Planning an office fit-out? Here are five key numbers you should bear in mind.

60

If you submit an office fit-out development application to the City of Sydney, this is the average number of days it takes for approval. From my dealings with the council for various office fit-out and design projects, the approval time has been about 30 days.

8

This is how many weeks will lapse between when you order the workstations for your office fit-out and when they are complete, installed and ready to use. Of course, this figure applies to a tailored office design solution in which standard products can’t be used.

1288

Australian Standard 2006: this is the standard with which all glass in your office partitions must comply. The standard also spells out procedures for the design, selection and installation of glass in commercial buildings. Your local council will want the glazing contractor to provide certification showing that the glass used complies with the standard. This will help protect you against workplace health and safety risks that may be associated with the glass.

400

Wondering how much light you need for usual office work, based on the Australian Standard AS 1680-1990? It’s 400 lux. There are higher levels of light required for some areas, such as where detailed desk work is carried out, and lower levels allowed for areas like corridors.

3

Make sure you get three proposals from different office fit-out and design companies before you sign up for any project. You will find that experienced companies are willing to show you their design ideas and talk about costs before decide whether to go ahead.

Read more: Office fit-outs: what can they do for your business?

Read more: Office fit-outs: 10 ways it’s easy to be green