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Signing a commercial lease starts the fit-out project; it does not finish the planning. In the first week, turn the lease into a project brief, appoint one decision-making lead, obtain the landlord’s fit-out rules, verify the building, and build a programme that works backwards from your opening date. Run landlord consent and statutory approvals in parallel, freeze a coordinated design before tendering, and keep a live cost plan that includes construction, furniture, technology, moving, taxes, contingency and eventual reinstatement.
The exact approval route and duration depend on the property and jurisdiction. As reference points, South Australia’s Department for Infrastructure and Transport presents an 18–36-month range for a complete accommodation programme and shows construction and occupation as 6–12 months; a UK ACI example gives 2–12 weeks for landlord approval or a licence to alter. Those figures are planning examples, not promises for every office.
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1. Mobilise in the first week
Nominate a tenant project lead with authority to make timely decisions. Give that person a written mandate, a decision log and a meeting rhythm. A fit-out stalls when the designer, landlord, contractor and IT team receive conflicting instructions or wait for an executive who is unavailable.
Hold a lease-review workshop with the project lead, property lawyer, designer and cost consultant. Read the signed lease and all schedules, side letters and building rules together. Request the landlord’s current fit-out manual, base-build drawings, services information, fire strategy, approval forms, contractor induction requirements and logistics rules. Confirm that the information is current for the exact building and floor; marketing plans are not measured construction information.
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Lease obligations to extract
| Lease item | What to confirm | Why it changes the project |
|---|---|---|
| Permitted use | Approved business activity, occupancy limits and any restricted operations | A different use can trigger planning, fire, ventilation or landlord review. |
| Alterations and consent | Whether a licence to alter or equivalent approval is required; submission format, fees and review stages | Work cannot lawfully or contractually start until the required consent is in place. |
| Reinstatement and dilapidations | What must be removed or restored at lease end, and what records the landlord expects | Today’s partitions, cabling and finishes can become a future liability. |
| Access and logistics | Permitted working hours, loading-bay bookings, lift protection, delivery routes, noise limits and induction | Restrictions affect the programme, preliminaries and contractor price. |
| Insurance and contractors | Required policies, minimum limits, approved contractors and evidence needed before access | A contractor may be unable to mobilise without compliant insurance or registration. |
| Rent-free and commencement dates | When the lease starts, when rent-free ends and what handover condition applies | The practical opening date must account for approvals, construction and commissioning. |
| Utilities and building services | Who pays for and controls electricity, water, HVAC, telecoms, meters and after-hours operation | Unclear responsibility causes design gaps and operating-cost disputes. |
| Deposits and handover | Security deposits, bonds, landlord inspections and required completion evidence | Cash-flow and documentation requirements belong in the project plan. |
South Australia’s Department for Infrastructure and Transport describes a comparable workflow that starts with needs and space requirements, then design-team procurement, concept design, detailed documentation, contractor procurement, construction and occupation. Treat that sequence as a control framework, not as a substitute for the lease or local law.
2. Define the workplace brief before designing rooms
A drawing cannot solve an undefined operating model. Write the brief around how people will work, not around a preferred furniture catalogue. Record current headcount and the planning-horizon headcount, attendance patterns by day, assigned versus shared desks, visitors, contractors and shift workers. State whether people need fixed storage, lockers, touchdown space or fully mobile working.
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Questions the brief must answer
- How many workstations are required now and at the planned growth date?
- What proportion of desks will be assigned, shared or bookable?
- How many enclosed offices, focus rooms, phone booths, meeting rooms and collaboration areas are needed, and for what group sizes?
- Where will reception, visitor waiting, deliveries, mail, printing, records and secure storage sit?
- What kitchen, catering, welfare, shower, changing and accessible sanitary facilities are required?
- Which zones need controlled access, visitor separation, high confidentiality or specialist security?
- What acoustic privacy is needed for calls, confidential work and concentration?
- What lighting quality, glare control, power, data, Wi-Fi, audiovisual and display capability is required?
- What HVAC, fresh-air, cooling, heating and equipment-load assumptions apply?
- Which spaces must be adaptable if headcount, hybrid work or departmental priorities change?
Engage security, ICT and audiovisual, acoustics and business-unit representatives early. The Government Workplace Design Guide can provide a benchmark for space standards, workplace effectiveness and flexibility, but it does not replace local accessibility, fire, building or employment requirements.
3. Survey the premises and produce a test fit
Commission a measured survey and building-services investigation before freezing the layout. Verify floor dimensions, columns, slab-to-slab and finished ceiling heights, floor loading, risers, electrical capacity, HVAC capacity, drainage, windows, fire compartments, escape routes, incoming telecoms and noise conditions. Identify what belongs to the base build, what is landlord-controlled and what the tenant may alter.
