The 3 mistakes people make when undertaking a fitout in Canberra

by Josh Hogan Commercial Builder

Question: What would be the most common mistakes that you see operators make when they are looking to undertake a fitout?

We were undertaking a retail fitout some months ago at a small shopping precinct. We noticed that there was a fitout that had already commenced next door to us and they were well into cutting up the slab for the hydraulic install. We pressed forward with our construction program and noticed that while they commence before us we were leaving them behind.

Long story short; the operators next door were told that they didn't require a building approval (BA) to undertake their works which saw them push forward without the requisite design and approvals. They were financially burnt significantly by the process because of the delays. They had a 6 month rent free period that lapsed and they were paying rent on a space they couldn't use.

On another occasion we were approached to quote a project from a brilliant set of construction documents. In this instance we were required to undertake the services on a design and construct basis which required an elevated level of diligence at the time of tender. After putting the submission together with competitive subcontractor pricing and comprehensive planning to deliver the project in the desired timeframe, we were told that the client couldn't commit to the contract. The reason being that they had signed up to the lease without agreeing to the landlords contribution and didn't know what their budget was.

Time and time again we see clients look at the pricing schedule of a submission without considering what is included. The outcomes of a project will differ drastically between builders and subsequently their subcontractors. Ensure that your comparisons between builders are based on the inclusions within the proposal as well as the reputation of quality from their proposed team of subcontractors.

In summary the common mistakes that we see people making are: