Commercial Office Fitouts FAQ

Costs for an office fitout vary significantly based on a number of factors, namely the amount of built form you require, the condition of any existing fit out, the services and engineering requirements of the building, and obviously the level or grade of the finishes. While we don’t typically work on square metre rates, it would be foolish to ignore rules of thumb in the industry. Most organisations should budget for, at least on a rough order of magnitude, a value of $1000 per square metre for a relocation or refurbishment.

The time taken for a fit out varies depending on the scale and complexity of the project. However, generally speaking for a project of between 300 and 1500 sqm, from initial engagement with us until contract signing can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks, depending on your turnaround times. Once a contract is agreed, the design development and approvals phase can also take 4-6 weeks, again depending on your turnaround time. The delivery is then the easy part once the documentation is completed correctly, and this can take anywhere from 4-10 weeks relative to the size of the project. In total, from signing a contract to moving in could take between 8 and 16 weeks.

We often hear the comment that ‘the changes are only internal, we don’t need a permit’. This is not the case. A permit is most likely required if there is any change at all to building services (mechanical or fire) or to egress (emergency escape) paths. However, we take care of the permit process, so there’s no extra pressure on your part in any case. Our expert designers stay within the bounds of the BCA (Building Code of Australia) and ensure compliance with disability access, which makes sure the permit process is just a formality.

Breakout spaces are important because they enable staff to get away (or break out) from their regular day-to-day working location. Being able to clock off from your work, even for just a few minutes has been proven to increase productivity, as it gives your mind an opportunity to recharge and refocus on what’s important. In a post-pandemic world where partial remote working is predominant, breakout spaces will be more important than ever, as when working from home, you can take a few minutes off in the kitchen or in the garden, therefore similar spaces need to be offered in the workplace to make it attractive for staff to come into the office. In addition, the breakout space is a social hub, providing opportunities for staff that may not otherwise interact with one another to connect. This informal cross-company collaboration is essential to growing and nurturing a good corporate culture, which ultimately drives staff retention, talent attraction, client acquisition, revenue growth and profit.

The key advantages of the integrated design and build over against a traditional project manager/architect/builder model include budget, timing and ultimately the end result. In a design and build project, we begin with your budget in mind, and we uncover ways to maximise your spend to create the best return on investment possible due to our accurate knowledge of costs. This prevents costly blowouts from architects that haven’t properly factored in the costs of what will be built. Secondly, our project team works in parallel with our designers reducing double handling and crossover of information downtime. Thirdly, because we utilise our own high quality regular trades, our post contract process is very quick, meaning we are faster at getting on site than other delivery models that have to tender out the drawings to multiple trades. Having these regular trades also means a design and build model will offer a fixed contract price, giving you peace of mind that the price we agree on is the price you will pay. Finally, having one point of contact for the whole process ensures you are able to focus on your business without frantically managing multiple stakeholders, and also knowing that one person or company is taking ultimate responsibility for the success of your project.