plenum return, and it often houses the surveillance recorder and network gear, which give off heat around the clock. A small ductless split solves both: the only penetration is a sleeve a few centimetres wide for the refrigerant lines. The Standards set no temperature or humidity figure, so the target comes from the packaging, which asks for cool, dry and steady.
Odour is a lease issue more than a product issue, because stock arrives sealed. What neighbours notice comes from sensory display jars, returns and any shared ceiling space in older plazas where demising walls stop at the tile. Sealing those walls to the deck and keeping the store slightly negative with a small exhaust is the fix, with carbon filtration where the landlord asks for it. The sales floor follows our retail store HVAC approach, tenant fit-outs covers the build-out process, and the hub is commercial HVAC.
Equipment we install and service
The packaged unit serving the sales floor, usually inherited from the previous tenant. We inspect it before you commit to keeping it, and we fit security bars across the supply and return openings inside the curb so that lifting the unit off the roof does not open a route into the store. A lease HVAC inspection before signing tells you what you are inheriting.
A wall-mounted indoor unit and small outdoor unit holding the storage room at a steady temperature and removing moisture year-round. It runs independently of the sales-floor schedule, which matters because the storage room has heat sources at night and the sales floor does not.
Supply and return runs, diffusers and grilles laid out with the surveillance plan so nothing hangs in a camera's line of sight to the entrances, point of sale, receiving area or storage. It is far cheaper to move a diffuser on paper than after the ceiling is up.
A small exhaust fan for the receiving and destruction area, washroom exhaust, sealed demising-wall penetrations and optional carbon filtration on the return. Exhaust discharge points get the same bars as any other opening.
What goes wrong in these buildings
- Our AGCO inspection is in three weeks and the ceiling is still open because the ductwork is not finished.
- The landlord's rooftop unit is twenty years old and nobody will tell me who replaces it.
- The storage room is a windowless box with the DVR in it and it hits 28°C overnight.
- The security consultant flagged the return-air opening as a way into the vault.
- The tenant next door says they can smell us through the ceiling.
- The diffuser the last contractor hung is blocking the camera over the point of sale.
How it works
Before or just after lease signing we inspect the existing rooftop unit, mark up the floor plan with the secure room, cameras and duct routes, and build a schedule back from your target inspection date. You learn early whether the unit stays and which openings need bars.
We prepare the mechanical scope for the building permit, coordinate with your general contractor and security installer, and complete duct, curb bars and the storage-room split before the ceiling closes. The written quote lists each item. Cost depends on whether the rooftop unit is replaced, the number of openings to harden and how far the storage room is from an outside wall; the pricing page has general figures.
Filters, coils and drains are serviced from the roof where possible, and any visit that enters the store or the secure room is booked with your manager so staff can escort and log it. To start a build-out or hand over maintenance, talk to the shop.
Common questions
Does the AGCO inspect the HVAC system?
Not as a mechanical system. The pre-authorization inspection looks at eligibility and store requirements such as surveillance, secure storage and secured entry points. HVAC affects all three indirectly: unfinished ducts keep the ceiling open, an unbarred opening is a point of access, and a hot storage room is a product problem. The mechanical work itself is inspected by the municipal building department under your permit.
What temperature and humidity should the storage room be?
The Registrar's Standards give no figure, so follow the product packaging and your supplier's guidance, which call for cool, dry storage away from light. In practice that means a steady, cool room temperature and moderate humidity, held day and night. Stability matters more than the exact number; a room that swings ten degrees between a hot afternoon and a setback night dries out flower and softens chocolate products.
Do duct openings really need security bars?
Any opening a person could fit through does, in our view. Rooftop units can be unbolted and lifted off their curbs, leaving a hole straight into the ceiling space. Welded bars inside the curb and at the walls around the secure room cost little during rough-in and are awkward to add later. Bars are sized so they do not choke airflow, and we account for them when balancing.
Can we keep the previous tenant's rooftop unit?
Often yes, if it is inspected first. We check age, heat exchanger, compressor, economizer and controls, and compare its capacity to your layout, since a store with a walled-off storage room and extra lighting loads differently from the last tenant's space. A unit near the end of its life is better replaced during the build-out, while the roof and ceiling are open, than in the month after you open.
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