Open plan office fit-out in Cardiff delivered by OLLYWOOD

Budgets · 21 August 2026 · 9 min read

Office Fit-Out Costs: What You Pay Per Square Foot

Quick answer: a UK Cat B office fit-out typically costs £65 to £130 per square foot (£700 to £1,400 per square metre) in 2026. A basic refresh of an existing office sits nearer £40 to £65 per square foot, while a high-specification headquarters with feature joinery, enhanced M&E and acoustic treatment can exceed £150 per square foot. Outside London, including Cardiff and South Wales, most schemes land in the lower half of each band.

Office fit-out pricing is quoted in three different units by three different contractors, which makes comparison almost impossible. Here is how the bands work, what actually sits inside them, and the lines that are usually missing from the cheapest quote.

Cat A, Cat A plus and Cat B

Landlords deliver most offices as Cat A: raised floors, suspended ceilings, basic lighting, and a working heating and cooling system. It is a blank, usable shell. Cat B is everything that makes the space yours, from partitions and meeting rooms to reception joinery, kitchens, power layout, branding and furniture.

Cat A plus, sometimes called a fitted or plug and play suite, sits between the two. The landlord installs a generic layout so a tenant can move in quickly. If you are taking one of those, your budget is closer to a refresh than a full fit-out.

Scope	Per sq ft	Per sqm
Light refresh of an occupied office	£40 to £65	£430 to £700
Standard Cat B fit-out	£65 to £130	£700 to £1,400
High specification or headquarters	£130 to £175+	£1,400 to £1,900+
Furniture, loose (typical allowance)	£8 to £20	£85 to £215

Open plan office with exposed ceiling services in Llanishen, Cardiff — An exposed services ceiling can save money, but only if the existing soffit is sound.

What sits inside the number

Two quotes at the same rate per square foot can describe very different jobs. Ask for the split, because the proportions tell you where the risk sits.

Mechanical and electrical: often 25 to 35 per cent of a Cat B budget once you move air conditioning, add power and re-zone lighting
Partitions and doors: glazed partitioning costs several times more than plasterboard, and acoustic ratings drive the price
Joinery: reception desks, tea points and storage walls, where bespoke manufacture replaces catalogue furniture
Finishes: flooring, decoration, acoustic rafts and wall treatments
Preliminaries and management: site set-up, welfare, programme and supervision, typically 10 to 15 per cent

Glass partitioned meeting rooms in a Cardiff office fit-out by OLLYWOOD — Glazed partitions look effortless and are one of the biggest single line items.

The costs people forget

The items below rarely appear in an early budget, and together they can add 10 to 20 per cent to a scheme.

Dilapidations on the space you are leaving, often negotiable but rarely zero
Building management charges, out of hours access and lift bookings
Landlord licence for alterations, plus the landlord's surveyor fees
IT and AV cabling, containment and comms room works
Fire alarm and sprinkler alterations triggered by your new layout
Building control, CDM duties and the health and safety file

Office kitchen and tea point with terrazzo floor in Cardiff — Tea points carry plumbing, ventilation and joinery, so they cost more per square metre than open plan.

How to bring the number down without cheapening the space

The cheapest saving is a layout that works with the building rather than against it. Keeping partitions off the ceiling grid lines, reusing the existing air conditioning zones, and leaving the floor box positions alone can save more than any material swap.

After that, concentrate spend where people touch the building: reception, the tea point, the meeting rooms clients see. Bespoke joinery in three key places reads as a far better office than a mid-price finish spread thinly everywhere.

Meeting room with terracotta tones in a Cardiff office refurbishment — Spend where people meet, and the whole office reads as a higher specification.

Programme, and why it changes the price

A 5,000 square foot Cat B fit-out usually needs six to ten weeks on site, plus four to six weeks of design, approvals and procurement before anyone lifts a tool. Compress that and you pay for it in overtime, split deliveries and premium lead time materials.

If your lease start and your trading date are close together, tell contractors at the first meeting. A realistic programme priced honestly is cheaper than an optimistic one repriced halfway through.

What an office fit-out costs in Cardiff and South Wales

Regional pricing is not a discount on London, it is a different market. Labour rates, site set-up and preliminaries are lower, while materials, furniture and specialist mechanical and electrical packages cost much the same wherever the building sits. In practice a Cardiff scheme lands 15 to 25 per cent under the equivalent London number, with the saving concentrated in labour and management rather than specification.

Most Cardiff offices we price sit between 1,500 and 8,000 square feet, in stock around Cardiff Bay, Callaghan Square, Cathedral Road, Llanishen and the M4 corridor business parks. A straightforward Cat B on a modern floor plate typically works out at £65 to £95 per square foot. Older converted buildings with tight risers, listed elements or poor existing services push toward the top of the band before any design ambition is added.

Two local factors change budgets more than anything else. First, the age and condition of the air conditioning you inherit, since replacing a tired system can add £15 to £25 per square foot on its own. Second, whether the business stays in occupation during the works, which usually means phased weekend and evening working and a longer programme.

Cardiff scheme	Typical size	Typical budget
Refresh of an occupied office	2,000 sq ft	£80,000 to £130,000
Standard Cat B on a modern floor	4,000 sq ft	£260,000 to £380,000
Higher specification headquarters	6,000 sq ft	£480,000 to £700,000

Completed Cat B office fit-out in Cardiff by OLLYWOOD — Viro, Llanishen. A Cardiff Cat B fit-out delivered while the team stayed in the building.

FAQs

Common questions

How much does an office fit-out cost per square foot in the UK?

For a Cat B office fit-out outside London, budget £65 to £130 per square foot all-in, depending on specification. Cat A and refurbishment scopes cost less, high-end workspace costs more. London typically adds 15 to 25 percent.

What is the difference between Cat A and Cat B?

Cat A is the landlord's base finish: raised floors, suspended ceilings, basic mechanical and electrical, and decoration to the core. Cat B is everything that makes it your office: partition walls, meeting rooms, kitchens, joinery, furniture, AV, branding and finishes.

What do people forget to budget for in an office fit-out?

Professional fees for design and approvals, mechanical and electrical upgrades, IT and AV, furniture, and dilapidations on the space you are leaving. Together these often add 20 to 30 percent to the headline build figure.

How long does a Cat B office fit-out take?

Six to twelve weeks on site is typical for a 2,000 to 10,000 square foot floor, after four to eight weeks of design and approvals. Working while the business stays in occupation extends the programme.

How much does an office fit-out cost in Cardiff?

A standard Cat B office fit-out in Cardiff usually costs £65 to £95 per square foot, so roughly £260,000 to £380,000 for a 4,000 square foot floor. A refresh of an occupied office starts nearer £40 per square foot. Cardiff schemes typically run 15 to 25 percent below the London equivalent, mainly on labour and preliminaries.

Can you fit out an office while we keep working in it?

Yes. Most occupied fit-outs are phased zone by zone with noisy work moved to evenings and weekends, dust screens between the works and the live floor, and a weekly programme agreed with your facilities contact. Expect a longer programme and a modest premium for out of hours labour.

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