If you have never been through one before, it is hard to picture what to expect during an office refurbishment. You know it starts with an empty-ish space and ends with a nice one, but the middle is a black box — and the bit in the middle is when your team is trying to work. Knowing the rhythm of a typical job makes it far easier to plan around.
Below is a week-by-week walkthrough of a fairly typical SME refurbishment — say a 3,000 to 5,000 sq ft London office. Smaller jobs compress this into days; larger or phased ones stretch it out. Treat it as a shape, not a schedule.
Before week one: the bit that is not on site
By the time anyone lifts a tool, several weeks of design, pricing and paperwork have usually happened. This is when your drawings get finalised, the quote is agreed, long-lead items are ordered, and — if you are a leaseholder — landlord consent is applied for. A licence to alter can take several weeks, so it needs to start early rather than being discovered later.
You should also agree the practical rules now: working hours, access arrangements, where materials will be stored, and whether any noisy work has to happen out of hours.
Week 1: Set-up and strip-out
The first days on site are mostly protection and demolition. Expect dust screens, floor protection in common parts, and a site set-up your building manager has signed off. Then the old stuff comes out: redundant partitions, dated flooring, old ceiling tiles, defunct cabling.
This is the loudest, dirtiest week and, oddly, the most encouraging one — progress is very visible. If you are staying in occupation, this is the phase to work from home if you can.
Week 2: First fix
First fix is everything that has to happen before surfaces are closed up: new stud or glazed partition frames going in, electrical containment and cabling pulled, data cabling run, pipework and ventilation adjusted, ceiling grids started.
It can look chaotic and slow because much of the work disappears behind walls and ceilings. It is also the point at which changes get expensive — moving a socket now is easy, moving it in three weeks means opening a wall back up.
Week 3: Ceilings, plastering and partitions closed up
The space starts to look like a room again. Partitions are boarded and taped, ceilings are tiled, plastering is finished, and door frames go in. Expect a lot of drying time and a lot of dust. This is usually when the layout finally makes sense to people who found the drawings hard to read.
Week 4: Decoration and flooring
Painting comes first, then flooring — carpet tiles, vinyl or LVT — because working the other way round means protecting a brand new floor from decorators. Glazed partitions and manifestation typically land in this week too.
Things now move fast and look dramatically better each day. It is also the phase most vulnerable to delay, since a late delivery on a specified floor finish holds up everything behind it.
Week 5: Second fix and commissioning
Second fix is the detail: light fittings, sockets and switch plates, door ironmongery, blinds, joinery and the kitchen or tea point installed and connected. Then systems are tested and commissioned — electrical testing, fire alarm and emergency lighting checks, air conditioning balanced.
Certificates are generated here, and you will want copies of all of them for your own records and for your landlord.
Week 6: Furniture, snagging and handover
Furniture is delivered and built, IT is reconnected, and the space gets a builder’s clean followed by a final clean. Then you walk the job with your contractor and produce a snagging list — the small imperfections that always exist: a scuffed frame, a door that catches, a light that flickers.
Snagging is normal and expected. What matters is that you get an agreed list with dates against each item, plus your handover pack: test certificates, warranties, and an operation and maintenance file.
What usually causes delays?
In our experience the common culprits are predictable:
- Landlord consent applied for too late.
- Long-lead items — glazed partitions, bespoke joinery, some furniture — ordered after the programme was set.
- Discoveries in the existing building, such as asbestos, unexpected structure or services that are not where the drawings said.
- Client changes of mind after first fix.
A sensible programme carries some float for the first three. The fourth is the one entirely within your control.
The bottom line
Most office refurbishments follow the same rhythm: strip out, run services, close up, decorate, fit out the detail, then snag and hand over. Knowing that shape lets you plan where your team sits, when to expect the worst noise, and when it is too late to change your mind cheaply.
Thinking about a refurbishment and want a realistic programme rather than an optimistic one? Beem Interiors works with London SMEs on fit-outs, refurbishments and small works. Get in touch for a no-obligation chat and an honest, itemised quote.
