Maintenance
Part of Why an office of the same size can hold very different headcounts
Office space checklist: every item, with the reason behind it
An office space checklist in eight gates, from the requirement you write before looking to the verification, the legal review and taking possession.
A checklist is only useful if it is ordered by when things can still be changed. This one is arranged as gates: what to settle before you look, what to check on site, what to nail down before lawyers get involved, and what to confirm before you take the keys.
Work through it in order. Almost every expensive surprise in an office deal comes from doing a later step before an earlier one.
What to take away
- Work the gates in order. Nearly every expensive surprise comes from taking a later step before an earlier one.
- Verification of use, capacity and insurability belongs before signature, or the lease should be conditional on it.
- Photograph the space before you move in, and diary every date the lease creates somewhere that survives staff changes.
Gate 1: Before you look at anything
- Write the headcount you have, and the range you might have at the end of the term. Both numbers matter; the range decides how much flexibility you need to buy.
- Decide how you work. Assigned desks, shared desks, and a meeting-heavy team all need different amounts and shapes of space.
- List what is genuinely non-negotiableaccess hours, meeting rooms, a lab or studio, ground floor, loading, accessibility, parking. Be honest that everything else is a preference.
- Set a budget as total annual occupancy cost, not as a rent rate. Include the additional charges, utilities, cleaning, insurance, fit-out and moving.
- Work the timeline backwards from your current expiry or your opening date, allowing for negotiation, design, permits, construction and the move. Then add contingency, because permitting is not on your schedule.
- Decide whether you want your own representation, and if so arrange it before you start touring, since who introduced you to a building can affect who gets paid.
- Read the location requirements you are optimizing for and rank them, so you can reject sites quickly.
- Settle the general questions about office space before you shop, so a tour is a test of a specification rather than a browse.
Gate 2: Documents to have ready
Landlords assess tenants, and having this assembled makes you look like a business worth doing a deal with. Expect requests along these lines:
- Business registration details and the exact entity that will sign — this confirms who is applying and who will be bound.
- Recent financial statementsthese let the landlord assess the tenant’s ability to meet its obligations.
- Bank and trade referencesthese help verify the business’s financial and payment history.
- A certificate of insurance or current coverage detailsthis shows what coverage is already in place.
- Guarantor details and supporting financial information, if a guarantor is proposed — these let the landlord assess the proposed backstop.
Documents Landlords Request
- Business registration and legal entity name
- Recent financial statements and management accounts
- Bank details or banker's reference
- Trade or landlord references
- Guarantor details if entity is new
- Evidence of insurance
- Short business description for use clause
Gate 3: On the tour
- Measure, and ask whether the rentable-area figure follows BOMA International’s ANSI/BOMA Z65.1 office measurement standard; a consistent basis makes spaces easier to compare.
- Establish the usable area as well as the rentable area, and get the difference explained; usable area is what you occupy, while rentable area affects what you pay for.
- Find the natural light and the parts of the floor that have none; this helps you judge how the space will work for the team.
- Check the ceiling height and what is above the tiles if you plan a layout change; hidden obstructions can limit the buildout.
- Locate the electrical panel and ask about spare capacity; insufficient capacity can mean added work before you can operate.
- Ask what internet is available at the address and who else has installed a line into the building; service options can affect your setup and schedule.
- Sit still for two minutes and listen for noise from the street, corridor, plant, and neighbors; noise can disrupt focus and calls.
- Test the temperature and ask which zones are controlled by whom; control affects whether the space stays comfortable for your team.
- Ask when heating and cooling run and what happens outside those hours; this reveals whether the building’s schedule fits yours.
- Check the restrooms, kitchen, and common areas; their condition can indicate how the building is managed.
- Look at the route inentrance, security, lift waiting time at the busy hour, stairs, accessibility, and bike storage. The Access Board’s guide to entrances, doors and gates is a short primer on what an accessible entrance actually involves; the route affects daily access for staff and visitors.
- Walk the fire exits and note anything stored in them. Exit routes have to stay usable and unobstructed, which is the point of the federal requirement at 29 CFR 1910.37; blocked routes are a safety concern.
- Ask who the neighbors are and whether anything about them would affect you; their activities can affect your operations.
- Come back at a different time of day before you shortlist; noise, traffic, and building activity can change over the day.
Gate 4: Questions to put to the landlord in writing
- What exactly is included in the quoted rate, and what is charged on top? This lets you compare the full occupancy cost rather than rent alone.
- What have the additional charges actually been for the last few years, and what is excluded from that history? This shows how charges have varied and where the history may be incomplete.
