Most offices that need refurbishing cannot stop trading for six weeks while it happens. This page explains exactly how phased delivery, noise control, and careful scheduling keep your team operating throughout — no sales pitch, just the process.
The "vacate and refit" model — moving staff to serviced offices while works happen — is increasingly rare among London and South East occupiers. Serviced office costs, business continuity risk, and the operational disruption of an unplanned move mean most businesses now refurbish in occupation. It is not the exception; it is the default. For a broader overview of what the work itself involves, see our commercial office refurbishment service.
The trigger is usually one of four things:
A break clause, renewal, or dilapidations schedule requires the space to be updated to meet landlord or surveyor remedial works standards before the term ends.
A new director or managing partner requires the space to reflect the company's current positioning — without the cost of relocating the whole business.
The office is still configured for five days a week. The team is in two or three. The layout no longer serves how people actually work, and collaboration space is absent or unused.
The business has grown or contracted significantly since the space was last fitted out. The floorplate needs restructuring around a different density or departmental layout.
A live-site refurbishment follows the same four stages regardless of scope. What changes is the time spent in each stage and the complexity of the rotation in stage three. The pre-start site survey is the critical first step — the point at which the programme is agreed, constraints are logged, and both parties understand the exact shape of the project before any work begins.
We carry out a no-obligation pre-start site survey. This establishes the works scope, identifies fixed constraints (server rooms, reception, plant), and produces the programme and RAMS pack before anything starts.
The floorplate is divided into zones. Temporary hoarding, containment, and acoustic barriers are installed. Deliveries and materials are positioned. Staff are briefed on which areas are affected and when.
Works proceed zone by zone. Noisy and dusty tasks are scheduled around your working day. Each zone is handed back in full working order before the next zone opens. Staff never work in an active construction area.
Containment is removed, the finished space is handed over zone by zone, and snagging is completed with minimum further disruption. A final walk-round confirms everything is complete to specification.
Noise and dust are the two practical objections that prevent most facilities managers from progressing a refurbishment. Both are manageable with the right systems — but only if those systems are planned before work starts, not improvised on the day.
Noise on a live commercial site falls into three categories. Airborne noise — voices, radio, general site activity — travels through air and is reduced by sealing the works zone with boarding. Impact noise — drilling, hammer action, fixing into concrete — transmits through structure and is managed primarily through scheduling. Mechanical noise — ventilation, extraction, compressors — is managed through equipment selection and positioning.
Dust containment matters most where there is server infrastructure, sensitive equipment, or open-plan areas with high footfall. HEPA-grade filtration units run throughout the works area. Plastic sheeting is not sufficient for a live office environment — it is not structurally stable, offers no acoustic value, and presents poorly to the rest of your team.
| Criteria | Plastic Sheeting | Modular Acoustic Barriers |
|---|---|---|
| Noise reduction | Minimal No structural mass to absorb sound | Meaningful Panels carry an STC (Sound Transmission Class) rating |
| Dust containment | Inconsistent Gaps, tears, and movement allow passage | Sealed Interlocking panels with tape-sealed joints and HEPA extraction |
| Appearance | Poor Looks temporary and unsettling to staff | Professional Solid boarding that reads as a managed site |
| Server room protection | Inadequate Not suitable where air quality is critical | Appropriate Sealed containment with HEPA filtration as standard |
| Security | None Open to unauthorised access | Controlled Fixed boarding with a lockable access point |
The programme produced before work starts identifies two categories of task: those that can run during the normal working day without material disruption, and those that require a quiet window. The agreed programme — not the site manager's judgement on the day — determines what happens when. You will know before the project starts which days and windows will carry heavier noise.
Materials movement is also planned rather than reactive. Deliveries are scheduled for early morning or late afternoon to avoid congestion in shared lobbies and corridors. For clients where a smaller reactive office works programme runs in parallel, this scheduling discipline applies equally.
This schedule is illustrative. Actual windows are agreed with you as part of the pre-start programme and will reflect your specific business hours and constraints.
Phased decanting is the mechanism that allows a full-floor refurbishment to happen without closing the office. The principle is straightforward: divide the floorplate into zones, complete one zone, consolidate staff into the finished zone, open the next zone for works, and repeat until the floor is complete.
At every point in this cycle, your team is working in a normal office. The works zone is sealed behind hoarding. The rotation cycle follows four steps: preparation → execution → rotation → release. The cycle repeats until the final zone is handed back. This approach scales from a single meeting room up to a full multi-floor refurbishment.
The programme is agreed before work starts, so your team knows in advance which zone is affected each week. There are no surprises and no ad hoc requests for areas to be vacated at short notice.
Commercial refurbishment in a leased property carries specific legal and contractual obligations. These are not optional — they protect you as tenant, the landlord, and any third parties affected by the works.
Licence to Alter (LTA): Any alteration to a leased commercial property — structural, mechanical, or in many cases cosmetic — requires the landlord's written consent. The LTA records this consent and sets out the conditions under which works can proceed. We prepare this documentation as part of our pre-start process. For clients involved in surveyor remedial works or lease-end negotiations, this documentation also feeds directly into the dilapidations settlement.
CDM 2015: The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 apply to most commercial refurbishment projects. On a live site, this includes managing the interface between the construction zone and the occupied area — which is a CDM obligation, not just good practice.
Insurance: Public liability and employer's liability insurance certificates form part of the standard pre-start pack we provide to every client.
Programme lengths by project type, what causes delays, and how phased live-site delivery affects overall duration compared to a vacant-possession project.
Read article → GuideA practical breakdown of cost ranges by scope, what drives the budget in a live-site project, and how to get an accurate figure before committing.
Read article → ExplainerThe terminology is used interchangeably but the scope and cost implications are different. This article explains what each term actually means in practice.
Read article → ExplainerIf you're negotiating a new lease or planning a refurbishment from shell condition, understanding Cat A and Cat B is essential before agreeing works scope with your landlord.
Read article →Our full commercial office refurbishment service — from strip-out and partitioning through to flooring, M&E, decoration, and handover. Single contract, all trades.
View service → Regional ServiceServing commercial occupiers across Kent, Surrey, Essex, and Greater London — with established relationships with the major landlords and managing agents in the region.
View service →