How Long Does an Office Fit-Out Take?

Most businesses underestimate the planning and overestimate the building. Here's a realistic timeline for a typical small-to-mid office fit-out.

The stages, and how long each takes

• Survey & brief — 1 week. We visit, measure, and pin down what you actually need.
• Design & quote — 1–3 weeks. Space plans, visuals and a fixed price. Sign-off here is the gate everything else waits on.
• Lead times on long-lead items — 2–6 weeks. Glass partitions, bespoke joinery and some furniture are made to order. This often runs in parallel with final design.
• On-site build — 2–6 weeks. Partitions, M&E, flooring, decoration, furniture install. A single floor with glass partitioning is usually 2–4 weeks on site.
• Snagging & handover — a few days. Final checks, fixes, and keys.

For a straightforward single floor, 6–10 weeks start to finish is realistic. Larger or phased projects run longer.

What quietly adds weeks

• Slow decisions. The build can't start until the design is signed off. Indecision at this stage is the number-one cause of delay.
• Landlord licence to alter. If you lease, the landlord usually has to approve the works. This can take weeks — start it early.
• Long-lead items ordered late. Order the made-to-measure glass and joinery as soon as the design is locked, not when the builders arrive.
• Mid-build changes. Moving a wall after M&E is in means redoing the M&E.

How to go faster without cutting corners

• Lock the design early and resist changing it.
• Start the landlord approval in parallel with design.
• Use a single team that surveys, designs and builds — no handover gaps between firms.
• Fit out-of-hours so you keep trading while work happens.

Working to a move-in date? Tell us the deadline and we'll tell you honestly whether it's achievable — and how to protect it.