Undergoing any large scale development or office project can be a stressful undertaking. To help, we’ve put together an office refurbishment checklist to help make the process as stress-free as possible.

If you’re like me and you love a good ol’ list, then being able to tick off items helps encourage you, giving a sense of accomplishment as you make your way through a project. Without further ado, here is our ultimate office refurbishment checklist.

Office Refurbishment Checklist

• Timing, dates, objectives, reasons and challenges

One of the first things to consider before carrying out an office refurbishment is asking yourself: is this the right time for your business to get refurbished? You want to make sure that you are doing an office refurbishment for the right reasons as it is a big investment.

The best way to know for sure if your office is ready to be refurbished is if you’ve noticed a dip in staff productivity, their physical or mental health is being compromised, or your staff are lacking sufficient resources or space. One other way to tell if you’re due an office refurbishment is if the branding/ company culture isn’t being communicated well to both visitors and staff.

– Will a refurbishment cause any issues?

– What is it that you’re trying to achieve from the new workspace you’re trying to create?

– Is it to facilitate agile working, to accommodate new technology, to boost creativity, collaboration and productivity, or to attract and retain new talent?

• Finances

When you’re satisfied with the timing and reasons why you’re doing it, now you can sit down and think about what you can and can’t afford. Firstly, you need to make sure you’re realistic in your estimations. It is important not to forget about deposits, etc. One key question to ask yourself is: will the project be leased over a period of time, or will you need to borrow from the bank?

• Design concepts, requirements, costs and timescales

When you have sorted out the finances for your office refurbishment, you can then begin to think about finding a professional interior design partner. There are a number of different benefits when you choose professional services to help with the refurbishment of your office. The most important thing is to select a service provider who is right for you and can help bring your vision alive.

They should also have experience with the following things: combatting common workplace issues such as noise disruption and communication; know how to incorporate different work settings into a building such as collaborative space and private working areas; excellent project management skills; good budget management handling; as well as up-to-date knowledge of industry trends and insights.

• Office interior preparation

Before your office building undergoes any building work it needs to be properly prepared. This includes removing furniture, any electrical devices and appliances, as well as moving staff to somewhere else to work, if possible.

• The refurbishment work, including project management and site operations

When you have reached number 5 on our ultimate checklist, you are now ready for the office refurbishment work to begin. The main takeaway here is to make sure that you hire an experienced office fit-out partner. This means they will handle the project management and day-to-day site operations, including managing the network of external and specialised sub-contractors.

Your fit-out partner will have plenty of industry knowledge and experience, meaning they are able to handle any issues that arise. An experienced fit-out contractor will ensure health and safety are met, and your project follows all the necessary compliance at all stages.

• Furniture

Depending on whether or not you would like to update the furniture in your office, then you either need to look into purchasing ones, get rid of existing furniture or move your current ones back into the building. You can use external movers for this, or do it yourself, depending on the size of your building and company.

• Moving staff and files into new locations and occupation of the space

We have briefly touched upon moving staff already while the build is taking place, but it is also important, once the build is finished, to move staff back into the new space. This may require a new staff organisation and a plan drawn up, particularly if you have large teams and different departments. 

Staff will need to be kept well informed about where to go when they arrive, and which area is for their department, as well as the new uses and purposes of other spaces (such as collaborative and private working areas).

Contact Us

If you’re interested in office refurbishment, or you’d like to find out more information about any of the services we offer here at Wessex Interiors Limited, then please get in touch with our team on 02380 663 100, or through filling out our online contact form.