A previous fit-out to remove
Partitions, ceiling, flooring, joinery and the redundant services running through them — removed, disposed of, and the slab and core made good. It is a real quantity of work and it belongs in the BOQ as its own line.
Hyderabad · Office renovation and refurbishment
Renovating an office you already occupy is not a fit-out with extra steps.
A bare shell has no history. A second-generation space has a previous fit-out to remove, conditions nobody can price until it comes out, a lease clause about what condition it must be returned in, and usually a team still working in it. Those four things — not the finishes — are what decide the cost and the date on an office renovation.
What a renovation carries that a new fit-out does not.
The finished-work rate is the same. Everything below is additional, and quotes that omit it are not cheaper — they are incomplete.
Reviewed by Pradeep Kumar Vasadi, Principal — on-site execution and delivery.
Conditions nobody can see yet
An unlevel slab, an unexpected service run, damage the old ceiling was hiding. These cannot be priced before strip-out, so what matters is that the contract says in advance how they will be handled and priced when found.
A dilapidations clause
Your lease may dictate the condition the space must be returned in at term end. That can change what you are allowed to remove now and what you must reinstate later. Read it before designing, not after.
People still working here
Phasing, dust screens, out-of-hours labour and a sequence that cannot overlap trades the way an empty floor can. This is usually the single largest swing on a renovation programme.
Strip-out, the line most often underestimated.
On a renovation this is the first thing that happens and the thing most likely to be waved through at quoting stage. It deserves the same itemisation as the work that replaces it.
Survey before you price, not after
A contractor who quotes a strip-everything scope without walking the floor is guessing, and guessing in the direction that suits them. A proper survey establishes what is sound, what is at end of life, and what the lease requires you to leave alone.
Removal, disposal and making good are three separate costs
Taking a partition down is not the same as getting it off site, and neither is the same as repairing the slab and soffit it was fixed to. All three belong in the BOQ. A single line reading “demolition” is a lump sum with extra steps.
Agree the process for what strip-out reveals
Something will be found. The question is whether the contract already says who prices it, on what basis, and what it does to the date — or whether that becomes a negotiation while your programme sits still.
Check dilapidations before you remove anything
Removing something you were contractually required to leave, or leaving something you were required to remove, is expensive in both directions and entirely avoidable by reading the clause first.
Renovating while the office stays open.
Almost always possible. Never free. Agreeing the constraints before anyone prices the job is what separates a manageable phased programme from a series of arguments.
Zone-by-zone phasing
The floor is divided and worked in sequence, with a decant plan for each group of people before their zone starts. The plan is part of the programme, not an afterthought on week one.
Permitted working hours
Most buildings restrict noisy and dust-generating work to evenings and weekends. Establish the rule before pricing — it is one of the largest single swings on the number and the date.
Dust, noise and protection
Temporary partitions and screens between live and working areas, protected access and material routes, and cleaning built into the sequence rather than saved for the end.
A longer duration for identical scope
A phased sequence cannot run trades in parallel the way an empty plate can. The same scope simply takes longer, and any contractor promising otherwise has not thought about it — see the fit-out timeline page for how phases actually overlap.
Out-of-hours premium, named
Evening and weekend labour costs more. It should appear as its own line rather than being absorbed invisibly into rates you cannot interrogate.
Weekly written reporting
When your team is living inside the site, progress and next-week disruption need to be in writing. Our sample progress report is published in full.
What can actually be reused.
Worth asking rather than accepting full replacement by default. A contractor's incentive runs toward replacing everything; yours does not.
| Element | Usually reusable? | What decides it |
|---|---|---|
| Ceiling grid | Often yes | Grid is frequently sound while tiles are stained — retain the grid, replace the tiles |
| Ceiling tiles | Rarely | Staining, sagging and handling damage; cheap relative to the labour of sorting them |
| Raised flooring | Usually yes | Panel condition and whether the new layout changes floor box positions |
| Cable containment and trunking | Often yes | Route still suits the new layout, even where the cable inside is replaced |
| Glazed partitions | Sometimes | Relocatable systems yes; site-glazed and bonded assemblies usually not |
| HVAC ducting in the demise | Sometimes | How far the layout change moves the diffusers relative to the existing run |
| Electrical circuits | Rarely as-is | Circuit layout has to match where people will actually sit after the change |
| Laminate joinery | Rarely | Usually at end of life, and dismantling intact costs more than replacing |
What renovation costs, and against what.