Use the survey to create one or more test fits. A test fit is a capacity and compliance check, not the final design. Compare options using the same assumptions so that a denser plan is not declared cheaper simply because it omits meeting rooms, storage or services.
Layout comparison criteria
| Criterion | What to measure |
|---|---|
| Capacity | Usable area per person, workstation count and assigned/shared ratio |
| Work quality | Meeting and collaboration capacity, quiet work and acoustic privacy |
| Inclusion | Accessible routes, facilities, reach ranges and equitable access to rooms |
| Adaptability | Ability to reconfigure partitions, furniture, power and data as the business changes |
| Building fit | Services capacity, fire compartments, escape routes, structural limits and landlord constraints |
| Operating impact | Energy demand, ventilation, lighting control, cleaning and facilities effort |
| Risk and cost | Capital cost, approval risk, programme, procurement complexity and reinstatement exposure |
Record assumptions on every test fit: occupancy, desk-sharing ratio, room sizes, equipment loads, storage volume and hours of operation. If an assumption changes, update the area schedule and services calculations rather than quietly stretching the drawing.
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The scope determines the team. A small cosmetic refresh may need an interior designer, building surveyor and competent contractor. A change involving partitions, mechanical systems, fire protection, accessibility or complex technology usually needs broader coordination.
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Typical appointments
- Architect or interior designer for planning, spatial coordination, finishes and technical documentation.
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer for power, lighting, HVAC, ventilation, drainage and controls.
- Fire consultant for fire strategy, alarm and sprinkler interfaces, compartmentation and evacuation implications.
- Acoustician for room separation, reverberation, speech privacy and noisy equipment.
- IT and audiovisual designer for network, Wi-Fi, racks, meeting-room systems, displays, cameras and microphones.
- Accessibility adviser where the building, workforce or scope makes specialist review appropriate.
- Cost consultant for elemental cost planning, tender comparison, change control and forecasts.
- Certifier or building-control professional where required by the jurisdiction and project scope.
Set deliverables, decision rights, fee basis, insurance, programme, review points and coordination responsibilities in each appointment. Require drawings and specifications that a contractor can price, not only presentation visuals.
5. Run landlord and statutory approvals as parallel gates
Create an approvals register on the first day. Give every approval an owner, submission package, reviewer, submission date, response due date, conditions and evidence of approval. Do not rely on an email thread as the project record.
Approval streams to check
- Landlord or managing agent: licence to alter or equivalent consent, design rules, finishes, services connections, signage, security, lift use, deliveries and out-of-hours work.
- Planning or change of use: whether the proposed use, signage, external equipment or building changes require planning consent.
- Building control: structural, fire, ventilation, sound, sanitation, accessibility and other building-regulations matters.
- Fire authorities and strategy: alarm, sprinklers, escape capacity, compartmentation, evacuation arrangements and any required consultation.
- Technical and environmental: electrical, mechanical, ventilation, drainage, energy, waste and hazardous-material requirements.
- Construction logistics: contractor registration, induction, hoarding, protection of common areas, loading and waste routes.
GOV.UK Approved Documents are statutory guidance on ways to meet building regulations, covering subjects such as structure, fire safety, ventilation, sound, sanitation and accessibility. The applicable documents and approval process vary by jurisdiction. The South Australia DIT workflow and the UK ACI example illustrate why consent must begin early; ACI’s example gives a 2–12-week range for landlord approval or a licence to alter, while a complex submission may take longer.
Ask the landlord to identify review dependencies. For example, a ceiling plan may depend on the fire strategy, which may depend on occupancy and partition locations. Submit a coordinated package where possible, and maintain a list of conditions that must be closed before construction or occupation.
6. Build a programme backwards from opening
Choose the date the business must operate from the premises, then work backwards. Include decision time, design, approvals, tendering, procurement, construction, inspections, commissioning, furniture, IT, cleaning, moving and contingency. Include the lease’s rent-free expiry and any landlord handover milestone as fixed dates.
Core programme stages
- Mobilisation: appoint the lead team, review the lease, obtain landlord information and establish governance.
- Brief and surveys: confirm headcount, work patterns, test fits, measured information and building constraints.
- Concept design: agree the preferred layout, area schedule, room data, services strategy and cost range.
- Developed and technical design: coordinate architecture, MEP, fire, acoustics, accessibility, IT and audiovisual information.
- Landlord and statutory submissions: obtain approvals, answer comments and record conditions.
- Design freeze: set the date after which changes require written impact assessment and authorised approval.
- Tender and contractor appointment: issue a defined scope, compare like-for-like returns and agree programme, insurances, warranties and change rates.
