The steps of an office fit out in Dubai

What has to be settled before design starts?

Three things shape every decision that follows. The first is the condition in which the unit is handed over. A shell and core unit is a bare slab with capped services and no ceiling. A fitted unit already has a ceiling, lighting, AC outlets and perhaps a raised floor. The scope of work is very different in each case.

The second is the fit out guide issued by the landlord. It sets out what may be built, which base building systems only the nominated contractor of the building may touch, when deliveries and noisy work are allowed, and what must be submitted before a permit to work is issued. The third is the brief from the tenant.

• Headcount now and in three years.
• The split between open desks, private offices and meeting rooms.
• Reception, pantry, storage, print area, prayer room and server room.
• Power, data and AC needs of any unusual equipment.
• The date by which the office must be in use.

What drawings and approvals are involved?

A fit out is built from a coordinated set of drawings: the furniture layout, the partition plan, the reflected ceiling plan, lighting, power and data, AC ducting and grilles, fire alarm and sprinkler positions, and a schedule of finishes. Each one affects the others. Moving a meeting room wall changes the lighting, the AC and the position of the sprinkler heads above it.

Who has to accept those drawings varies with the building and its location. The approvals the building, the master developer or the authority asks for are identified at the site visit and The MELLS prepares the paperwork. Approval commonly takes several weeks, and no work starts on site until the permit is in hand, so this stage should begin as early as the lease allows.

In what order is the work done on site?

• Site set up. Lift lobbies and corridors are protected, the service lift is booked and the floor is marked out from the drawings.
• Partition framing. Metal studs go up first so that every other trade can see where the rooms are.
• First fix above the ceiling. AC ducts, pipework, sprinkler and fire alarm changes, cable trays and conduit are installed while everything is open.
• Inspection of the hidden work, by the building where it asks for one, before anything is covered.
• Closing up. Partitions are boarded, ceilings are closed, joints are taped and filled.
• Flooring, then joinery, glass partitions and doors.
• Painting and wall finishes.
• Second fix. Light fittings, sockets, data outlets, AC grilles and thermostats are fitted and connected.
• Furniture, signage and a final clean.

The order protects the finishes. Carpet laid before the ceiling is sanded has to be cleaned or replaced, and a painted wall cut open for a forgotten cable never looks quite the same.

How long does an office fit out take?

Site work on a small office with a few partitions and a new floor finish typically runs three to four weeks. A mid sized office with meeting rooms, a pantry, glass fronts and custom joinery is more often eight to twelve weeks. Design and approvals come before that and can take as long as the building work itself.

Materials with long lead times decide more than labour does. Glass partitions, custom joinery, special light fittings, carpet tiles and AC equipment are ordered as soon as the drawings are signed. Towers add their own limits: service lift slots, loading bay times and restrictions on noisy work while neighbouring tenants are at their desks. Treat these as general durations. The actual programme is drawn up after the site visit.

What goes wrong most often?

• The layout changes after approval, and the drawings have to be submitted again.
• New rooms are built without rebalancing the AC, so a meeting room has supply air and no return path and turns stuffy within minutes.
• Partitions cut off sprinkler heads or smoke detectors from the space they serve.
• The electrical load of the pantry, the server room and the printers is underestimated.
• The IT cabling contractor arrives after the ceilings are closed.
• Meeting room walls stop at the ceiling, and conversation carries over the top into the next room.
• Furniture is ordered from the drawing and not checked against the measured room.

A coordination meeting before first fix, with every trade at the table and the drawings laid over one another, catches most of these while they are still lines on paper.

What happens at handover?

Before the tenant moves in, the systems are tested: the AC is balanced room by room, every socket and data point is checked, the lighting and its controls are run, and the fire alarm changes are tested with the building. Inspection of fire and life safety work is by the authority or by the consultant of the building. A snag list is then walked with the tenant, the items are closed, and the as built drawings, manuals and keys are handed over.

The MELLS carries out fit out work with one directly employed team and no subcontractors. A supervisor signs the fourteen checks of the 14 Point Standard and sends photographs taken before and after. To start, book a site visit. The unit is surveyed, the landlord guide is read, and a written quotation with a defined scope follows.