The finished-work rate does not change. What changes is what sits around it.
Our published office band is ₹3,000–10,000 per sq ft of carpet area, all-in including MEP, HVAC and loose furniture, exclusive of GST, banded by fit-out grade — the full grade-by-grade table is on the Hyderabad office interiors page and the basis is explained on the cost page. A renovation carries that rate for the new work, plus strip-out, plus the occupied-working premium where it applies.
We do not publish a separate renovation rate per sq ft, on purpose. Strip-out quantity and phasing overhead vary so much between two superficially similar floors that any single band would be misleading precisely where it matters most. What we will do is survey your floor and give you both as named lines you can interrogate. If another contractor quotes a confident all-in renovation rate without walking the space, ask how they priced the strip-out.
On the relocate-or-renovate question: renovation avoids a new deposit, base-build contribution, dual rent during overlap and the move itself, but carries strip-out, the occupied premium and a floor plate you cannot change. The comparison is only honest when both sides are priced with exclusions named — the method is in our quote comparison guide.
Our delivered office record.
Stated plainly, including its limits.
Vedant Petrochem — Hyderabad
Office interiors, full fit-out, delivered in 10 weeks. Our delivered office in this city.
Vridhi — Siruseri, Chennai
600 sq ft delivered in 5 weeks, our fastest recorded office.
KG360 — Chennai
5,450 sq ft full fit-out in 12 weeks, the largest office we have delivered.
What our records do not distinguish
Our project records note scope and duration but not whether a floor was bare shell or second-generation. So we are not going to claim a renovation-specific track record we cannot evidence from our own data. What we can evidence is the office record above, and the fact that strip-out and phasing are priced as named lines rather than absorbed.
Questions about office renovation.
How much does office renovation cost in Hyderabad?
The finished-work rate is the same as a new fit-out — ₹3,000–10,000/sq ft carpet, all-in including MEP, HVAC and loose furniture, exclusive of GST. Renovation adds strip-out and the occupied-working premium. Ask for both as named lines.
Can we keep working during the renovation?
Usually, phased zone by zone with dust screens and out-of-hours working. It lengthens the programme for identical scope and carries a premium. Establish permitted working hours before anyone prices it.
What is involved in a strip-out?
Removing partitions, ceiling, flooring, joinery and redundant services, disposal, and making good the slab and core. It also reveals conditions nobody could price in advance, so the contract should say how those are handled before they are found.
What can be reused?
Often the ceiling grid, raised flooring and cable containment; sometimes glazed partitions and HVAC ducting; rarely ceiling tiles, laminate joinery or existing circuit layouts. A contractor who quotes strip-everything without a survey is guessing.
How long does it take?
Longer than the equivalent new fit-out — strip-out at the front, phasing overhead throughout. Our recorded offices ran 5, 10 and 12 weeks on empty plates. Occupation and permitted hours move a renovation date more than floor area does.
Do we need landlord approval?
Almost certainly, and dilapidations matter here too — your lease may dictate what condition the space returns in, which affects what you may remove now and reinstate later.
Is renovating cheaper than relocating?
Often, not automatically. Renovation avoids a new deposit, base-build contribution, dual rent and the move; it carries strip-out, the occupied premium and a floor plate you cannot change. Price both with exclusions named.
Have you delivered office renovations specifically?
Our records note scope and duration but not whether a floor was bare shell or second-generation, so we do not claim a renovation-specific record. What we evidence is the office record — Vedant Petrochem 10 weeks, Vridhi 600 sq ft in 5, KG360 5,450 sq ft in 12.
Send the floor plate and your lease.
The floor plate tells us the scope. The lease tells us the dilapidations position and the permitted working hours, which between them decide most of the cost and nearly all of the programme. What comes back is an itemised BOQ with strip-out and any out-of-hours premium as named lines, grade stated per zone, and a written exclusions list.