- Long-lead procurement: release approved items early enough for manufacture, shipping, storage, installation and testing.
- Construction: complete enabling works, partitions, finishes, services, life-safety systems and testing.
- Commissioning and inspections: verify systems, close statutory requirements, clean and prepare the premises.
- Furniture, IT and move: install only after safe access and suitable environmental conditions are confirmed; then cut over technology and move people and records.
- Handover and defects: issue completion information, train operators, record defects, retain a contingency period and obtain landlord acceptance.
The DIT overview’s 18–36-month range and 6–12-month construction-and-occupation phase demonstrate the scale of some government accommodation programmes. A smaller office may be faster, but the dependencies remain. A credible programme shows predecessor relationships, review durations, procurement lead times and float rather than promising a single optimistic construction duration.
7. Freeze design decisions and control change
Set a design-freeze date in the programme. Before it, hold structured reviews of the area schedule, workstation count, room data sheets, finishes, furniture, equipment, services loads, energy targets, accessibility, fire strategy, approvals and exclusions. Obtain written sign-off from the people who own operations, finance, technology and property.
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After freeze, require a written change note for every proposed alteration. It should state the cost change, programme impact, landlord or statutory reapproval needed, compliance effect, procurement consequence and operational effect. A late partition move can change sprinklers, lighting, HVAC, data, fire calculations, furniture and the opening date; the change process makes that chain visible.
8. Build a complete cost plan
Do not describe the budget as a construction price alone. Use an elemental cost plan with a clear responsibility matrix showing whether each item is landlord work, tenant work, consultant work or an operating purchase.
| Cost heading | Typical inclusions |
|---|---|
| Professional and legal | Surveys, architect or interior designer, engineers, fire and acoustics advisers, cost consultant, certification and legal work |
| Landlord and approvals | Landlord review fees, deposits, permits, inspections, after-hours access and building management charges |
| Construction fabric | Protection, demolition, partitions, doors, ceilings, floors, joinery, finishes, decorations and signage |
| Building services | Power, lighting, controls, HVAC changes, plumbing, fire alarm, sprinklers, access control and data infrastructure |
| Furniture and equipment | Workstations, desks, chairs, storage, kitchen equipment, meeting-room equipment and specialist items |
| Technology and move | IT hardware, network equipment, audiovisual systems, installation, testing, moving, cleaning and commissioning |
| Contingency | Unknown conditions, inflation, scope change, services capacity issues and approved substitutions |
| End of lease | Reinstatement or dilapidations allowance, surveys, removal, making good and disposal |
DIT identifies preliminary budgets, pre-tender estimates, scope and budget approval, funding approval and contractor procurement as explicit control points. Reforecast at each one. Tender returns are comparable only when they use the same drawings, specifications, schedule, assumptions, exclusions, tax treatment and programme.
Require every bidder to state preliminaries, working hours, logistics, taxes, insurance, warranty, design responsibility, testing, cleaning, programme, exclusions and rates for changes. Keep separate allowances for items that are not yet designed instead of hiding them inside an unexplained lump sum. There is no reliable industry-wide cost-per-square-foot figure that applies across jurisdictions, building grades and specifications, so use your measured area, defined scope and comparable tender returns.
9. Order long-lead items without creating rework
Furniture, specialist joinery, doors and hardware, lighting, HVAC equipment, network hardware, access-control equipment, displays, cameras, microphones and other specialist items can determine the opening date. Create a procurement schedule with required-on-site date, approved supplier, submittal status, manufacturing lead, shipping, storage, installation, testing and fallback option.
Release an item only when its design, landlord interfaces, budget and approval status are sufficiently certain. Early ordering of an uncoordinated item can create expensive substitutions; late ordering can leave a finished room unusable. The 2025 Modus programme guide includes furniture, equipment and IT orders, installation, fit-out completion, dilapidations and move-in planning, which is a useful reminder that these activities belong in the main programme.
For furniture, specify desk dimensions, adjustability, cable management, screen arrangements, chair performance, storage and accessibility before seeking prices. “Commercial office desks,” “office workstations” and “ergonomic office chairs” are search descriptions, not complete specifications. Coordinate every item with power, data, lighting, clearances, cleaning and fire routes.
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10. Prepare for construction in an occupied building
Before site start, approve the construction phase plan and logistics plan. Confirm access and loading bookings, hoarding, working hours, dust and noise controls, isolations, temporary fire measures, waste routes, protection of common areas, emergency arrangements and neighbour communications.
If other tenants remain in the building, coordinate daily with building management. Keep escape routes available, notify affected occupants of shutdowns, protect shared lifts and entrances, and record who can authorise an emergency stop. Sequence noisy, dusty or service-isolating work around the building’s operating requirements.
