Building Assessments for Office Furniture Planning

Your new office work stations are an integral part of your building infrastructure. They will likely have electrical and computer cables and provide privacy that has traditionally been accomplished with the building's walls. Below are a few of the considerations that you will need to take into account before your planning begins in earnest. You can rely on your IT department, building management or facilities manager to help you answer these questions. As always, your dealer will be there to walk you through the process as well.

Construction

  • If you are doing construction, what is your construction timeline?
  • At what point in construction will the building be ready for the installation of your new office furniture?
  • If there is an architect or designer on the project; you will need to supply that to the dealer to manage the project.

Cubicle Electrical and Data

  • Where is your electrical power source coming from near the cubicles stations that you want to install? Ceiling? Floor? Wall?
  • How many electrical outlets do you need per workstation?
  • Are you looking to dedicated (separate) circuit for your computers? (ask your IT department)
  • What type of phone and computer data lines are you running?
  • How many services are running to each station? (Phone, Fax, Data)
  • Do you require electrical power at the worksurface height?
  • Who will handle the electrical contracting? The building management, your construction company or a contact electrician?

Building Specifics

  • How will the installers bring the office furniture into the building?
  • How is heating and air conditioning distributed throughout the building?
  • What is the lighting pattern in the ceiling?
  • Where are the windows located and how does light enter the windows throughout the day?
  • What are the local regulations for width of aisles for access and emergencies?

You've never done this before. Now you need to know where electrical feeds can come from! The building assessment can be daunting, but don't fear. Your architect, designer and dealer have all done this before and will help you every step of the way. But armed with basic knowledge of what you will need puts you more in control of the process. With the right preparation, you will be able to oversee the installation of the cubicle systems you require to meet your business goals.