Office Refurbishment Checklist: Planning a New Year Refit in Staffordshire
The Christmas break is one of the best opportunities of the year to refurbish an office. With staff on leave and the building quiet, work that would normally need weeks of evening shifts can be completed in a concentrated block, so your team returns in January to a fresh, more functional workspace.
But a festive-period refurbishment only works if it’s planned well in advance. If you’re thinking about an office refit in Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford or anywhere in Staffordshire, here’s the checklist we take clients through.
1. Decide what you want the space to achieve
Start with how your team works now and how that has changed. Do you need more meeting rooms and fewer fixed desks? Better acoustics? A breakout area? A more professional reception for visitors? Clear goals make it far easier to define the scope and avoid spending money on the wrong things.
2. Book your contractor early
The Christmas window is short and in demand. To secure it, you’ll want a site visit, an agreed scope and a confirmed quote several weeks before the shutdown. That leaves time to order long-lead items such as flooring, furniture, glazing and lighting.
3. Check your lease and permissions
If you lease your office, check whether alterations need landlord consent, and whether you’ll be expected to reinstate the space at the end of the lease. Structural changes, new partitions and changes to fire escape routes may also need building control approval.
4. Commission an asbestos survey
If your building was built before 2000 and the work will disturb the fabric, such as ceilings, walls or flooring, you’ll need a refurbishment and demolition asbestos survey before work begins. Leaving this until December is one of the most common causes of delays.
5. Fix the specification
Agree finishes, colours, flooring, ceiling tiles and lighting before work starts. Mid-project changes are the biggest driver of cost overruns. We can provide samples and colour advice to help you decide.
6. Plan IT, furniture and moves
Coordinate data cabling, IT equipment and furniture deliveries with the refurbishment programme. Make sure desks and equipment are packed or protected, and that someone on your side is the named contact over the break.
7. Agree a realistic programme
Map out exactly what will be completed during the shutdown and what, if anything, will follow in the evenings in January. A good contractor will be honest about what’s achievable in the time available.
8. Plan the handover
Book a walk-round before staff return so snags can be resolved and the space is clean, safe and ready to use on day one.
What an office refurbishment can include
- Strip-out and making good
- Partitioning and new layouts
- Suspended ceilings and LED lighting
- Commercial flooring
- Painting and decorating
- Kitchen and breakout areas
- Washroom upgrades
Office refurbishment across Staffordshire
We’re a Stoke-on-Trent based contractor using our own employed teams. Find out more about our office refurbishment services in Staffordshire, including Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford and Burton upon Trent. We also cover Wolverhampton and Birmingham.
Want to make the most of this year’s Christmas shutdown? Call 01782 717 507 or get in touch online to book a free site visit.
