Understanding the process of a commercial fitout is the best way to keep your project running as smoothly as possible. When you know what’s coming next, you can plan ahead, minimise your downtime, and enjoy watching your development unfold.
At Intertech Contracts, we work alongside the construction industry to bring empty spaces to life, fitting out both traditional buildings and modern modular buildings. Here’s exactly what to expect from a typical commercial fitout project.
1. Initial Chat and Planning
Before we take a single measurement, we need to understand your business. This first step is just a broader conversation about what you want to get out of the new space.
Every industry operates in a different way, so our main goal is to figure out exactly how the building needs to function for you. Healthcare facilities, for example, usually need to meet very strict hygiene standards with specific surface finishes, whereas schools look for materials that can withstand wear and tear. If it's a commercial office fitout, the priority might be creating quiet working zones with partition walls.
We’ll go through your daily routine, staff numbers, and the atmosphere you want to create. Our commercial decorating contractors will also visit the physical building to spot any potential hurdles right at the start.
2. Design, Safety, and Preparation
With the budget and main goals agreed, we can start looking into design details like the floor plan and material options.
A large part of our prep work also involves making sure your new layout is safe and totally compliant with UK building regulations. We will map out all the essential safety features, like fire door installations, to keep everyone protected and the building legally covered.
This is also the point where we can finalise the schedule, which acts as a timetable for the entire build. When everything is planned out well, our commercial contractors will arrive on site exactly when they are needed.
3. Building the Structure
The first step of the structural work involves putting up the internal walls, also known as partitions, if they are required for your fitout. Partitioning is an effective way to divide a large, open area into separate, useful rooms like meeting spaces or private offices. Once the framework for these walls is built, the team moves on to boarding, which involves fixing sturdy plasterboard panels to the frames to create solid walls.
The 'first fix' joinery takes place in this phase. First fix refers to all the structural joinery work that happens behind the scenes before the walls and ceilings are finished. It includes building the timber framework for doors and windows. While it might look like a standard building site at this stage, this work is how our commercial decorating contractors make sure your new space lasts for years to come.
4. Preparing the Surfaces
With the plasterboards securely fixed, the walls need to be smoothed out before we can paint them. Rather than coating the walls with slow-drying wet plaster, we use a much faster technique called tape jointing. By applying specialist tape and a smooth jointing compound only over the seams and screw holes, we save a massive amount of time and mess. Once it dries and gets sanded down, you are left with a perfectly flat wall that is ready for paint.
With the walls prepped, we can start adding the visible timber elements to the rooms. We break this down into two stages:
Second fix joinery: We fit the interior doors, secure the skirting boards, and do the window boards.
Third fix joinery: We finish off the rooms with door handles, locks, and decorative timber trims.
5. Painting and Decorating
When the structural work is done and the dust is cleared, we can move on to painting and decorating, where we apply the correct finishes, colours and branding to the walls.
Commercial spaces take a considerably higher amount of footfall compared to a standard residential property, which is why bringing in professional decorators is very important. Our team at Intertech Contracts understands the correct heavy-duty paints, specialist coatings, and tough finishes to use for your specific industry. This sets your space up to look great and perform well for as long as possible.
6. Final Inspection and Handover
Before you start moving desks in and setting up the coffee machine, we will perform a very thorough final inspection.
Our team will walk the site and check every single detail. We will test the doors to make sure they open smoothly, inspect the paintwork for blemishes, make sure the tape jointing is invisible, and verify that all safety features are working exactly as they should be.
Once the space gets the green light and it’s given a deep clean, the fitout is officially finished, and your new space is ready for business.
Why Choose Intertech Contracts for Commercial Fitouts?
You need a team you can rely on to take on a significant investment like a commercial fitout project. Based in Hull, East Yorkshire, Intertech Contracts specialises in internal fitouts for a variety of sectors, including the wider construction industry, modular buildings, education, healthcare, and commercial spaces.
If you are planning a project and want a high-level, professional internal finish, contact Intertech Contracts today.
