Drawingman
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101 Office Fit-Out Mistakes …and how to avoid them

An unimpressed client stares at an empty door opening while the site manager grins awkwardly and a pigeon walks through
Lovely. And door 47?
It's… very well ventilated?
Mistake #60: the 47th door

Real mistakes from real London fit-outs, written by a design manager. Each one shows what goes wrong, what it costs, and the simple check that stops it. From the lease to handover.

Learn them here, not on site. 😅

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Three more of the 101…

Small, boring mistakes. Big, expensive faces. Every one of these happens on real fit-outs.

A plumber clutches his head in horror at a frame sticking out of a wall panel while a furious site manager holds up an invoice
It's the AMBULANT frame… it's too deep!
We're re-buying ALL the panels?!
Technical design

Ambulant WC ≠ standard WC

Ambulant WC frames need a deeper waste connection and a different flush-button connection. Order the standard frame and you're re-buying the IPS panels.

A panicked installer holds a TV against a crumbling wall while a tired dryliner with a saw rolls his eyes
Er… where's the pattress?
I'll open the wall. AGAIN.
Technical design

No pattress, no party

Screens, grab rails, wall-hung joinery and sanitaryware need pattressing before boarding. Miss one and the finished wall gets cut open again.

A furious joiner forces a too-tall door into its opening while a grinning dryliner measures down to the screed
You set out from the SCREED?!
Floor's a floor, innit?
On site

Floor ≠ screed

"Floor to ceiling" means from the finished floor. Brief the dryliner, agree the datum and check levels early, or the doors, glazing and joinery won't fit.

Every stage of the project

The 101 mistakes are grouped by RIBA stage, so you can jump to where your project is today.

0–1Brief
2Concept
3Coordination
4Technical
5On site
6–7Handover

Written by someone who's seen it all

Drawingman is run by Enrico, a design manager on commercial office fit-outs in London. This book collects the mistakes he sees again and again, so you can catch them on the drawings, not on site.

Don't learn these the expensive way!

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