How to Control the Budget of your Fitout Stage 3 by Andrew Holder

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Stage 3……..

Once the concept plans are approved your designer will move to a more detailed stage of design.
Next a set of thorough set of construction documents will need to be populated and your contractor will need to finalise pricing from the various suppliers and subcontractors required to build the project.

The accuracy and thoroughness of these documents is critical as this will determine the robustness of the pricing from these suppliers and subcontractors.
Any errors, missing information or ambiguity at this cruical stage will come back and bite you later financially.

Ensure that your consultant team reviews all the plans and documents for errors and or omissions.
Make sure the contract you work with is a Design and Construct contract as this ensures that the financial ownership and delivery of the project lies with the design and construct contractor.

Do not leave yourself exposed.

How to Control the Budget of your Fitout Stage 2 by Andrew Holder

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Stage 2…….

Concept Design

Once the concepts are developed then a budget checking process should be adopted.

Ensure that the ideas are financially tested before you move on to the detailed design. If your project is destined for financial disaster because the design is just too fancy then now is the time to pull the reins in.

Its critical that your project team presents a guideline budget against the concept plan. Make sure you are on the right path and that you are all on the same page.

How to Control the fitout budget by Andrew Holder

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There are 3 critical milestones in every fit out where the financial destiny of a project is shaped. These important milestones give you the opportunity to reset the financial pathway of the project budgets and avoid the blowing your budget and / or the project timeline.

Stage 1 – Initial Planning……

At inception of the project set a framework that outlines the three key factors of timeframe, budget and design. These three project drivers are often in conflict with each other. You may find that the design wish list cannot be met by budget constraints, or perhaps time constraints will restrict design flair, for example.
Decide which one of these three drivers holds the most importance in the project planning and this will give you the road map you need.
If budget is the most important thing to you then set your budget intelligentlyand then ensure that everyone on your design team are made fully aware of it. Every design idea needs to work within the financial constraints you have set for the project. Its the design teams responsibility to be accountable for designing the project within the budget you have set.

Moving Office avoid the pitfalls

avoid the pitfalls

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When planning an office move or refurbishment you need to be aware of the approval process that governs the industry. There are many aspects to the approval process for a fit out, and a set sequence by which they need to be considered. If you get this wrong you will not be allowed

to move in and your business will be without a home.

10 Things You Need to Know about Statutory Approvals

  1. In order to gain approval for a fit out you need the landlord and the local council to approve the scheme. This means they need to approve your plans.
  2. Before embarking on the approvals you first need to establish whether the building in question has any unusual qualities. For example ,does it requires a change of use order or is it listed on the Heritage register. These ambiguities will throw up additional challenges which you will need to seek relevant advice for.
  3. The two essential approvals that are required for every fit out are a) Development Application (DA) and b) Construction Certificate (CC). If there are no ambiguities with the building, these two approvals can be combined into a joint application – Combined Development Certificate (CDC).
  4. A CDC can be obtained either directly from the council or through a Private Certifying Authority (PCA). Often PCA’s are used as they will take care of all the paperwork on your behalf, making the process quicker.
  5. The first step is to develop and approve your fit out plans. These will then need to be approved by the landlord who will need to sign the CDC paperwork to certify that they approve the work to their building.
  6. The plans will need to be drawn up with all Australian Standards satisfied (disabled aspects, escape distances, corridor widths, fire services, air conditioning, egress and access, bathrooms etc), in order to achieve compliance. Often the landlord will insist that air conditioning, electrical, fire and hydraulics engineering drawings are prepared, before they approve your plans. Ask the landlord what level of detail they need in advance to avoid unnecessary delays.
  7. Once the landlord has approved your plans the Private Certifier or the Council will accept the CDC application. When the application is submitted, it will carry a levy fee which
will need to be paid by you. This levy is called the Long Service Levy and is expressed as a % of the likely anticipated construction costs.
  8. Assuming the plans are compliant, the landlord has approved them and the fee has been paid, the PCA or the Council
will then issue the CDC approval. Once approval is issued construction can commence
  9. Upon completion of the construction period, all major contractors engaged on the project will need to certify their work. These certificates are sent to the PCA / Council for review.
  10. The PCA or the Council will then visit the completed site and check that the construction matches the approved plans.
If this is the case an Occupation Certificate will be issued to grant access. Often an interim Occupation Certificate is issued if a project completion is staged. Without an Occupation Certificate your business cannot occupy the building.

Avoid bad design adopt the right process

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Once you have selected your team it is important
to understand the process by which your designer should operate. Here are the ten key steps in the design process:

  1. Create – once the discovery and exploration stages have been completed your designer will prepare a detailed space plan (map) and concept scheme illustrating the look and feel of the office, encompassing their view on selections and choice of fixture and fittings. It is important at this point to ensure your Construction Manager gives a financial opinion on the project budgets otherwise you might be designing Versace.
  2. Concept sign off – this is an important step for you, the client. Once you are happy with the office layout and look and feel, you should“sign-off”on these elements to enable the detailed design process to unfold.
  3. Discovery – your designer should start by spending time with you to understanding you and your brief, particularly your timeframe and
your budget.
  4. Building selection – visit your chosen building (or short listed buildings) alongside your designer to gain their opinion of what can be achieved with the design brief.
  5. Building appraisal – your designer should prepare test fit plans to indicate that your chosen building will accommodate your occupancy brief. To achieve this they will need to obtain accurate plans from the building owner, or prepare measured plans themselves by surveying the building. If you don’t have accurate plans the project will go wrong.
  6. Explore – your designer should consult with the key people in your business to understand their detailed requirements, in order to develop workplace standards and guidelines for your new fit out. Make sure you engage the right people in your organisation to help, otherwise your business may suffer.
  7. Documentation – this stage takes your concept plans and ideas to a full documentation level where each element of the design is detailed for you to approve and sign off. Once signed off, these documents will form the basis by which the Construction Manager will build your fit out. Often a Building Services Designer will become involved in preparing the documents relating to the design of the air conditioning, lighting, power / data, fire and plumbing.
  8. Approvals – prior to Construction your designer will provide you with a set of plans to submit to your new landlord and to the council for DA approval. Typically your Construction Manager will facilitate this process for you.
  9. Implementation – your designer should be on hand during the construction stage to offer advice to any ambiguous site conditions that require design input.
  10. Reflection – its useful to have your designer prepare a defects report against the finished product. They will identify any areas that have not been built according to the plans, or comment on any quality issues. This will future proof your fit out for the long term.