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The Owner's Manual · Corporate & Office

The Office Buildout: Where Scope Gaps Go to Hide

Office TIs look like the simplest projects in this manual. They're also where owner budgets quietly leak — through furniture, cabling, and the HVAC nobody rebalanced.

New to construction entirely? Start with Guide No. 1: lease signing to grand opening — the six stages every project shares. This page covers what CHANGES when it's corporate & office.

What's different here

The parts that aren't like other buildouts

The GC doesn't buy your furniture

Furniture, AV, and security systems usually sit OUTSIDE the construction contract, with their own vendors and their own long lead times. Somebody must own the seams between those vendors and the GC — decide who at kickoff.

Cabling is a separate scope

IT/low-voltage typically runs parallel to construction under your IT vendor. Coordinated, it's invisible; uncoordinated, it's the classic scope gap — walls closed before the cable ran.

Old buildings, old air

Changing an open plan into offices (or the reverse) changes the airflow math. HVAC rebalancing or added zones in an older building is a common five-figure surprise — price it in the bid, not the second summer.

The building has rules too

Freight elevator windows, noisy-work hours, protection requirements — landlord building rules shape the schedule in occupied towers. Your GC should know the building or interview it before bidding.

Walls to the deck cost more (and sound better)

Standard partitions stop above the ceiling; real acoustic privacy runs to the structure. Decide room by room during design — conference rooms and HR earn the upgrade.

Timeline reality

Office TIs are typically the fastest projects here once permits land — which makes the non-construction scopes (furniture, cabling, AV) the usual critical path. The lever: order furniture when you order the buildout, and put one name in charge of vendor seams.

The three mistakes

Forgetting FF&E lead timesA finished suite with no chairs is a photo you don't want. Furniture orders belong in Stage 3 with the other long-leads.
Leaving the IT seam unowned‘I thought the GC had it’ is the most expensive sentence in office construction. Assign the coordination explicitly.
Skipping the HVAC conversationNew walls, same ducts, unhappy tenants. Ask what the layout change does to the air, in writing.

Terms you’ll meet on this one

Scope GapLong-Lead ItemsWhite BoxAbove-Ceiling InspectionPunch List

When you're ready — or just curious

See what we've built in corporate.

The expertise page has the process, the past projects, and a no-sales-call ballpark form. Or bring the 12 Questions and interview us properly — we like it.

Our Corporate work The 12 Questions