RSK Renovation — Premium Renovation & Fit-Out, Dubai

Overview

Mostly a Coordination Exercise. That Is the Point.

An office fit out is mostly a coordination exercise. The trades are ordinary. Making partitions, ceilings, cooling, lighting, sprinklers, data and furniture all land in the same place at the same time is not.

That is where office projects go wrong, and it is why the drawings matter more than the finishes.

RSK handles office fit out and renovation across Dubai, from space planning and permit drawings through construction to handover documentation.

Office Fit Out at a Glance

Space planning: desk density, cellular against open plan, circulation and growth allowance

Design and drawings: concept, technical drawings and authority submission packages

Partitions: drywall, glazed and acoustic systems

Ceilings: suspended grid, gypsum and feature ceilings

Electrical: distribution, lighting, small power and floor boxes

HVAC: modification, ducting and diffuser layout after partitioning

Life safety: fire detection and sprinkler modification with Civil Defence coordination

Data and AV: containment, cable routing and meeting room provision

Joinery: reception counters, storage, lockers and tea points

Flooring: carpet tile, vinyl, tile and raised access

Finishes and branding: painting, wall coverings, glazing film and signage

Furniture and handover: coordination, installation, commissioning and as-built drawings

Get a Written BOQ

What It Involves

What Office Fit Out Involves

The order is fixed: drawings, permits, partitions, services, ceilings, finishes, furniture, handover.

Partitions go in first because everything else is set out from them. Cooling and lighting have to be redistributed once rooms exist, since a diffuser sized for open plan does not serve four meeting rooms. Sprinkler heads have to cover every new enclosed space. Data containment has to reach every desk position.

All of that is decided on drawings before anyone is on site. An office fit out where the MEP was coordinated properly runs smoothly. One where it was not gets resolved on site, slowly and expensively.

Project Types

Types of Office Fit Out

Shell and core fit out

The unit has structure, facade and services to the boundary, and nothing inside. Everything is built from scratch, including raised floors or screed, ceilings, HVAC distribution and fire systems. The largest scope and the most freedom.

Cat A to Cat B fit out

The landlord has provided a base: floors, ceilings, basic lighting, HVAC distribution and fire detection. The work is partitions, finishes, joinery, branding and redistributing services to suit the new layout. The most common office project.

Office renovation

An existing office reconfigured or refreshed. Adds strip-out and disposal, and the risk that existing services do not match the drawings on file.

Live refurbishment

Work carried out while the office remains occupied, usually phased floor by floor or zone by zone with staff relocated temporarily. Slower and more expensive, but it avoids taking the business out of its premises.

Planning

Space Planning, Acoustics, Services and Data

Space planning

Decide how the office actually works before deciding how it looks: desk count now and growth headroom, open plan against cellular and the ratio, how many meeting rooms and what sizes, phone booths or focus rooms, reception and visitor separation, tea point or pantry (and whether it needs drainage), storage, lockers and print areas, and the server room with its cooling requirement.

Meeting room count is the decision most often revisited late, and the most expensive to change — every room needs its own partition, ceiling zone, cooling, lighting, sprinkler coverage and data.

Acoustics, services and data

An office that looks right and sounds wrong is a failed fit out. Partitions that stop at the suspended ceiling let sound carry over the top. Where confidentiality matters — meeting rooms, HR offices, phone booths — partitions need to run to the slab with acoustic treatment, decided before the ceiling grid goes in.

Every enclosed room created needs its own cooling provision, lighting, sprinkler coverage, smoke detection, data and power at real positions, and a return air path — a sealed room with supply and no return does not cool properly. Floor boxes need setting out against the final furniture layout, not a generic grid.

Permits

Do You Need a Permit for an Office Fit Out in Dubai?

Yes, in nearly every case, and which authority applies depends on the address.

Dubai Development Authority

Fit out permit process for its zones, with submission before works and a completion submission afterwards.

Trakhees

Covers areas including Palm Jumeirah, Jebel Ali and the ports and free zone territories.

Dubai Municipality

Building permit procedures covering buildings outside the other jurisdictions.

Free zone authorities

DMCC, DAFZA, JAFZA and others run their own fit out approval processes.

Dubai Civil Defence

Fire detection, sprinkler modification, emergency lighting and life safety approvals.

DEWA

Electricity and water NOCs, submitted by enrolled contractors and consultants where required.

The landlord will also have fit out guidelines, an approval process and often an approved contractor list. Read it before design starts.

Cost

How Much Does an Office Fit Out Cost in Dubai?

