An Office Build-Out Checklist

What exactly is an office build out? Build-out construction is often affiliated with TIs or tenant improvements. In other words, in an office setting, the landlord’s space requires additional space planning and construction before it is move-in ready from a tenant’s perspective. Often this can be a new space requiring build-out, or previously used office space for retro-fitting. Either way, the space requires some type of construction to be finished. But what goes into standard retrofitting and build outs, and is there a basic office build-out checklist as reference for what to look for in common tenant improvements and finishing? This is more important than one might think, since typically landlord available office spaces start from a white box space with nothing finished. So here are some common options for a reference office build-out checklist:

  • Lights, such as 18-cell parabolic lights, 2x4 recessed light fixtures, LEDs, indirect cove lighting or other custom lighting fixtures
  • Ceilings, such as standard 2x2 ceiling tiles, 2x2 fineline ceiling, or more expensive drywall ceiling
  • Doors, such as plastic laminate building standard doors with mortised hardware, wood veneer building doors, or architectural woodwork doors and frames
  • Office fronts, such as no glass, full-height glass office fronts with aluminum framing, or glass office fronts with matching wood framing
  • Millwork represents typically factory produced woodwork such as flooring, trim and even shelving. Millwork can be very minimal (and therefore inexpensive) and even plastic laminate, or can be extensive and more costly throughout the office space
  • Countertops can be stone or millwork
  • Flooring can be carpet (such as standard broadloom carpet), tile, wood or laminate or even more custom
  • Walls can include architectural woodwork, acoustical fabric wall covering, painted drywall, or wallpaper covered drywall
  • Custom fixtures can be an option, such as for artwork displays or accents
  • Architectural accents or custom shelving can be an option for offices
  • Electrical needs are pretty standard but in today’s day and age there are often requests for many outlets, especially for open format office spaces where computers need to be plugged in anywhere and everywhere
  • Like electrical, there may be enhanced networking needs for the modern office to enable network plugging in where wi-fi isn’t enough
  • Standard plumbing should be expected but there may be requests for specialized plumbing fixtures
  • Furniture is not typically supplied by the construction company but should be a consideration in the space planning, especially regarding electrical, ventilation, plumbing, etc.
  • And of course standard HVAC is to be expected in your office build-out checklist

And that makes up a basic office build-out checklist for quick reference. Of course there is always more customization that can go into an office space, and a quality contractor such as BuildRite Construction can fulfill common requirements as well as high-end customization requests.

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