Commercial Interiors — Questions Answered

Typically civil and partitions, ceiling, flooring, electrical and lighting, HVAC distribution, joinery and painting. It usually excludes loose furniture, IT and networking, AV hardware, security systems, landlord nominated-vendor works and statutory fees. Ask for the exclusions list in writing; the gap between two per-sq-ft quotations is almost always sitting in it.

Because fire suppression, sprinkler modification, smoke detection and BMS tie-ins affect the building's certification, landlords restrict them to their own approved contractors, and those contractors price without competition. Carry them as named provisional sums with the landlord's quotation attached rather than absorbing them into a per-sq-ft figure that will then look wrong.

Five to ten per cent, at the lower end on a warm shell where the base build is known and at the top of the range on a bare shell or an older building where services discoveries are likely. Commercial contingency is consumed differently from residential: mostly by services coordination and landlord requirements rather than by client changes.

Generally yes, as leasehold improvements amortised over the lease term or the asset life, but the treatment depends on the lease structure and your auditor's view. Ask the question before the BOQ is structured, because splitting the BOQ between capital items and revenue expenses is far easier at the start than retrospectively.

The document the building issues setting out permitted materials, loading limits, working hours, drawing submission format, deposits and nominated vendors. Request it before design begins rather than after. Designs drawn without it routinely need revision, which costs two to four weeks at exactly the point in the programme where there is no float.

Two to four weeks in most Grade-A Indian buildings for a complete first submission, longer where drawings need revision. It sits on the critical path and should be shown there on the programme. Submitting a partial set to 'start the clock' usually restarts it instead.

A refundable fit-out deposit, commonly ₹100–₹300 per sq ft, plus charges for service lift usage, debris removal, after-hours access and sometimes a supervision fee. On a 10,000 sq ft fit-out that is ₹10–₹30 lakh of cash flow, refundable on satisfactory completion, and it is frequently left out of the budget.

The tenant, in most Indian commercial leases, unless the lease says otherwise. Reinstatement means removing your fit-out and returning the premises to the handover condition, which costs ₹250–₹700 per sq ft. Negotiate the reinstatement clause at lease signing and photograph the handover condition comprehensively on day one.

10–14 weeks for 3,000–5,000 sq ft, 16–20 weeks for 10,000–15,000 and 24–32 weeks above 25,000, measured from a signed design. Roughly a third of that is design, approvals and procurement before any site work begins. Full detail is in our fit-out timelines guide.

Long-lead items and approvals rather than construction: HVAC equipment at eight to fourteen weeks, workstations at eight to twelve, glazed partition systems at six to ten, AV hardware at six to twelve, and landlord approval at two to four. Order the first four in week one against the approved layout.

Yes, in phases, and it adds 30–60% to the programme. Noisy work moves to nights and weekends at a 15–25% labour premium, dust separation and daily reinstatement add time to every activity. Price a temporary decant as an alternative — on larger floors it is frequently cheaper as well as faster.

You start paying rent on an incomplete floor, which is why the programme should be tested against the rent-free end date before the lease is signed rather than after. Send us the fit-out manual and the rent-free period and we will tell you whether the date is achievable with the approvals that building requires.

Electrical load testing and earth continuity, HVAC air balancing with a commissioning report, water pressure and drainage, fire detection and suppression by the nominated vendor, acoustic performance of enclosed rooms, and lux levels against the design. Ask for the commissioning documents as a condition of final payment, not as a courtesy afterwards.

Typically twelve months on workmanship with manufacturer warranties passed through on equipment, systems and furniture. A defects liability period with retention of 5–10% for 6–12 months is standard on larger contracts and is worth insisting on. Get the O&M manuals and as-built drawings at handover; they are difficult to obtain later.

Usually the occupier's facilities team or an appointed FM contractor, with the fit-out contractor covering defects during the liability period. Agree at handover who holds the as-builts, who services the HVAC and who is called for a joinery defect — ambiguity here is why simple defects go unresolved for months.

Yes. We deliver commercial fit-outs across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and take selected projects in Pune and other metros where the scope justifies the mobilisation. For multi-city rollouts we work to a common specification with local execution partners, which is the model most retail and clinic chains use.