A good office fit-out checklist is the difference between a project that runs to plan and one that lurches from one surprise to the next. Most delays and overspends on an office fit-out are not caused by the building work itself; they are caused by things that should have been sorted before anyone picked up a drill. Getting the groundwork right protects your budget, your programme and your sanity. Here are the twelve things every London SME should have in hand before work begins.
You will not need to complete all twelve overnight. Treat this as a running list you work through in the weeks before your start date, ticking items off as they are confirmed.
1. Confirm what your lease actually allows
Before anything else, read your lease, or have someone read it for you. It will tell you what you can and cannot do to the space, whether you need the landlord’s written permission, and what condition you must return the space in at the end of the term. This single step prevents the most expensive mistakes, so do not skip it.
2. Get landlord consent (a licence to alter)
Most leases require formal written consent, known as a licence to alter, before you carry out anything beyond cosmetic work. Landlords can take weeks to respond, so start early. Building work that goes ahead without consent can leave you in breach of your lease and facing a bigger bill at the end of it.
3. Set a realistic budget with a contingency
Fit-out costs in London are usually quoted per square foot. As an indicative guide for 2026, a basic scheme runs around £40 to £65 per sq ft, mid-range around £65 to £120, and high-spec work £150 and above. Whatever your figure, set aside a contingency of around 10 per cent for the things no one can predict once the ceilings come down.
4. Nail down what you actually need
Separate the essentials from the nice-to-haves before you brief anyone. How many desks, meeting rooms and quiet spaces do you genuinely need, and how might that change as you grow? A clear brief keeps quotes comparable and stops the scope creeping upward once work is under way.
5. Agree a scope of works in writing
Your scope of works is the master document that says exactly what is being done. Everything else, from the quote to the programme, flows from it. A vague scope is the single most common cause of disputes and unexpected extras, so make sure it is detailed and agreed by everyone before work starts.
6. Get comparable, itemised quotes
Ask two or three contractors to price the same scope and insist on an itemised breakdown rather than a single lump sum. This lets you compare like for like and see where your money is going. A quote that looks cheap often turns out to have gaps that reappear as extras later.
7. Check insurances and credentials
Confirm your contractor holds public liability insurance and the relevant trade accreditations, and ask about their approach to health and safety. For most office projects the CDM Regulations apply, which set out duties for managing safety on site. A reputable contractor will raise this before you have to ask.
8. Plan the programme and phasing
Work out how long the job will take and whether you can stay in occupation while it happens. Many SME fit-outs are phased so the team keeps working in one area while another is refurbished. Agree the sequence, key dates and any out-of-hours working up front so there are no nasty surprises to your day-to-day operations.
9. Sort building access and rules
Multi-tenant buildings often have strict rules about working hours, deliveries, lift use and noise. Your landlord or managing agent will have a set of contractor regulations. Share these with your fit-out team early, because they can affect both the programme and the cost.
10. Tell your team and plan the disruption
Keep your staff informed about what is happening and when. Decide who will work from home, who relocates within the building, and how you will handle noise, dust and deliveries. People cope with disruption far better when they know it is coming and understand the plan.
11. Plan IT, data and phones
IT is the item most often left too late. Cabling, server relocation, broadband and phone lines all need coordinating with your fit-out programme, and providers can take weeks to schedule. Bring your IT support into the conversation early so connectivity is ready on day one, not a fortnight after move-in.
12. Order long-lead items early
Some items, such as bespoke joinery, glazed partitions and certain furniture, can take many weeks to arrive. Identify these early and order them in good time. A single long-lead item ordered late can hold up an otherwise finished project, so this is worth pinning down before work begins.
A quick tip: group the list into three buckets
If twelve items feels like a lot, group them into three buckets and tackle them in order. The paperwork bucket covers your lease, your licence to alter and the building rules. The money bucket covers your budget, contingency, scope and quotes. The people-and-logistics bucket covers your team, IT, phasing and long-lead orders. Work through the buckets roughly in that sequence, because the paperwork often dictates what is possible and the budget shapes what you actually order.
Turning the checklist into a smooth project
Work through these twelve items and you remove most of the risk before the first day on site. The theme running through all of them is simple: sort the paperwork, the budget and the plan before the building work starts, and the build itself becomes the easy part. If you would like a hand pulling it together, it helps to understand the wider office fit-out process and how long a fit-out typically takes so you can plan with confidence.
At Beem Interiors we do this planning work with every client before we lift a tool, because it is what keeps projects on time and on budget. If you would like an honest, itemised quote or a no-obligation chat about your space, get in touch and we will walk you through it.
