Cat B priced off the floor, not the drawing.
A base build is designed for a density fixed years before the tenant is known. Fit out denser and the cooling and fresh air may not stretch. We check capacity against the proposed density before the layout is fixed, not after tender.
What we deliver
- —NRM2 bill of quantities as an Excel workbook, with the measurement behind every line and the marked up PDFs it came from
- —A cost plan in NRM order, mapped to your own or your client's pricing document, with cost, mark up, sell and profit broken down on every line
- —Options, exclusions, provisional sums and value engineering, each scheduled on its own line
- —Trade tender packages in eight numbered sections as standard, populated as appropriate: scope of works, pricing document, drawings, specifications, programme, prelims, health and safety, contract
- —Enquiry lists, invitations and a tracker, returns chased, and every quote levelled onto one baseline with the gaps and exclusions clarified
- —Later stage cost plan updates, and the option to take the whole tender stage as a single Tender Win Pack
What we watch for
- —A management survey will not release strip-out. On anything pre-2000, book the refurbishment and demolition survey early or the programme waits. The landlord holds the register and controls access, so that request goes in with the licence to alter.
- —Adding cooling can drag the fabric into scope. Over 1,000 m2, increasing a building service's installed capacity triggers consequential improvements under Approved Document L, costed against the principal works. Settle it with building control before the services strategy is fixed.
- —Cellular layouts can cost an escape route. Approved Document B allows 18 m of travel in one direction in an office, 45 m where there is a choice. The second route lands after the partitions are priced.
- —Out-of-hours working is priced twice. Premium labour, supervision, security and management attendance are the price. The consents are the programme: noisy work needs consent 28 days ahead, and night waste-away needs a London Lorry Control Scheme permit.
Office Fit-Out preconstruction, answered
Do you work for tenants or for main contractors?
Both, and never on both sides of the same job. If we are already engaged on one you are pricing, we say so on the first call. The bill arrives as an NRM2 Excel workbook, issued unpriced, with the marked up PDFs behind every quantity. A take off is a measure; if you want those quantities priced that is a cost plan, which is a separate service. Where you want the number tested against the market rather than estimated, subcontractor coordination is separate again, and we agree the fee before we start.
What is the difference between Cat A and Cat B office fit-out for costing purposes?
The definitions matter less than the gap between them, and that gap is set by the agreement for lease. Cat A usually covers raised floors, ceilings, lighting and primary distribution, but we have seen each land on the tenant. Cat A+ moves part of the fit-out to the landlord, so read what it includes before scoping Cat B. Furniture, AV, IT and security are usually direct tenant contracts, and the fit-out contractor still prices attendance and containment for them. We mark up the demarcation before pricing anything.
When should preconstruction start on an office fit-out?
Earlier than most people expect, and usually well before heads of terms. We are often working on the numbers while the lease position is still being decided, and the licence to alter timetable is usually what fixes the earliest start, so we flag it in the first week rather than at tender. The honest answer is that it is project dependent. What decides it is when a cost can still change a decision: early on it can move the brief, the floor choice or the lease terms. Once the drawing set is complete the only lever left is value engineering.
Not the question you had?
Send us the drawings and the return date. We will tell you what we would need and what we would give you back, before anyone commits to anything.
Let's discuss your project.
Tell us about your tender or project and we'll show you exactly how we can help you win it, and deliver it.