An office fitout needs power and data at every workstation, lighting to suit the new layout, exit and emergency lighting that matches the new exit paths, a switchboard with enough spare capacity for the load, and a certificate of compliance at handover. Most of it has to be planned before the partitions go up.
The order matters more than the list does, so here is what sits in the scope and when each part has to happen.
What electrical work does an office fitout include?
Almost every office fitout falls into five groups of work: supply and switchboard, general power, lighting, communications cabling, and life safety. The proportions shift with the tenancy, but the groups do not.
- Supply and switchboard. The tenancy distribution board, its spare ways, the submains feeding it, and whether the supply is single or three phase.
- General power. Workstation outlets, floor boxes, kitchenette and appliance circuits, printer and server rack power.
- Lighting and control. New fittings on the reflected ceiling plan, switching zones that match the room layout, occupancy sensors and dimming where the base building allows it.
- Communications cabling. Structured data cabling to each desk and access point, patched back to the comms rack and tested.
- Life safety. Exit and emergency lighting reassessed against the new exit paths, plus any smoke detection the layout change affects.
When does the electrician need to be involved?
Before the partition layout is signed off, not after it. Outlet and floor box positions are set by where people sit, and once the walls are up the cheap routes through the ceiling and under the floor are gone. Bringing the electrician in at design stage also flushes out the two things that most often delay a fitout: a tenancy board with no spare ways, and base building rules that restrict when power-downs and core penetrations can happen.
| Fitout stage | Electrical work in that stage | Why the timing matters |
|---|---|---|
| Design and layout | Load estimate, outlet and data positions marked on the plan, switchboard capacity checked | Moving a floor box once the penetration is set costs far more than marking it on a drawing |
| Strip out | Redundant circuits disconnected and made safe, abandoned cable removed | Old tenancy wiring left in the ceiling is a fire risk and makes later fault finding slow |
| Rough in | Cable runs, conduit, mounting blocks, ceiling and wall penetrations | The only window where walls and ceilings are open. Everything missed here becomes surface mounted |
| Fit off | Outlets, switches, light fittings, floor boxes, data outlets terminated and tested | Needs the ceiling grid, flooring and joinery already in place |
| Commissioning and handover | Circuit testing, labelled schedule, emergency lighting test, compliance certificate | The certifier and the building manager want this before anyone occupies the floor |
Will the existing tenancy switchboard handle the new layout?
Often not, because the last tenant's load tells you nothing about yours. A floor that ran twelve desks and a photocopier is a different proposition once it carries sixty workstations, a server rack, a kitchenette with a dishwasher and instant hot water, and split system air conditioning. Two limits bite first. The board runs out of physical ways for new circuits, and the submains feeding it were sized for the old load.
Checking it is straightforward. Count the spare ways, read the existing circuit schedule, and compare the estimated new load against what the submains and main switch can carry. Where the board needs replacing or extending, that is a switchboard upgrade. Where the supply into the building itself has to change, or the metering moves, the work crosses into Level 2 ASP territory and has to be done by an accredited service provider.
One thing worth testing rather than assuming: the condition of the cabling behind the board. In older commercial buildings the board is often newer than the wiring it feeds, which changes the scope completely. We cover how to tell in does your commercial building need rewiring.
Planning an office fitout?
DM Electrical prices and delivers the full electrical scope on commercial fitouts across the Northern Beaches, North Shore, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West and Sydney CBD, with after-hours power-downs so the floor keeps trading.
How do you plan power and data around a desk layout?
Work backwards from where people sit, not from where the outlets already are. Mark the desk positions first, then decide how power and data reach them. There are three usual answers, and the building normally picks one for you.
- Floor boxes. Best for open plan desk clusters away from walls. They need a penetration or a raised floor, so they have to be set at design stage.
- Ceiling drops. Useful where the slab cannot be cut. Power and data come down a pole or through the joinery into the desk spine.
- Perimeter trunking. The simplest option when desks sit against walls, and the easiest to change later.
Keep the heavy and awkward loads off the general workstation circuits. A kitchenette, a large printer, a server rack and air conditioning each want their own run back to the board, for the same reasons set out in what is a dedicated circuit. Data cabling runs on the same program but is a separate discipline: each outlet gets tested and a results file forms part of the handover pack. Our fitout work across gyms, retail and office tenancies is in the project gallery, including the Cube Fitness fitout.
What do the exit and emergency lighting rules mean for a fitout?
Changing the layout changes the exit paths, so the emergency lighting has to be reassessed even when the fittings are only a year old. New partitions can block the light from an existing fitting or leave a corridor with no coverage, and an exit sign can end up pointing at a wall that was not there before. AS/NZS 2293 sets both the coverage and the six-monthly discharge testing that follows, and a certifier will ask for the test record. It sits near the end of the program, which is why it holds up occupancy so often. DM Electrical handles the reassessment and the ongoing testing as part of commercial electrical services.
What paperwork should you get at handover?
At minimum a certificate of compliance for the electrical work, an updated and labelled circuit schedule, and the emergency lighting test record. In NSW the compliance certificate is a CCEW, and it is the document proving the work was tested and done by a licensed contractor. Keep it, because the building manager, the certifier and your insurer can all ask for it, and so can the next tenant at make good. We explain what it covers in what is a CCEW.
Ask for the data cabling test results and a set of as-built drawings at the same time. The drawings are worth more than they look: the next person to work on that floor either has them, or spends a day tracing circuits you already paid to have installed.
Frequently asked questions
Who pays for the electrical work in an office fitout, the landlord or the tenant?
Usually the tenant, under the fitout clause of the lease. The landlord is normally responsible for the base building supply up to the tenancy, and the tenant for everything inside it. Read the fitout and make good clauses together before pricing, because make good can require the wiring to be removed at the end of the term.
Does an office fitout need a Level 2 electrician?
Only for the parts that touch the network supply. Work inside the tenancy is done by a licensed electrical contractor. A new or upgraded supply, a metering change, or work on consumer mains and the point of attachment has to be done by a Level 2 accredited service provider.
How long does the electrical side of an office fitout take?
It is spread across the whole program rather than done in one block. Rough-in is a short burst while the ceilings and walls are open, then the trade leaves site and returns for fit off and commissioning. The constraint is usually access and approved outage windows, not the labour itself.
Can the office keep trading during the fitout?
Usually yes, if the work is staged. Circuits are isolated in sections so the occupied part of the floor keeps power, and the switchboard changeovers that need everything off are booked after hours or over a weekend. That has to be agreed with the building manager early, because access windows get booked out.
The bottom line
Get the load estimate and the switchboard check done while the layout is still on paper, mark the power and data positions before the partitions go up, reassess the emergency lighting against the new exit paths, and collect the compliance certificate and circuit schedule at handover. Almost every fitout that runs late does so because the board turned out to be full. Get in touch.