Mostly our blog posts discuss commercial fitout, shop fitout, renovation, or the new build of commercial premises, because that’s mostly what we do.
But there’s more!
Another important stage: the Defit.
It’s a pretty necessary part of commercial shopfitting and one that needs to be well managed.
So, when do you need to think about a Defit?
You may be asked to defit your shop, office, restaurant, surgery or bar when you leave at the end of your lease.
Or when you’re doing a large renovation or refurbishment, some level of defit will be necessary.
What does a Defit actually mean?
It’s much more than having a wrecking ball swing through the walls!
It refers to safely taking out either some or all of the current fitout and restoring it to a clean, available space so that it can be refitted.
If this is your situation, here’s some things to consider:
Hire a company which delivers safe and efficient services in this area.
All Workplace, Health & Safety issues need to be covered and the right insurances need to be in place for demolition to occur.
Make sure you know the time limits involved. Usually there are quite strict time constraints.
Many services will need to be touched in some way in the defit. They can be:
Fire Services: sprinkler system, fire hose reels, detectors, speakers, fire extinguishers
Electrical: power board, electrical distribution board, data services
Mechanical: air conditioning
Plumbing: pipes, sinks, toilets, water services capped off
Any Contaminated Waste: asbestos, for instance.
What to do:
The most important thing is to minimise disruption to those around you.
Other businesses will need to continue as normal. Your professional defit contractors will know this and be able work to strict rules.
A piece of advice.
The Defit is an important stage of construction so be sure to do a “walk through” to familiarise yourself with what is going to happen.
Then keep apace with progress as it happens so that you’re left with exactly what is required.
