What fit-out covers
A fit-out turns an empty or stripped space into one that can open for business: partitions, ceilings, floors, joinery, services, finishes, fixtures and signage. It is a coordination job as much as a building one, with many trades working in the same space on a tight schedule.
We take responsibility for that coordination, so you deal with one contact instead of many.
Where our approach differs
We come from fabrication. Joinery, metalwork, scenic finishes and bespoke fixtures are made in our own workshop, off site, and arrive ready to fit. That shortens time on site, reduces disruption and means the special pieces are made to the standard of the rest, not squeezed in at the end.
Mechanical and electrical
Services are coordinated with the design from the start: power, lighting, data, heating, ventilation and fire systems. We work with specialist contractors where the work needs them, manage their programme and check their work against the design.
Programme and site management
We plan backwards from the opening date. Each trade is booked against a programme, the deliveries are sequenced, and a site manager reports progress in writing every week. Anything that threatens the date is raised immediately with options.
Handover
A space is ready when it works, and when you have the paperwork: drawings as built, test certificates, operation and maintenance manuals and warranties. We hand over a clean site, a checked snag list and a named contact for the first months.
What to settle before fit-out starts
Fit-out goes smoothly when the decisions are made early. Before site work begins we need the lease or access terms, the working hours allowed, the delivery route and lift sizes, and the name of the person who can approve changes.
We also need to know which items are supplied by others, such as fixtures, equipment or signage, and when they arrive. A programme that ignores these dependencies fails on the day they are late.
Where approvals are needed from a landlord, building control or a licensing authority, we identify them in the proposal and build their timing into the programme.
Where the work is made
Much of a fit-out can be made in our workshop before anyone reaches site. Joinery, counters, feature walls, metalwork, signage and lighting housings are built, painted and wired in the factory, then delivered ready to install.
This shortens the time on site, reduces noise and dust in an occupied building, and lets us check quality in good light before the pieces leave. Where a feature is large, we trial-assemble it in the workshop so site fitting is a matter of hours rather than days.
Our drawing office coordinates the details so that the joinery, electrics and finishes line up when they meet on site.
Quality checks and snagging
We inspect as the work progresses, not only at the end. Setting out is checked before the first partition goes up, services are tested before they are covered, and finishes are inspected before the next trade follows.
At practical completion we walk the space with you and list any snags, then clear them to an agreed date. Safety systems, lighting and power are tested and recorded.
Your team is shown how to use and look after the finished space, including control panels, access points and cleaning of delicate surfaces.
Drawings, specification and approvals
A fit-out is priced and built from drawings, and the quality of the drawings decides the quality of the result. Our drawing office produces layouts, elevations, joinery details and a specification of works, and issues them for your approval before ordering.
Each drawing is numbered and revised in a controlled way, so site, workshop and supplier always work from the current issue. Quantities are checked against the drawings so nothing is missed in the price.
Where the space needs fire, access or safety measures, we identify them from the start and show them on the drawings, so they are designed in rather than added late.
Colour, material and finish samples are shown to you before they are ordered, and the chosen ones are recorded in a schedule that follows the job through to handover.
Typical spaces
Questions
Do you take on full design and build?
Yes, or we can build to another designer's drawings.
How do you control cost?
A fixed scope is priced from drawings, and any change is agreed in writing before it is done.
Can you work within an occupied building?
Yes, with a phased programme and agreed working hours.
Do you coordinate other trades?
Yes. We programme and manage them.
What do we receive at handover?
As-built drawings, certificates, manuals and warranties, plus a snag list closed out.
How do you deal with changes during the build?
Every change is described, priced and agreed in writing before it is made, so the programme and cost stay clear.
What happens if we find a problem after handover?
Report it and we respond. Warranty terms are agreed in the proposal, and the handover pack lists who to contact for each system.