Commercial interiors in Bangalore

That is how the programme is written. We start from the date you have to open and work backwards, which tells you at the first meeting whether the date is achievable and which decisions have to be made earlier than they feel like they should be. The items that decide a fit-out date are rarely the building work — they are the AC units, the glazing, the switchgear and the furniture, all of which are ordered against the programme rather than when the site reaches them. If the date is not achievable on the scope you have described, you will be told that before you sign, not in week six.

Where the building permits it, yes — and in an occupied office or a working mall it is often the only way. What governs it is the landlord's fit-out conditions rather than our preference: permitted working hours, lift bookings, when services can be shut down, how debris leaves the building and what noise is allowed while neighbouring tenants are trading. Those conditions are read before the quotation, because out-of-hours working changes both the price and the programme and should be priced in from the start.

A working space and the paperwork that proves it works: electrical and data test results, AC commissioning records, as-built drawings showing where the services actually run, the fire drawings for the layout as built, product warranties and the operation and maintenance manuals. Snags are listed, closed and re-inspected with you rather than left as a verbal promise. The as-builts matter more than they sound — the next person who opens that ceiling is far cheaper if they know what is above it.

As an indicative range, a functional office runs about ₹800 to ₹1,800 per sq ft, a branded mid-range office about ₹1,500 to ₹3,200, and a premium or flagship floor from ₹3,000 upwards. Retail is wider still, because a shopfront and display lighting carry more of the cost than the floor area does. These are planning bands, not a quotation: the shell you are starting from moves the figure more than the specification does, which is why the space is measured and the shell identified before a price is put on it.

A bare shell gives you structure, screed and the base-building services terminating at the core — flooring, ceiling, lighting, air-conditioning, washrooms, partitions, power, data and joinery are all yours to build. A warm shell usually arrives with flooring, ceiling, lighting, air-conditioning and washrooms already in place, so the fit-out is partitions, power, data, joinery and finishes. The difference between the two is the single largest variable in a fit-out budget, which is why it is established before any figure is quoted.

It depends on what the work changes. Where the layout, the occupancy, the sprinkler or detector positions or the escape routes are altered, the change has to be coordinated with the building's fire consultant and the fire drawings updated and approved before the ceiling closes. Many landlords require that sign-off as a condition of the fit-out regardless. The position for your specific floor is confirmed with the building management at the start, because a late fire approval is one of the most common reasons a fit-out date slips.

Often, yes, when the work is phased. A floor can be taken in sections, screens and dust barriers put up, and the disruptive work grouped into evenings, weekends or an agreed shutdown window rather than spread across every working day. What decides it is the services: rewiring or moving the AC usually needs the affected area empty. We would rather set out honestly which parts need vacant possession and for how long than promise a seamless refurbishment and then ask for the floor.

Furniture can be included in the scope or coordinated alongside it, and the quotation shows which. Either way the sequencing matters more than the supply: workstations and storage arriving before the services are commissioned means installers working around each other, and delivery is scheduled against the programme rather than the invoice date. Reception joinery and built-in storage are usually made as site carpentry; loose furniture is bought in.

Yes, and for retail it is usually the arrangement — a brand fit-out normally arrives with a drawing set and a specification that are not negotiable. We price against that set, flag anything that conflicts with the landlord's conditions or the base-building services before it is built rather than after, and build to what is approved. Where a detail needs a decision, it goes back to whoever owns the drawing instead of being resolved on site.

Stated on the quotation itself rather than left to be discovered: GST, landlord deposits and fit-out charges, statutory fees, loose equipment, IT hardware and the rent you pay while the fit-out is running. Anything that depends on a decision still outstanding — a load upgrade, a fire approval, a brand element not yet specified — is listed as an exclusion with what it is likely to involve, so the number you are comparing is the number you will be invoiced.