From the initial designs to the day, you open your office to your clients and employees, renovating an office is not a one-day job. But, how long does it take to renovate an office?
Well, this depends. Certain factors determine the timeframe of an office renovation project. These factors include:
- The condition of the office—when was the last time the office was renovated, and how was the renovation carried out?
- How big is the renovation project?
- What is the scope of the renovation? Do you want to install a new carpet or tiles, cubes, and paint, or do you have customized designs for the office?
Whether you need to create more offices or you want to create an open-plan office for a more collaborative office setting, planning an office renovation is teamwork! From choosing the right designer to hiring a contractor and engineer, there’s a lot of work that’s required during an office renovation project.
However, this shouldn’t discourage you from starting an office renovation project. Proper planning is the key to a smooth office renovation. In this article, we shall discuss different aspects of office renovation to give you a better picture of the time required to undertake an office renovation project.
Read on for more information.
Design
The first step in any office renovation project. Your architect will do a process known as “programming,” which assists them to determine the functionality of your office, and how many offices, workstations, and conference rooms, among other things you need. Also, the architect will want to know whether you have any adjacency requirements.
Then, the architects will proceed to design the final layout of the office and choose finishes according to the client’s requirements. Now, once you review and approve the design, the architect develops drawings, which are sent to the relevant authorities for approval. Once approved, drawings should guide the contractors during the renovation project.
Here is a breakdown of the design process timeline:
- Programming – this takes at least 3 weeks (it’s the time needed for discussions and review)
- Construction and design documents – this requires 2 – 3 months
Although it’s possible to condense the design process, it can affect the final design. Therefore, it’s usually advisable to take the needed time to ensure that you get the design correct.
Furniture
If you are relocating an office, you can opt not to bring your old furniture to your new office because of fit or aesthetic reasons. Now, if that’s your case, you should consult a furniture dealer during the design stage. Modern furniture has built-in integrated technology, and the furniture depends on the office’s power source, together with data access to be in particular locations.
This calls for lots of cooperation between furniture dealers and the architect, to make sure that the furniture fits well in the renovated place. Besides, it helps to ensure that data and power cabling are extended to every station in the office. The cooperation between furniture vendors and design architects helps to reduce the chances of costly delays.
Once the design stage is completed, you can place an order for your new furniture to make sure that the delivery is done as the renovation is completed. Generally, it can take between 2 – 5 months for your furniture to be delivered.
Pricing and licenses
After completing the renovation documents, they are sent forwarded to the general contractors for costing, and municipality for licensing. Now, although this timeline can vary depending on your municipality, it can take around 4 – 6 weeks to get approved.
Remodeling
Once you get all the required permits and choose a general contractor, the renovation can start. Now, the time taken to complete the job depends on two major factors—complexity and size of the job. However, the minimum time taken to renovate an office building ranges from 2 months for a small office to 6+ months for a multi-floor building, with different and unique finishes.
Installing fixtures
Now, once the construction phase is over, it will take around 2 – 3 weeks for fixtures to be installed—that is installation of cabling, furniture, and other fittings in the office.
So, how long does it take to renovate an office building?
When you put all these timelines into consideration, from the start of design to the completion of furniture installation, renovating an office building can take 6 months for small projects to 12+ months for larger projects.
The professional contracts at tenant build-outs experts from AFS General say that it’s essential to ensure that you allocate enough time for the design and renovations phases, as this will ensure that you achieve the desired results.
Bottom Line
Although there’s no specific timeline for renovating an office building, you need to create a specific realistic schedule. Most people—that a renovation project should take less time than a new construction project. However, that’s not true. The secret to any successful project is having a realistic schedule—whether it’s a renovation or a new construction project.
To create a realistic schedule, you will need to carefully evaluate all the issues that consume time in the project. At the end of the day, your goal should be to keep the renovation projection flowing smoothly without compromising the quality of work over time and budget.
