Direct Answer
Send your unit plans 45 to 60 days before you need cabinets on site. Cabo runs about 30 days of production once your spec is confirmed, then under 7 days for delivery by land to your US job site. That puts you at roughly five weeks total from confirmed spec to boxes on the ground. The 45 to 60 day window gives you room to review shop drawings, make any needed adjustments, and lock in your production slot without pushing your install schedule.
For projects over 100 units or work that hits during peak season, 90 days out is smarter. Cabo builds about 8,000 apartment units of cabinetry a month, roughly 200 shipping containers. High volume buyers in the National Accounts program often work six months ahead to reserve capacity and coordinate multiple job sites.
Why It Matters
Cabinet lead time is often the long pole in a construction schedule. Drywall goes up, electrical and plumbing rough in, and suddenly you need cabinets to set so countertop templating can happen and the install can close out. If you send plans too late, you either wait for the next production run or you pay to expedite, and neither helps your budget or your schedule.
Cabo ships by land, which cuts 45 to 90 days off the timeline compared to Asian suppliers who rely on ocean transit. But even with that advantage, you still need buffer time. Unit plans almost always need clarification: a dimension, a filler panel, whether a sink base is 30 or 33 inches. Cabo reviews your spec and sends shop drawings back. You confirm or adjust. That back and forth takes a week or two, and it is time well spent because it prevents change orders and field fixes.
How It Works
The timeline breaks into four pieces:
- Plan review and shop drawings: One to two weeks. Cabo reviews your unit plans, elevations and any finish samples. We generate shop drawings showing exactly what we will build, door style, hinge locations, finish, hardware. You confirm the spec or flag changes.
- Production: About 30 days once the spec is locked. Cabo builds to your exact specification, framed or frameless boxes, RTA or assembled, doors painted or stained in shaker, slim shaker, slab or thermofoil. Every unit is built the same way, same materials, same process, whether you order 6 cabinets or 600.
- Delivery: Under 7 days by land from the 700,000 square foot factory in Mexico to your US job site. Cabo ships branded as your own, your name on every box.
- Contingency: Two weeks. Things happen. A building inspector shows up late, a permit gets delayed, a concrete pour slips. The 45 to 60 day window gives you breathing room so cabinet delivery does not become the problem.
What to Send When You Send Plans
Cabo needs enough information to generate accurate shop drawings and price your work. That means unit plans with dimensions, door and drawer locations, any specialty cabinets like lazy Susans or appliance garages, finish and door style, and hardware preferences. If you have standard unit types, a typical floor plan works. If every unit is different, send individual layouts.
Include elevations if the ceiling height varies or if you want cabinets that run to the ceiling. Note any jobsite constraints: tight access, freight elevator size, whether the install crew wants RTA or assembled boxes. The clearer your spec, the faster Cabo turns shop drawings and the fewer revisions you cycle through.
For National Accounts buyers working on multiple projects, Cabo keeps your specs on file. Once we build your first unit type, repeat orders move faster because the design is locked and the production setup is done. That relationship over years is how the highest volume developers keep their schedules tight and their costs predictable.