Office Refit Phasing: Furnishing Floor by Floor

Survey and Count Before You Phase Anything

Walk the building before any order is placed. Record room by room rather than floor by floor, and note what already exists and what will be reused. Counts taken from an old drawing are usually wrong: desks move, storage multiplies, and meeting rooms quietly acquire extra seating over time.

Measure the routes as well as the rooms. Door clearances, corridor turns and lift car dimensions decide what can be delivered at all, and a workstation that cannot reach its floor is a problem no amount of scheduling will fix. Photograph circulation areas, service cores and awkward corners, then mark the pinch points on a simple plan that installation crews can actually use.

Phasing by Floor or Zone

Phasing works best when the sequence follows how the building is occupied. Occupied floors should be handed over one zone at a time so that each team moves once instead of twice. Departing floors can be released in a single push and are often the right place to start, because they test the logistics without disturbing anyone.

Access planning belongs in the same conversation. Book goods lifts and loading bay slots ahead, agree delivery windows with building management, and check whether protection of public areas is required. Installation labour should be scheduled against the zones you genuinely hand over, because crews standing idle outside a locked floor are pure cost.

Installation, Protection and Old Furniture

Protect what remains. Cover completed floors, guard corridor corners, and keep adhesives and tools away from occupied desks. Agree who carries responsibility for damage during movement, and record the condition of every zone with dated photographs before work starts.

Decide early what happens to the old furniture. Removal, resale, donation and recycling each carry different lead times and different labour, and storing old product on site is rarely cheaper than taking it away. A clear written position on the old inventory prevents a bottleneck at the very moment the new delivery arrives and the lift is booked.

Key Takeaways

• Survey room by room and measure delivery routes, not just room sizes.

• Phase around how the building is occupied and when floors can be released.

• Book lifts, bay slots and installation labour against confirmed handover zones.

• Settle disposal or resale of old furniture before delivery week.