Selections changed after work started
The most common cause by some distance. A finish change after fabrication has begun sends joinery back into the supplier's queue, and you rejoin it at the end rather than where you left.
Commercial fit-out · Programme
How long an office fit-out takes, measured rather than asserted.
Almost every published fit-out timeline is a confident band with nothing behind it. This one starts from projects we have actually delivered and their recorded durations, says plainly where a figure is interpolated between them, and refuses to give one at a scale we have never built. Floor area matters less than you would expect. Late decisions matter more.
What we have actually delivered.
These are recorded durations from completed projects, not estimates. Everything else on this page is built on top of them, and where it is not, it says so.
Reviewed by Pradeep Kumar Vasadi, Principal — on-site execution and delivery.
| Project | Type | Area | Delivered in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cha Republic | Mall kiosk, Shamshabad | 300 sq ft | 4 weeks |
| Vridhi | Office, Siruseri, Chennai | 600 sq ft | 5 weeks |
| Tai Tai | F&B, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad | Not recorded | 6 weeks |
| Vedant Petrochem | Office, Hyderabad · full fit-out | Not recorded | 10 weeks |
| KG360 | Office, Chennai · full fit-out | 5,450 sq ft | 12 weeks |
Duration by floor area.
The two anchors are real: 600 sq ft in 5 weeks and 5,450 sq ft in 12. Notice that a nine-fold increase in area produced rather more than a doubling of duration, not a nine-fold one. That is the single most useful thing on this page.
| Floor area | Typical duration | Basis | What dominates the programme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 500 sq ft | 4–5 weeks | Recorded (300 sq ft kiosk in 4) | Mobilisation and joinery lead time — barely the quantity of work |
| ~600 sq ft | 5 weeks | Recorded (Vridhi) | Joinery fabrication on the critical path |
| ~2,000 sq ft | 7–9 weeks | Interpolated | Joinery, plus services coordination becoming real |
| ~5,450 sq ft | 12 weeks | Recorded (KG360) | Services coordination and trade sequencing |
| 10,000 sq ft+ | No figure published | Not delivered at this scale | Would be services and base-building interfaces, not fit-out trades |
Why the last row is blank. The largest office we have delivered is 5,450 sq ft. A duration for 10,000 sq ft would be an extrapolation presented as experience. At that scale the programme is usually driven by services coordination, base-building interfaces and approval routes rather than by the fit-out trades themselves, so the honest answer needs your actual floor plate, lease fit-out guide and services scope. If another contractor gives you a confident number for 10,000 sq ft, a fair question is which project of theirs it is based on.
Where the weeks are actually spent.
These overlap substantially, so the total is not the sum. What matters is which one sits on the critical path — on most office fit-outs, that is joinery fabrication, which is why freezing selections compresses a programme more than adding site labour does.
Week 1 — Mobilisation and setting out
Site protection, access and material routes agreed with building management, setting out against the approved drawing. Unglamorous and frequently compressed to nothing, which is where avoidable rework begins.
Weeks 1–3 — Demolition, civil works and partitions
Stripping any previous tenant's fit-out, blockwork and drywall, cabin enclosures. On a second-generation space this is bigger than owners expect; on a bare shell it is smaller.
Weeks 2–5 — Services first fix
Electrical distribution, lighting circuits, small power, data containment — running in parallel with partitions once framing is up, not after it. Parallelism here is most of the difference between a well-run programme and a slow one.
Weeks 3–7 — Joinery and workstations
Usually the longest single item and usually the critical path, because it is governed by fabrication lead time rather than site time. Fabrication cannot begin until selections are frozen, which is why a late finish decision costs weeks rather than days.
Weeks 4–8 — Ceilings, flooring and finishes
False ceilings and their access provision, flooring, painting, panelling, acoustic treatment. Acoustics is the line most often value-engineered out early and regretted after occupation.
Final 2 weeks — Second fix, commissioning, snagging
Services second fix, testing and commissioning, then snagging worked to written closure, final clean and the handover documentation set. Compressing this phase is how projects get handed over with an open snag list.
What actually makes it late.
Ordered by how often we see it. Floor area is not on the list, and that is the point — programme risk sits in decisions and dependencies, not in square feet.
Approval arriving later than assumed
Landlord or mall fit-out approval treated as a formality rather than a dependency. Mall processes in particular carry their own drawing standards, permitted hours and deposits.
Long-lead items ordered late
Specified lighting, glazing and imported hardware have lead times that do not care about your occupation date. These need ordering in week one, against a frozen specification.
Working-hours restrictions
Occupied or mixed-use buildings restrict noisy work to evenings and weekends. Real and manageable — but only if priced and programmed up front rather than discovered in week three.
Base-building interfaces
Fire system tie-in and similar works pull in the building's own consultant, whose availability becomes a dependency on your critical path and is outside everyone's control.
Scope added without a variation process
Additions are normal on a fit-out. What causes delay is adding them without a written process for what it does to the price and the date, so both are argued about later.
Questions about fit-out programme.
How long does an office fit-out take?
Recorded: 600 sq ft in 5 weeks, a full Hyderabad fit-out in 10, and 5,450 sq ft in 12. As a rule on an empty floor plate: 5–6 weeks to about 1,000 sq ft, 7–9 around 2,000, 11–13 around 5,000 — assuming approvals are in place and selections are frozen.
How long for 2,000 sq ft?
Roughly 7–9 weeks, and that figure is interpolated rather than recorded — our anchors are 600 sq ft in 5 weeks and 5,450 in 12. Duration rises much more slowly than area.
How long for 10,000 sq ft?
We do not publish one, because we have not delivered at that scale — our largest office is 5,450 sq ft. At 10,000 the programme is driven by services and base-building interfaces, so a credible date needs your floor plate and lease fit-out guide.
Where do the weeks go?
Mobilisation, demolition and partitions, services first fix, joinery, finishes, then second fix and snagging — heavily overlapped. The critical path usually runs through joinery fabrication.
What makes a fit-out run late?
Selections changed after start, approvals arriving late, long-lead items ordered late, working-hours restrictions, base-building interfaces, and scope added without a written variation process. Rarely floor area.
Can we go faster by paying more?
Partly. Money buys shifts, out-of-hours working, parallel joinery lines and expedited freight. It does not compress curing, supplier lead-time floors, or a landlord's approval process. The biggest free acceleration is freezing the specification.
Does an occupied office take longer?
Yes, materially — phased zone by zone, noisy work pushed out of hours, trades unable to overlap as they would on an empty plate. Expect a longer duration and a named out-of-hours premium.
When does the clock start?
Ours runs from site handover to snag closure. Others measure from contract signature or count only the on-site window. When comparing durations, ask what each one starts and stops counting before asking which is smaller.
Send the floor plate and your occupation date.
We will tell you whether the date is achievable, what sits on the critical path, and which decisions have to be frozen in week one to protect it — before anyone prices the job. If the date is not achievable for the scope you are describing, we would rather say so now than in week nine.