When it comes relocating or refurbishing your office space there are two paths you can choose to your office refurbishment. The first is to involve multiple companies in the process to cover the designing, planning and construction of your office refurbishment or fit-out. The second is to use a design and build company who takes overall responsibility for all aspects of your office refurbishment project.
In the past the design and build elements of an office refurbishment project have often been treated as separate phases or contracts of the same project which are very often taken care of by different companies or contractors. Before embarking on your refurbishment it’s important to understand the differences between design and build and traditional project management.
Traditional Office Refurbishment Project
The traditional way of delivering an office refurbishment project involved appointing a number of different specialists each of whom would take care of a part of the project. The process would take place in three stages: design, bid and build. The design phase would be carried out to produce designs. The project would then be opened up to bids from contractors to fulfil the requirements set out in the design documents.
Design and Build Office Refurbishment Project
A design and build company manages all elements of the project including site visit, measuring up, space planning, design, project planning and management and build services in a single contract. By having just one company responsible for the whole project ensures a more straightforward, streamlined and reliable approach which results in a more efficiently and effectively managed office fit out.
Having a single company” take on your office fit out is becoming more popular in the UK.
In this article we look at the advantages to using a design and build company for your next office refurbishment. We believe a company who takes acre of all aspects of your office refurbishment is better for your project – here’s why:
Single Point of Contact
Having a single point of contact for your office refurbishment project is always going to be easier than trying to track down the person responsible for whatever part of your fit out you wish to discuss. If you are using a design and build company they will take responsibility for all aspects of your refurbishment. This means that any questions you may have or ideas you wish to discuss can be done through your project manager who will then take it back to your design and build company to discuss and resolve. As a consequence it’s also far more likely any issues will be more quickly resolved.
Better Communication
Poor communication or misinformation can cause issues and delays. If one element of the project is delayed it can put the whole project at risk. Any office refurbishment or fit out project can be complex involving a lot of moving pieces including site visits, drawings and renders, scheduling of works, the procurement of materials and finishes and the involvement of a number of different people. Therefore communication is key.
With a design and build company you’ll be working with a single business that will be taking responsibility for the whole project. Having spent time gathering information to put together a brief and then a quote to meet the requirements they will fully understand what the project requires from start to finish. They’ll understand how all the parts come together and how they need to be managed to ensure your fit out goes smoothly.
Peace of Mind
As the design and build company are solely responsible for the final project result including timescales and costs you can have peace of mind aware of the fact that your office refurbishment is being taken care of. There’s likely to be less stress knowing that your project manager will be making sure the project is on track.
As a single company is responsible for your office refurbishment they will also have made sure that scheduling and pricing is realistic and achievable as they will bear the brunt of any issues in these areas. Your project is therefore far more likely to go to plan, on time and on budget.
Efficient Working Practices
When multiple companies are working on a project they are relying on each other to ensure work is completed to schedule. When this doesn’t happen issues can arise and projects can overrun or go over budget. In a worst case scenario you may find that some of your contractors are no longer available to complete the work on your refurbishment as they’ve moved onto other scheduled projects.
Different companies may also have very different working practices which may clash leading to confusion, issues, downtime or project delays.
As part of their overall process a design and build company will take into account any potential issues and will work to align design objectives with construction objectives thereby circumventing any problems. They’ll have streamlined their working practices over the years to ensure all of the elements are carried out in an efficient and timely manner.
Faster Design and Build
A design and build company can provide all the required skills to deliver your office refurbishment from start to finish. This removes any delays you may have if you have to wait for a number of different companies to coordinate the work to be carried out. They can also quickly come together to discuss any potential issues and find solutions before any problems occur thereby reducing any downtime.
Through a good understanding of the project needs, efficient working practices and good communication, a design and build company can make sure that all work on the project goes to plan. Everyone on the “same team” all working towards the same goal enables shorter project timelines and a faster design and build completion.
Cost Savings
Bringing all of the positives above together can lead to project cost savings. Having one company responsible for a project can lead to more efficient planning and execution of the work. If the same company is responsible for pricing the whole project they can look to make cost savings through efficiency and by making sure that materials and labour costs are controlled.
Overall delivering a project using design and build is more time efficient and cost effective.
How Can We Help?
JBH Refurbishments are a professional design and build company with over 30 years experience in Kent and London office design and build projects. No matter the size of the project you’ll want an office refurbishment team who understand how to deliver your project on time, on budget and with quality in mind. From your site visit to assess your needs, to putting together a project plan, to developing an office design and layout that meets your needs to delivering your office fit out JBH Refurbishments will provide piece of mind. To find out how we can help us via our contact form or by calling us on 0333 207 0339.
