How to write an office fit-out brief before you talk to agents or contractors
- Businesses
Updated 23 October 2026. Written by the architects at blng studio, for founders and operations leads planning an office move or fit-out.
What an office brief is, and what it isn't
A brief is a short document that describes what your organisation needs from its office, in your own terms, before any design starts. It says how many people, how they work, which spaces they need and what you can spend. It isn't a layout, a specification or a mood board. Those come later and should answer the brief.
Architects treat briefing as its own stage of a project. The RIBA Plan of Work 2020, published by the Royal Institute of British Architects to set out the stages of a building project, calls Stage 1 "Preparation and Briefing" and says: "Stage 1 is about developing the detail of the brief and making sure that everything needed for the design process is in place before Stage 2." It also warns: "The briefing process is often rushed, to allow Stage 2 to commence earlier."
An office move is a small project compared with a new building, but the same applies: time spent on the brief is time saved later.
Why write it before you talk to agents or contractors
Agents show you what's available. Fit-out contractors, especially design-and-build contractors, may draw you a layout early to win the job. Both are useful. Neither is set up to tell you what you need.
Without a brief, three things tend to happen:
- You judge floors by feel. A floor looks generous at the viewing, and only at the layout stage do you find the meeting rooms don't fit.
- Your first detailed layout comes from someone who hopes to win the works. It may be a good layout, but it answers their reading of your needs.
- Quotes can't be compared. Each contractor prices a slightly different scheme, so a lower price may simply mean less was included.
A brief fixes the question before you collect answers. It's also the document you'll go back to when choices get difficult, because it records what you agreed at the start.
The six parts of a good office brief
1. People and growth
How many people today, by team? How many over the lease you're likely to sign? Which roles are in most, and which hardly ever? Write down the growth assumption, because it drives everything else.
2. Ways of working
How many people are in on your busiest normal day? Which teams need to sit together? How do you meet: lots of video calls, client visits, workshops, all-hands? Will desks be allocated or shared? Is there work that needs quiet, privacy or security?
3. Spaces and settings
Turn the first two parts into a list with numbers: desks for the peak day, focus rooms or phone booths, meeting rooms by size, and support space such as kitchen and breakout, storage, lockers, print and a comms room. Our guide to how much office space you need explains how to get from headcount to these numbers, and gives published benchmarks to sense-check them.
4. Special requirements
Everything a contractor might otherwise assume: IT and comms (a server or comms room, wi-fi, AV in meeting rooms), security and access control, accessibility needs in your team or among visitors, secure or bulky storage, a kitchen that has to feed people, showers and cycle parking if your team needs them.
5. Budget and timing
Separate the landlord's base build, Cat A (typically ceilings, floors, lighting and basic building services), from your own fit-out, Cat B (partitions, meeting rooms, kitchen, furniture, IT and brand). Set an indicative Cat B budget range and say what it includes. Then the dates: when you must move, when your current lease ends and how long fit-out may take.
6. Building must-haves
The things a floor must have to be worth viewing: area range, location and transport, lease length and break, daylight, floor shape, opening hours, services and the EPC rating. Our office lease checklist covers the lease questions to raise.
Add one more line at the end: who decides. Name the person who signs the brief off and settles trade-offs. Fit-outs stall when everyone has a view and no one has the final word.
Using the brief with agents and landlords
Send the brief, or a one-page summary of it, to the agents you're working with. Ask them to shortlist floors that meet the must-haves and the area range, and to send floor plans with the particulars.
For each floor on the shortlist, get a test-fit: a quick layout of your brief on the actual floor plan. It shows whether your desks, rooms and support space fit, what has to give if they don't, and what to ask the landlord about the Cat A specification, the services and the terms. Sometimes a test-fit shows the brief itself needs adjusting. That's fine, as long as you change it on purpose and write the change down.
Using the brief with fit-out contractors
There are two common routes into a fit-out:
- Design and build. One contractor designs the fit-out and builds it, usually for a single price.
- Design first, then tender. An architect or designer develops the design, and contractors price the same drawings.
Either can work. On both routes, the brief is what holds the project to your needs. Give every contractor the same brief and the same test-fit, ask them to price the same scope, and ask them to list anything they've excluded. Then you're comparing like with like.
Two things to agree early with whoever designs the works: who gets the landlord's consent (usually a licence for alterations), and which other approvals the works need, such as building control.
Common gaps in a first office brief
- Sizing from total headcount instead of peak attendance.
- Guessing the number of meeting rooms instead of counting how you meet.
- Forgetting lockers, storage and a comms room.
- A budget with no split between Cat A and Cat B, so no one knows what's included.
- No written growth assumption.
- No named decision-maker.
- Treating a contractor's first layout as the brief.
How long a brief takes
A brief doesn't have to take long. Most of the work is gathering answers from the right people inside your organisation: headcount, attendance, how you meet and what you can spend.
The Workspace Brief Sprint turns that into a requirements brief, a hybrid headcount and space model, a Cat A / Cat B budget range, one test-fit on a shortlisted floor and a list of questions for your landlord. It's from £2,450 + VAT for a floor of up to about 465 m², with a target delivery of 10 working days. It draws on blng studio's workplace work, including a company headquarters with offices and a conference centre (scope: architecture). We don't carry out fit-out works ourselves, so the brief is written for you, and contractors' proposals can be compared on the same basis.
Frequently asked questions
What should an office fit-out brief include?
Six parts: people and growth; ways of working; the spaces and settings you need, with numbers; special requirements such as IT, security, accessibility and storage; budget and timing, with Cat A and Cat B separated; and the building must-haves. Add the name of the person who signs it off.
What is a test-fit?
A test-fit is a quick layout of your brief on the floor plan of a building you're considering. It shows whether your desks, meeting rooms and support space fit, and what has to give if they don't. It isn't a full design.
Should we use a design-and-build contractor?
It can work well, especially for a straightforward fit-out. Write your own brief first, so the contractor's design answers your needs and you can compare more than one proposal on the same basis.
What's the difference between Cat A and Cat B?
Cat A is the landlord's base finish of the space, typically ceilings, floors, lighting and basic building services. Cat B is your own fit-out: partitions, meeting rooms, kitchen, furniture, IT and brand. What counts as Cat A varies by building and lease, so check it for each floor.
Sources
- RIBA, RIBA Plan of Work 2020 Overview (Stage 1, Preparation and Briefing).
About to start looking for space?
Bring your headcount and your timing to a free intro call. We'll talk through what your brief needs to cover and whether a test-fit on your shortlisted floor would help.