When thinking about the costs of a potential office refurbishment, at the early stages it is like taking a complete stab in the dark. You firstly need to know what office refurbishment costs you need to prepare for.
Here is a breakdown and overview of the areas you need to think about when planning the costs of your refurb.
Furniture, Fixtures and Fittings
You should undertake a full inventory check of the condition and numbers of your existing furniture.
Work out what exactly can be utilised in your refurbished office and what needs replacing. If you are undergoing a design and brand overhaul, see if some of your furniture, fixtures and fittings need changing even if they are still in working order.
See if any of your suppliers or other local businesses are interested in purchasing any of your unwanted equipment.
Labour and Materials
You will need to cost the labour and building materials for your office refurbishment.
The labour element will cover all the physical work that your own staff will not be able to perform; not just trades (painting and decorating, electricians etc) but also any moving of furniture and waste disposal.
Materials that need to be costed are all new structures – plasterboard walls, new ceilings, new infrastructure – and all temporary materials such as dust sheets, protective materials and temporary storage.
Don’t forget to cost the clean-up following completion of the refurbishment.
Technology
During an office refurbishment would be a good time to conduct an overhaul of your technology systems.
As well as your ICT and hardware set up you could also take the chance to incorporate installing smart energy systems and other built-in technologies, such as upgrading your broadband connection and phonelines.
Existing Business and Opening Hours
You should also conduct an assessment of the cost of the refurbishment’s impact on your operations as a business.
Will the works hamper works going on at your premises? Will there be any times you are closed for business?
Both of these will incur a cost and this should be factored into the reckoning when adding up the final figures of your office refurbishment.
Temporary Storage
It might be unavoidable that you have to put some things in temporary storage during a refurbishment; either to make room or to ensure valuables are not damaged.
Source prices from a couple of local storage solution companies and work out the total cost of transport, moving, storage space and storage materials.
Planning Applications
Deal with your landlord and/or local authority to ensure that all of the relevant planning approvals are well in hand and request and figures for submitting them well in advance. As we are sure you are noticing, all of this takes time.
Press and PR
An office refurbishment is also a good chance for some exposure in the press. Contact local media outlets and possibly a marketing agency and total the costs of advert placement, event hosting and any creative services to produce marketing material.
A lot of the advice here is relevant for a refurb too.
Check Out The Full List
This is just a brief overview of some of the things you need to consider when planning an office refurbishment.
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