What’s your timeline?
Your timeline for works will determine your office fit out cost. The shorter your timeline — i.e. with more weekends and out of hours work, which can increase cost to get your new space finished on time.
Some things that can impact on your timeline include:
- Structural or heritage changes, which may need additional permits
- Landlord and building manager requirements that some work be done outside of business hours to minimise disruption and noise to other tenants
- How long you may need to stop business operations to allow for the fit out
But you can mitigate these by planning ahead and giving yourself, and your fit out company, lots of time to work out a realistic timeframe for the design, approval and construction phase of the fit out.
What’s the size of your office?
Your team need an environment that supports them in their tasks, so it’s important to have a workspace that lets them work comfortably, with a balance of communal spaces and workstations.
Look at how many staff you have, what they do and how much space they need to do it in. You should also consider how much space you’ll need in the future as your business grows and expands. An experienced commercial fit out company can help you with this.
The Building Code of Australia requires a minimum of 10 square metres of office space per person, so you should factor that into your office fit out costs. Due to the recent COVID 19 crises we are also seeing further distancing needs with many companies now looking at even greater square metre rates per person for the foreseeable future.
Do you need to make structural changes?
Although structural changes are not common compared to cosmetic changes, it’s no surprise that a structural change will increase the costs of your fit out.
Structural changes take more time (with approvals, demolitions etc.) and are more complex. Sometimes it actually makes more sense to move into a whole new space, than to re-fit an existing fit out.
What are your tech needs?
Is your technology up to date? One area many people fail to consider when planning their fit-out budget is their technology needs — now and into the future.
The right technology helps your employees work efficiently and is becoming more and more important with the rise in people working from home too. If your current technology isn’t up to date it’s worth taking the time to work through your current and future requirements and building that into your fit-out project scope.
Here’s some numbers so you can work out how much an office fit out will cost you
We get it, you probably want some numbers to help you get an idea of what you’re looking at when it comes to an actual office fit out. So, here are some numbers to help you get an idea of what your budget might look like.
Typical office fit out costs if you’re going into a new, open plan office and want an attractive and functional space (without the added extras) mean you’ll be looking at around $600 to $800 per m2 (excluding GST).
Most small to medium businesses who want a few luxury touches, while staying within an affordable price range, can look to spend between $850 to $1200 per m2 (excluding GST).
Prestige and executive businesses who are dealing with high-end clients and want to give their staff a more corporate feeling space can look to spend around $2000 plus per m2 (excluding GST).
At the end of the day, the fit-out rate will be heavily influenced by your layout, the project timeline and furniture specifications.
Things that help to keep your budget low include:
- Open plan designs, with a few small offices
- Budget, off the shelf modular workstations
- Non-wired, data and power only systems
- Manufacture standard fabrics and furnishings
- Carpet floor treatments
- Minimal colour changes on paint finishes
- Kitchenette instead of a full kitchen
- Minimise glass partitioning
- Limit set plaster or feature ceilings
Things that’ll bump up the price:
- Custom joinery
- Individual, various sized, offices
- Hard-wired workstation systems
- Non-standard laminate surfaces
- Executive seating
- Designer furniture
- Green and sustainable products
- Tile, timber and special floor coverings
- Acoustic treatments
- Architectural doors and cabinets
- Full height glass partitions
- Breakout areas for staff
- Full catering kitchen with stone benches
- Bespoke reception counter
- Boardroom with audio visual capabilities
- Glass and plaster walls and partitions
- Staff shower and changing room
- Quality finishes throughout
- State of the art audio visuals boardroom capabilities
- Set-ceilings
Personal attention with big build experience
At Vestra, we’re committed to providing a professional service on every project. We’re a full-service office fit out company with expert planners, designers, project managers and builders who have been designing high-end commercial workspaces for over 10 years.
To get an accurate picture of how much an office fit out will cost, request a project proposal or an obligation-free chat about what’s possible.