Safety controls that cannot be deferred
- Complete and review a fire-risk assessment before alterations and whenever the layout, occupancy or use changes.
- Coordinate temporary alarms, detectors, sprinklers, fire doors, escape routes and any impairment with the responsible person and building management.
- Confirm contractor competence, site inductions, permits, welfare, segregation and emergency contacts.
- Plan protection for asbestos or other hazardous materials where the building survey indicates a risk.
- Maintain safe access for workers, visitors and people with disabilities throughout the works.
GOV.UK guidance places responsibility on the responsible person to carry out and review a fire-risk assessment, maintain appropriate measures and plan for emergencies. The Home Office office-and-shop guidance advises reviewing fire risk before alterations and checking whether a change of use or layout affects design capacity or building-regulations requirements. Under CDM 2015, HSE states that commercial clients influence how construction projects are run, including management of health and safety risks. The precise duties depend on the jurisdiction, but assigning safety responsibility in writing is essential.
11. Define commissioning, practical completion and handover
Put completion criteria in the contract before construction begins. “The furniture has arrived” is not practical completion. Set measurable requirements for safe occupation, statutory sign-off, system performance, cleaning, defects and documentation.
Handover deliverables
- Inspection and test plans, commissioning records and signed test results.
- Fire and life-safety tests, electrical and mechanical certificates and balancing reports.
- Access-control, network, Wi-Fi, audiovisual and room-control tests.
- Cleaning, waste removal, defects list and agreed dates for correction.
- Training for facilities, security, IT and occupants, plus keys, cards and credentials.
- Warranties, spare parts, maintenance contacts and recommended service intervals.
- As-built drawings, operation and maintenance manuals, asset registers and statutory completion information.
- Landlord inspection, written acceptance and a retained digital handover file.
Plan furniture delivery, technology cutover and moving after safe access and suitable temperature, humidity and dust conditions are confirmed. Keep contingency between construction completion and the first working day so a failed test or damaged delivery does not become an emergency opening.
12. Start the reinstatement file on day one
Lease-end obligations are easier to manage when evidence is collected during the fit-out. Keep the approved design, landlord comments, consent conditions, product data, photographs above ceilings and behind walls, service routes, fire-stopping records and records of additions that may need removal. Note which items are landlord-approved to remain and obtain that agreement in writing.
Maintain the reinstatement allowance in every forecast. A tenant that spends the entire capital budget on visible finishes may later discover that cabling, partitions, signage, kitchen equipment or specialist services must be removed and the building made good.
13. Select a contractor on more than headline price
Compare contractors against a common scope and weighted criteria. The lowest initial number can become the most expensive choice if it excludes design coordination, preliminaries, testing, protection, out-of-hours work or defects closeout.
| Selection factor | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Scope clarity | Marked-up inclusions, exclusions, assumptions, provisional sums and interfaces |
| Relevant experience | Comparable office projects, occupied-building logistics and landlord coordination |
| Programme | Logic-linked schedule, procurement dates, labour plan and credible float |
| Design coordination | Responsibility matrix, drawing review process, clash management and submittal workflow |
| Commercial controls | Preliminaries, change rates, payment terms, taxes and cost-reporting method |
| Risk and insurance | Required policies, safety systems, competence records and subcontractor controls |
| Quality and handover | Inspection plans, commissioning approach, warranties, as-builts and defects process |
14. A final readiness check before occupation
- Lease obligations, permitted use and landlord consent conditions are recorded and closed.
- Planning, building-control, fire, accessibility and technical approvals are obtained where applicable.
- The approved design matches the constructed layout and all changes have an impact record.
- Fire routes, alarms, emergency lighting, doors, sprinklers and temporary measures are verified.
- Power, lighting, HVAC, ventilation, water, data, Wi-Fi, access control and audiovisual systems are tested.
- Furniture, storage, kitchen equipment and specialist items are installed safely and do not obstruct escape or accessible routes.
- Cleaning, waste removal, defects, training, keys, credentials and emergency contacts are complete.
- Certificates, warranties, manuals, asset registers, as-builts and landlord acceptance are in the handover file.
- The moving plan includes people, records, IT cutover, deliveries, security and a contingency day.
- The reinstatement file and financial allowance are live for the full lease term.
What a successful post-lease plan looks like
A successful fit-out is a controlled transition from lease obligations to an approved, buildable and operable workplace. The brief reflects real work patterns; the survey exposes building constraints; approvals are tracked as gates; the design is frozen before tender; the cost plan includes every interface; long-lead orders are scheduled; construction protects occupants; and handover proves that the space is safe, compliant and maintainable. If one person owns the decisions and every assumption has an owner, evidence and date, the opening becomes a managed project milestone rather than a last-minute move.
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