Industrial Warehouse Specifications: Complete Checklist

IndiFind•December 13, 2025•

14 min read

Interior of a high-bay industrial warehouse with clear view of racking and loading docks

For the full process from specifications to lease, see the Warehouse Industrial for Rent: Complete European Guide.

Why Getting Specifications Right Matters

Once you have signed a lease, most building-level constraints become permanent. You can add docks, re‑rack aisles, or upgrade power, but you cannot easily raise the roof or move a motorway. Misjudging specifications when you search “warehouse industrial for rent” creates structural inefficiencies that last an entire lease cycle.

This article gives you a structured specification checklist to use alongside the pillar guide.

Volume and Layout

Total Area and Configurable Zones

Define:

Total GIA/GLA (for example 8,000–20,000m²).
Number of units or phases you can combine.
Proportion for:
- High‑bay storage.
- Cross‑dock or marshalling areas.
- Value‑add or light manufacturing.
- Offices and welfare.

Clear Height and Column Grid

Clear Height:
- 8–10m: legacy stock or low‑intensity operations.
- 10–12m: modern standard.
- 12–15m+: high‑bay and automation.
Column Spacing:
- Modern grids: around 12m x 24m.
- Older buildings: tighter grids that restrict racking layouts.

Sketch possible racking schemes for candidate buildings to see how many pallet positions you realistically gain per m².

Floor and Structural Performance

Floor Loading and Slab Quality

Verify:

Load rating in tonnes/m², including safety factors.
Uniform load vs. point load ratings.
Flatness and levelness tolerances for VNA or automation.

Ask for:

Structural engineer’s floor report.
History of heavy machinery or point loads that might have damaged slab integrity.

Mezzanines and Structural Flexibility

Is there an existing mezzanine? If yes, what is its load rating?
Is the building structurally prepared for future mezzanines?
Are foundations and frames designed for possible vertical extension?

Loading Docks, Doors and Yard

Dock and Door Types

Checklist:

Number of dock levellers and dock shelters.
Door heights and widths relative to trailer types.
Mix of dock and level-access doors.
Canopies or covered loading corridors for weather protection.

Yard Design

Clear depth from dock face to fence or obstruction.
Number of trailer parking spaces and turning circles.
Segregation between HGV and car traffic.
Security measures: gates, cameras, guardhouse, fencing.

Link this with your transport modelling: a perfect warehouse on paper fails if the yard bottlenecks trucks at peak.

Services, Power and Environmental Controls

Power and Utilities

Specify:

Required kVA for start-up and future expansion.
Number of substations or feeds.
Redundancy for critical operations.

Consider:

E‑commerce or automation hubs often need significantly more power than simple storage or cross‑dock facilities.
EV truck charging will rapidly increase power requirements over the next lease cycle.

Temperature and Environment

Ambient vs. chilled vs. frozen zones.
Humidity control for sensitive goods.
Insulation and building envelope performance.

Check if building fabric and plant are suitable for your product and regulatory environment (for example pharma, food, chemicals).

Safety, Compliance and ESG

Fire and Safety

Sprinkler type and density (for example ESFR) and coverage height.
Smoke vents, detection and alarm systems.
Fire walls, compartmentation and escape routes.

Ensure fire protection matches commodity class and storage height; otherwise you may need costly upgrades before insurers sign off.

Environmental and ESG Features

Energy performance rating, solar PV, LED lighting.
Rainwater harvesting, EV chargers, smart metering.
Certifications (BREEAM, LEED, DGNB and similar).

Corporate ESG policies increasingly require minimum standards—build this into your spec from day one.

Using IndiFind to Filter by Specifications

On IndiFind, you can search “warehouse industrial for rent” and refine results with:

Clear height filters in metres.
Dock count and door type filters.
Power capacity ranges and temperature controls.
Tagged ESG or certification attributes.

Save these as named preferences (for example, “Benelux E‑commerce Spec”, “CEE Manufacturing Spec”) so every search and alert uses your full technical checklist by default.