Office fit out is priced from drawings, not from floor area alone. What moves the number:

Starting condition

Shell and core against Cat A changes the scope substantially

Number of enclosed rooms

Each room needs partition, ceiling, cooling, lighting, sprinkler and data

Acoustic requirement

Partitions to slab with treatment cost more than partitions to ceiling

MEP scope

Usually the largest single package

Glazed partitions

Frameless and double-glazed systems sit well above drywall

Ceiling type

Standard grid against gypsum and feature ceilings

Flooring

Carpet tile, vinyl, tile and raised access vary widely

Joinery

Reception counters, storage and tea points per linear metre

Furniture

Often a separate budget, with lead times that can exceed the build

Live environment

Phasing, protection and out-of-hours labour

Permits and drawings

Authority submissions, consultant fees and as-built documentation

The number that matters

Not a per-square-foot estimate from a website — a written BOQ after a site visit, showing quantities, materials, exclusions and payment milestones.

Usually excluded from cheap quotes

Approvals and drawings, protection of retained finishes, MEP upgrades, waste removal, snagging after handover, and anything described as "subject to site condition".

Read the full guide: how renovation cost is built up in Dubai →

Timeline

How Long Does an Office Fit Out Take?

Permits and furniture lead times usually determine the programme, not the construction.

Drawings and submissions come first. Civil Defence approval in particular cannot be compressed at the end, because handover depends on it. Construction is fairly predictable once it starts, and partitions to finished space moves quickly.

Furniture is the item most often underestimated. Made-to-order desks, chairs and meeting tables can take longer than the build itself, and a finished office with no furniture is not a handover.

Avoid These

Mistakes That Cost Money

Deciding meeting room count late. Every room is a partition, a ceiling zone, cooling, lighting, a sprinkler head and data. Adding one after drawings are approved is not a small change.

Partitions stopped at the ceiling. Sound carries over the top. In a meeting room or an HR office that is a real problem, and fixing it afterwards means opening the ceiling.

Civil Defence submissions left late. Handover depends on them, and they cannot be rushed.

Floor boxes on a generic grid. Set them out against the actual furniture layout or half will be unusable.

Furniture ordered after the build starts. Lead times regularly exceed construction. Order it alongside, not afterwards.

No return air path in enclosed rooms. A sealed room with supply and no return does not cool, and it is a ceiling job to correct.

Checklist

What to Check Before You Start

The landlord's fit out guidelines, obtained in writing

Whether the space is shell and core or Cat A

Which authority the address falls under

Final desk count and meeting room count, agreed before drawings

Which rooms need acoustic partitions to slab

Whether MEP and life safety are inside the quoted scope

Furniture lead times against the construction programme

Who submits the Civil Defence application

Whether as-built and O and M documentation are included

Payment milestones tied to stages, not dates

Ask for the BOQ split by package, and check specifically whether MEP, life safety, furniture and as-built documentation are inside or outside it.

Why RSK

Why Choose RSK Renovation

Design, permits, construction and handover under one contract

MEP and sprinkler coordination resolved on drawings before site works begin

Acoustic strategy agreed room by room rather than applied as a default

In-house joinery for reception counters, storage and tea points

Written BOQ split by package with exclusions stated

As-built drawings and handover documentation issued as standard

FAQ

Office Fit Out FAQs

How much does it cost to fit out an office in Dubai?

It depends on the starting condition, the number of enclosed rooms, acoustic requirements, MEP scope, partition type, flooring, joinery and whether furniture is included. A shell and core office costs substantially more to fit out than a Cat A space. Pricing comes from drawings, not from floor area alone.

What is the difference between office fit out and office renovation?

Fit out builds the interior of a space handed over empty, or stripped back to empty. Renovation reconfigures an office already in use, which adds strip-out, disposal and the risk that existing services do not match the drawings on file.

Do I need a permit for an office fit out in Dubai?

In nearly every case. Which authority applies depends on where the building sits: DDA, Trakhees, Dubai Municipality or a free zone authority. Civil Defence approval is required where fire detection or sprinklers are affected, and handover depends on it.

Can you fit out our office while we keep working?

Yes, through phased working, usually zone by zone with staff relocated temporarily and dust screens separating the site. It takes longer and costs more per square metre than an empty unit.

Do you supply office furniture?

Furniture coordination and installation are part of the scope. It is usually budgeted separately, and lead times can exceed the build, so it should be ordered alongside construction rather than afterwards.

Can you work to our own designer's drawings?

Yes. We can build to supplied drawings, or take design and build together as one contract.

How many meeting rooms should we plan for?

It depends on headcount, how much of the work is collaborative and how many calls people take. It is worth deciding early, because each enclosed room brings its own partition, cooling, lighting, sprinkler and data requirements.

Request an Office Fit Out Proposal

Send us the location, the area, your headcount and whether the space is shell and core or Cat A, along with the landlord's fit out guidelines if you have them. We will confirm which permits apply and issue a BOQ split by package.

+971 8001 217 info@rskrenovation.ae

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Office Fit Out and Renovation in Dubai