Thinking of sub Leasing Your Building Space watch you do not open a Pandora's Box

You see signs all the time Space Available as you ride by warehouse and manufacturing buildings . With the economy bad and if you do not need all the room why not sublease and make a few extra hundred dollars a month.
The problem with out careful planning you could be opening a Pandora's box which could cost you your business.

First off does your community's zoning  rules allow you to do it. If not your in violation and can be shut down. 2nd does your insurance cover you for such use of your building. If not should there be a injury claim your screwed.
3rd If you do it are you changing your zoning and is your building in proper code compliance in the first place .
This is what gets companys in trouble .
Something happens a fire or burglar  alarm goes off authorities arrive and investigate and the next thing you know you have a violation notice . What if they do not pay with out a proper lease your screwed.

That partition wall you put up is not fire proof worse yet that wall you cut thru  violates the firewall code. You can then be given a citation and given 30 days to comply with thousands to hundreds of thousands in costs because you may well have to install a sprinkler system . Worse yet some one your leasing to gets hurt or some one they invited in the building gets hurt and your tennat has no insurance. Your screwed.   Even worse yet one of my customers sublet to a wood shop the owner was viewing and trading Child Pornography on the property. He could have had his building seized.
Thank god in his lease he had a provision which prohibited illegal activity or he could have well lost the building he still had to get an attorney involved  which cost thousands.
 So how do you avoid Pandora's Box. 

1st check with your local zoning and code enforcement to see if you can do it and what you need to do to comply.

2nd check with your Insurance carrier if you have all proper coverages needed and if not how much it is going to cost you .

3rd consult and have an attorney write you up a proper enforceable lease to protect you and your property in many cases they will want you to separate the building from your business with a separate corporation. If the building is sued they can get the building not your business. Go to a proper Small business attorney familiar with this work not your brother in law.

If you fail to do the above 3 steps you are 1 step away from opening Pandora's Box.  Do not loose your business over something stupid like some of my customers have had happen to them.