If you are a tenant-improvement general contractor, a retail development PM, or a property manager working anywhere from Hwy 17A in Summerville up through Nexton, Mt. Pleasant medical office corridors, and the grocery-anchored centers along the I-26 spine, you already know the pain. The flatwork scope on your TI punch list is real money to the owner but small money to the large site-concrete firms. Sidewalks need replacing, an ADA ramp is out of tolerance, the dumpster pad is spalling, the curb and gutter got clipped by a delivery truck. Total value: somewhere between $5,000 and $50,000. The phone at Banks and Landmark rings twice and goes to voicemail.
That gap is where JSW Construction lives. This post walks through the commercial flatwork scopes we handle every week, the ADA details that will get a job rejected on final inspection, the curb and gutter profiles you will see on Lowcountry pad sites, and honest cost ranges so you can budget without three rounds of RFI. If you want a number today, get a bid in 48 hours and we will mobilize inside a week.
The Commercial Flatwork Scopes We Cover
Commercial flatwork is a broad bucket, and most TI packages touch several line items in the same mobilization. Here is what we self-perform across the Charleston and Summerville metro:
- Commercial sidewalks. New pours, panel replacement, trip-hazard grinding and repour, integral sidewalk and curb assemblies.
- ADA-compliant ramps. Curb ramps, landing pads, detectable warning surfaces (truncated domes) installed per 2010 ADA Standards.
- Curb and gutter. 6 inch roll curb, 18 inch wide gutter pan, 24 inch ribbon curb, apron curb at drive entrances, and straight barrier curb tied to gutter.
- Concrete aprons. Drive aprons, loading dock aprons, and transitions from asphalt to concrete at dumpster corrals.
- Equipment pads. Generator pads, HVAC condenser pads, transformer pads with rebar mat and chamfered edges.
- Dumpster pads. 8 inch reinforced slabs with approach apron, bollards coordinated, and drain slope as required by local plan review.
- Slabs on grade. Small commercial interior slabs, vestibule pours, and cooler pads inside grocery and C-store TI work.
- Cast-in-place vs. pre-cast. Most TI flatwork is cast-in-place because geometry is custom. Pre-cast comes in for wheel stops, bollards, and occasionally curb sections on very tight schedules.
- Handicap parking striping coordination. We do not paint stripes, but we coordinate sequencing with the striping sub so the ramp, landing, and access aisle line up on the first pass.
Minimum Scope Size: Why Large Firms Pass
The economics are not complicated. A large site-concrete firm like Banks or Landmark is built around 100-yard pours and multi-week mobilizations. Moving a crew, a pump, a finish team, and QC staff for a $12,000 ramp replacement loses money before the mixer rolls. Their minimums generally sit above $50,000, and their bid desks will tell you that outright.
JSW is built differently. Our commercial crews are sized for fast, surgical mobilization on scopes from roughly $5,000 up to $50,000. That means your 60 linear feet of damaged curb, your non-compliant ramp, or your new generator pad gets a bid inside 48 hours and a crew on site inside a week, not a quarter. For TI GCs chasing a certificate of occupancy, that timing is the whole job.
ADA Compliance Details That Get Jobs Rejected
More ADA ramps fail inspection than any other flatwork item on a TI punch list. The tolerances are tight and the inspector has a digital level. These are the numbers we build to, every time:
- Running slope: maximum 1:12, or 8.33 percent. We target 7.5 percent to leave room for finish variation.
- Cross-slope: maximum 1:48, or 2.08 percent. This is the one most crews miss.
- Landing dimensions: minimum 60 inches by 60 inches, with cross-slope on the landing capped at 2.08 percent in any direction.
- Detectable warnings: truncated domes per 2010 ADA Standards, installed the full width of the ramp, 24 inches deep in the direction of travel, with visual contrast to the adjacent surface.
- Surface: stable, firm, slip-resistant. A heavy broom finish perpendicular to travel is the Lowcountry standard.
- Flared sides: maximum 1:10 slope where the ramp meets the walking surface without a landing.
We shoot grades before the pour, again during screed, and photograph the digital level reading on every ramp. That packet goes to the GC for the closeout binder.
Curb and Gutter, Aprons, and Finish Options
Curb and gutter on Lowcountry retail and medical pad sites is usually integrally poured, 6 inch roll curb with an 18 inch gutter pan, or a 24 inch ribbon curb where the detail calls for a flush transition. Apron curb handles drive entrances and dumpster enclosure openings. When the sidewalk abuts the curb, we pour it integral to eliminate the cold joint and the trip hazard that eventually follows.
Finish is part of the bid, not an afterthought. Standard is a light broom finish on sidewalks and ramps. For higher-end retail, medical, and grocery front-of-house work we pour stamped concrete, integral color, exposed aggregate, or salt finish. Each has different slip-resistance and maintenance trade-offs, and we will tell you which one actually holds up under shopping carts and Lowcountry summer storms.
Typical TI Flatwork Scopes and Cost Ranges
Budget numbers below are JSW 2026 pricing for Charleston, Summerville, Mt. Pleasant, and Nexton. They assume standard access, no night work, and no traffic control beyond cones and signage.
| Scope | Typical Size | Budget Range |
|---|---|---|
| Sidewalk panel repair | 2 to 4 panels, 4 inch | $2,800 to $6,500 |
| New ADA ramp with truncated domes | 1 ramp, 60 x 60 landing | $4,500 to $9,500 |
| Curb and gutter replacement | 100 linear feet | $6,500 to $12,000 |
| Dumpster pad, 8 inch reinforced | 12 x 14 with apron | $8,500 to $15,500 |
Expert Insight: Nikki Walker on TI Flatwork
"The TI GCs we work with are not shopping for the cheapest number. They are shopping for a sub who will actually show up, hit the ADA tolerances the first time, and hand them a clean closeout packet. On a $12,000 ramp, one failed inspection costs more than the ramp. That is why we shoot grades three times and photograph every pour. Call us on Tuesday, bid Thursday, pour the following week, that is the rhythm TI work demands." - Nikki Walker, JSW Construction
Ready to get a number on your scope? Get a bid in 48 hours or reach the commercial team through the JSW commercial division page.