Common questions about commercial fit-outs

An office fit-out in Cape Town typically runs between R4,000 and R11,900 per square metre, depending on the finish level — from a Basic, utility-grade specification through Standard and Premium to a fully bespoke, executive finish. These are indicative budget ranges and exclude VAT and loose furniture. For a range tailored to your space and headcount, use our office fit-out cost calculator — it gives you an on-screen estimate in two minutes, with no obligation.

Retail fit-outs are priced on the same per-square-metre basis as offices — roughly R4,000 to R11,900 per square metre depending on the finish level, from a basic specification through to a bespoke, high-end finish. What moves a retail number within that band is the complexity of the shopfront and joinery, brand-specified fixtures and finishes, and whether materials are imported. Our retail fit-out cost calculator turns your size and finish level into an indicative range, and we confirm a firm number in a fixed-price proposal after a site review. Ranges exclude VAT and loose furniture.

Our fixed price covers design, all construction works, joinery fabrication and installation, electrical and data, finishes, and project management. It excludes loose furniture and fittings, AV and security systems unless specifically scoped, and any council submission fees — which are pass-through costs we identify upfront. There are no contingency additions after sign-off unless you change the scope.

No. All estimates exclude VAT, and loose furniture is calculated separately — it's typically a distinct budget line handled alongside the fit-out. Your fixed-price proposal sets out clearly what is and isn't included.

The biggest lever is finish level — Basic, Standard, Premium or bespoke. After that: the starting condition of the space (a clean shell, a landlord white-box, or an existing fit-out that needs stripping out), the mechanical and electrical scope, the amount of glazing and custom joinery, any imported or brand-specified materials, and whether the work triggers a council submission. Renovations and alterations generally cost more per square metre than a white-box fit-out because of demolition and existing-condition constraints.

Yes. Our online cost calculator gives you an instant, no-obligation budget range on screen — no phone call required. When you're ready for a firm number, we provide a fixed-price proposal within two business days of reviewing the space. The initial assessment is free.

For a typical 500 m² standard-specification office on a clean strip, eight to twelve weeks from site handover to move-in. Premium or bespoke fit-outs run twelve to twenty weeks. Add four to twelve weeks if a council submission has to clear before site work starts. The single biggest lever on the programme is whether long-lead procurement is released on time.

A typical 100–300 m² retail fit-out runs four to eight weeks from sign-off to handover, depending on the complexity of the joinery, the availability of imported materials, and whether a council submission is required. Hospitality fit-outs and larger showrooms typically run longer. We give you a programme at the proposal stage and build in contingency for the things that routinely cause slippage.

Work backwards from your move-in or opening date. Allow four to eight weeks for design, four to twelve weeks for a council submission if one is needed, and eight to twenty weeks for construction depending on size and finish. If your project needs council approval, start earlier rather than later — the approval, not the build, is usually what puts a date at risk. The earlier we're involved, the more of that timeline we can run in parallel.

Yes. We programme to the date, not just to trades-time, and build in contingency for the things that routinely slip. Because design and build sit under one team, we can release long-lead procurement — joinery, glass, furniture — against signed-off design packages while later drawings are still being finalised. That overlap is what lets us hit dates a traditional sequential appointment can't.

Enquiry, then a free initial assessment and a fixed-price proposal within two business days. Once you sign off, we move into design; where the project needs council approval, the same in-house team lodges the building plan and manages the City of Cape Town review. Then construction, the occupancy certificate, and handover. One team carries the project the whole way — there's no gap between designer, builder and compliance to fall into.

It's a fixed-scope, fixed-price commitment against an agreed design. The price covers design, all construction works, joinery, electrical and data, finishes and project management. It excludes loose furniture, AV and security unless scoped, and council fees, which are pass-through costs identified upfront. The price doesn't move after sign-off unless you change the scope — so there are no surprise extras for things that should have been priced in the first place.

We handle both, in-house and under one contract — design and construction sit with one firm, which is the point of design and build. Our team is SACAP-registered and prepares drawings that are submission-ready from the start. The one exception is listed or heritage buildings, which need a specialist heritage architect leading the conservation process; we collaborate on those but don't lead them.

If the brief changes substantially, we vary the contract — we price the change transparently and agree it with you before proceeding. The fixed price holds for the scope you signed off; it only moves when you choose to move it. What you won't get is a variation order for something that was always part of the job and should have been priced from the start.

We do. First Gate is the single point of accountability — we manage all trades and subcontractors, the landlord relationship and building conditions, and any council submissions. You deal with one team and one contract, not a roster of separate contractors pointing at each other when something goes wrong.

Commercial offices and corporate interiors, retail and shopfitting, showrooms and hospitality spaces. Across property types we work on commercial, retail, industrial and residential projects — the underlying spatial and regulatory discipline is similar across all of them.

Cape Town and the Western Cape are home. We work right across the metro and out to the Winelands, as far as Stellenbosch — we've delivered offices, retail and corporate interiors throughout that area, including a fintech office in Stellenbosch. If your building is further out than that, talk to us about the specifics and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.

Yes — that's a refurbishment rather than a full fit-out. We refresh and reconfigure an existing working office without a full strip-out: finishes and lighting, adding or reworking rooms, adjusting the open-plan-to-private ratio, HVAC zoning and electrical capacity. Refurbishment is usually faster, less disruptive and cheaper per square metre — provided the existing layout still works for the team. If it doesn't, a strip-and-refit is the more honest answer, and we'll say so.

Yes, in-house. We confirm the building's tenant-installation conditions and manage the landlord relationship, and where the work needs council approval the same team that prepares the design lodges the building plan, manages the City's review, and takes the occupancy certificate through to issue. Compliance is handled alongside the build, not chased after it.

A white box is landlord-side work: stripping back and preparing a commercial space to a defined, neutral, lettable and compliant condition before a tenant takes occupation. It's the right call when a previous fit-out doesn't suit the next tenant, when the building services are tired or under-specified, or when accumulated compliance gaps need to be cleared before a lease, sale or refinance. It's distinct from a tenant installation, which is the tenant's own fit-out into that prepared shell.

It's our compliance and design service, available on its own: architectural design, building-plan submissions to the City of Cape Town, and occupancy certificates — handled by one in-house team. It's for owners, tenants and landlords who need the drawings, the council approval, or the occupancy certificate done properly, whether or not First Gate does the build. Because the people who design the space are the people who get it approved, the drawings are buildable and submission-ready from the start.

Yes. We work with the major Cape Town landlords on a routine basis, and we're set up to be the single point of contact across more than one building — one team, one relationship, one standard of compliance and finish, rather than a different contractor in every building.

Yes. Running compliance and fit-out work across several spaces for the same client is part of what we do — the single-team model is what makes it manageable, because the same people carry the standard across every site. For a portfolio programme, talk to us about scale and timing and we'll be straight about what we can run concurrently.

Yes. First Gate is registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) at Grade 1, and we're a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor with a SACAP-registered design team — backed by 15+ years delivering commercial fit-out and construction in Cape Town.

Yes — there's a selection of recent projects on our homepage, including our work for VBO Global in Cape Town. We're happy to share a fuller portfolio relevant to your sector and size on an introductory call.