A well designed office is important both for your staff and your clients.  If your office needs refurbishment or you just need a brand new office, a shopfitter is the professional that you will need to see.  The shop fitter will work with you to create your dream office. Read on for more info.

What is an Office Fit Out?

An office fit out can be defined as the creation or “fitting out” of a new office environment.  It is done when a new building is constructed and you are the first tenant, or when you are the new leaseholder and you need to fit out the office according to your requirements.  In the latter case, the old office fittings and fixtures need to be removed first.

Office fit outs can be simple or extensive depending on what needs to be done but some things that you might find in an office fit out include:    

• Reception desks
• Conference desks
• Data and electrical cabling
• Partitions
• Furniture (chairs, sofas, side tables, shelving, cabinetry etc)
• Custom made furniture or shop fittings

Who Does Office Fit Outs?

Office fit outs are generally done by fully trained, licensed and insured shop fitters.  Shop fitters have a range of specialist skills such as joinery and carpentry and they will liaise with other professionals such as electricians, plumbers, interior designers, and architects in order to create the office environment that is required by the client.

The shop fitter (or shop fitting company) should work with you throughout all stages of the office fit out.  There should be an initial briefing where the client outlines their ideas, the design stage where the shop fitter and client work together to produce an acceptable design and concept drawings as well as detailed plans, the approval stage (development approvals etc), the actual building stage, and then the end stage where any cleaning is done and loose ends are tied up.  As well as enacting your office fit out, the shop fitter will also act as a project manager, ensuring that the project is done to budget and that the tradesmen are coordinated and carrying out their tasks at the necessary times.