14 WKS
survey kick-off to move-in
M&E, fire detection, compartmentation and security delivered as one workstream — so the move-in date didn't slip behind the regulator.
A financial-services firm taking 18,000 sq ft of newly-vacated Cat-A space in Mayfair, with a hard move-in date dictated by the lease structure. The landlord had handed back Cat-A shell; the firm needed Cat-B fit-out completed, life-safety-compliant, and signed off by the building's responsible person — in 14 weeks.
What looked like a standard fit-out had three regulators under it: BSA-grade compartmentation through the demising walls, fire detection integrating with the landlord's addressable system, and security scoped against the firm's group IT standard. Three trades, three sign-off paths, one calendar.
Existing compartmentation surveyed against the as-builts; gaps and disagreements documented before any trade started. M&E design frozen against the IT brief and the landlord's chiller capacity. Nothing went on order until the survey-and-design pack was signed by all three sign-off chains.
Power, lighting, comms containment, chilled-water taps and HVAC ductwork first-fix; compartmentation in parallel — they share the demising walls. Procore tracked as-built deviations daily, so the second-fix and life-safety teams worked off a live drawing pack.
Fire-detection devices installed, addressed and commissioned against the landlord's panel; security cabling, access-control readers and CCTV commissioned against the firm's IAM standard. Both witnessed and signed off in the same week.
Joinery, finishes, furniture, snagging. The compliance pack — as-builts, certificates, asset register — handed over on move-in day, not six weeks after.
"We could have done this with three contractors and a project manager glueing them together. The fact we didn't is why we hit the date."
Occupation on the lease-stipulated date, with the drawing pack, certificate set and asset register handed over the same morning. The responsible person accepted the integrated commissioning on first witness. No remedials, no extensions, no holdover.