Strip out or clearance: which do you need?
A clearance removes loose items: furniture, equipment and waste. A strip out goes further and removes things fixed to the building that you or a previous tenant installed. If your lease has a reinstatement clause, the dilapidations schedule will usually list what needs to come out. Read it before booking, as it decides the scope and the price.
What a strip out can include
Depending on your schedule, we can remove:
- Demountable and stud partitions, glazed meeting rooms and doors
- Carpet tiles and raised access floor coverings
- Data and power cabling, floor boxes and comms cabinets
- Kitchenettes, fitted storage and reception counters
- Signage, blinds and wall-mounted screens
Recycling the materials
Strip outs create mixed waste, but most of it is recyclable if it is separated as it comes out. Plasterboard is kept apart from general waste, metal stud and frames go to metal recycling, carpet tiles are sent for reuse or recycling where possible, and copper cabling is recovered. We record where each stream goes so you have it for your ESG reporting.
Timing against your lease end
Strip outs usually need to finish before the landlord's final inspection, with time for any making good. We plan backwards from that date: clearance of furniture, IT and paper first, then strip out, then a final sweep. For a typical single floor, allow one to two weeks for the strip out itself, and book early in the last quarter of a lease when demand is highest.
What to check before a strip out starts
A few checks before work begins avoid delays and extra cost later. Most of them sit with you or your landlord, and we will ask for them at the survey.
- The dilapidations schedule or reinstatement clause, so the scope is agreed in writing
- The building's asbestos register. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, anyone disturbing the fabric of a non-domestic building built before 2000 must know whether asbestos is present
- Which partitions or floors are landlord's original fit-out and must stay
- Whether power and data need isolating by your electrician or IT provider first
- Building rules for noise, working hours and use of goods lifts
How a strip out is priced
Strip out pricing depends mainly on the floor area, what is being removed, and how much of it can be recycled rather than treated as mixed waste. Partitions with glazing and doors take longer than plain stud walls, and raised floors or large volumes of cabling add labour. Access and working hours matter too: night or weekend working in a busy building costs more than daytime work in an empty one.
We price strip outs from a site survey and the dilapidations schedule, and break the quote down by clearance and strip out so you can compare it with any figure your surveyor has given. Recovered metal and cable can reduce the cost, and we show this on the quote where it applies.
Once the work is finished, we can walk the space with you or your surveyor before the landlord's inspection, so anything missed can be dealt with while the crew is still on site.