- Is there a base year or expense stop, and is the building fully occupied? These details affect how building expenses are passed through.
- What condition will the space be delivered in, and what work will the landlord do? A written scope helps prevent disputes over who must complete or pay for work.
- What improvement allowance is available, and how does it change with term length? The answer affects your fit-out plan and the deal’s economics.
- What is the availability of parking, storage, and after-hours access, and what do they cost? These can be essential to daily operations and add to occupancy costs.
- Are there any planned works, refurbishments, or redevelopment plans for the property? Knowing this helps you anticipate disruption.
- Who else has options or rights over this space or the space next to it? Existing rights may limit your control or future use.
- Is there a mortgage on the property, and will the lender provide a non-disturbance agreement? This can help protect your tenancy if the lender enforces its security.
- Are there open permits or work done by a previous occupant without them? Unresolved work can create compliance and closeout problems.
Gate 5: Before the letter of intent is agreed
Your bargaining power is highest here and falls afterwards, so get the substance in before the lawyers start. The mechanics of each item are covered in commercial leasing.
- Set the base rent, lease term, and rent commencement date; these define the basic payment and occupancy commitment.
- Set the expense structure, including the base year or expense stop and any operating-expense cap; these determine how building costs affect your rent.
- Specify the improvement allowance, eligible work, and how and when it is paid; this avoids assuming funds will be available on terms not agreed.
- State any free-rent period and when it applies; clear dates prevent disputes about when rent is due.
- Define renewal or termination options and their notice windows; missed notice dates can mean losing a right.
- Define the guarantee and any cap; this makes the guarantor’s exposure clear.
- Describe the permitted use; it should match the business activity you plan to conduct.
- Set assignment and subletting rights; these affect your ability to transfer or share the space later.
Gate 5: Before the letter of intent
- Rent, term, escalation
- Expense structure, base year, gross-up
- Cap on controllable opex, exclusions, audit right
- Improvement allowance and unspent balance
- Free rent and rent commencement date
- Renewal, expansion, termination options
- Personal guarantee and burn-down
- Broad use clause; assignment and subletting
Gate 6: Verification that cannot wait
- Ask the city or county planning or zoning department to confirm your intended use at the address in writing, and obtain the current certificate of occupancy from the local building department. Zoning and occupancy are separate checks, and both can affect whether you may operate there. See zoning and permits.
- Confirm the electrical and connectivity capacity you need with the supplier, not the agent; this verifies that the required service is actually available.
- Get an insurance quote for the address and the use; the building and business activity can affect coverage.
- Price the fit-out properly with someone who will build it; this grounds the plan in the actual work required.
- If any of these checks cannot be completed in time, make the lease conditional on them; otherwise you may be committed before a key requirement is verified.
Gate 7: For the lawyer
Send the whole package, not just the lease. Ask for the review before you are emotionally committed and while the deal can still move.
- Send the lease, its exhibits, the work letter, and approved plans for review; together they define the deal and the promised delivery.
- Have the lawyer compare the lease draft with the agreed letter-of-intent terms; this can expose terms that changed during drafting.
- Review rent, expense provisions, caps, and reconciliations; these establish the financial obligations over the term.
- Review the permitted-use clause, assignment and subletting rights, alteration rules, and surrender obligations; these affect how you can operate and leave the space.
- Review options, notice windows, defaults, cure periods, and termination rights; these define important deadlines and remedies.
- Review the guarantee, insurance, indemnity, and any lender non-disturbance agreement; these allocate risk and can affect continued occupancy.
Package for the Lawyer
- Lease, exhibits, rules, amendments
- Work letter
- Guarantee as separate document
- Site plan, measurement, premises definition
- Your list of agreed terms
- Askmaximum exposure, landlord rights, exit
Gate 8: Before you take possession
- Photograph and video every part of the space, dated, before anything is moved in; the record helps resolve later disputes about damage or condition.
- Confirm in writing what condition the space was delivered in and note anything defective; this documents outstanding issues at handover.
- Get the agreed list of what you may leave behind at the end of the term; this helps avoid disputes about removal later.
- Confirm the systems workheating, cooling, power, water, and alarms. Log any that do not so the defects are documented from the start.
- Collect keys, access cards, alarm codes, and the building’s contact list; you need them to enter and respond to building issues.
- Confirm insurance is active from the date you take possession, not the date you move in; responsibility can begin before operations do.
- Diary every date the lease createsrent commencement, escalation dates, option notice windows, expiry, and any reporting obligation. Put them somewhere that survives a change of staff so deadlines are not missed.
- File the executed lease, the work letter, the approved plans, and the closeout documents together; the next person handling a renewal, exit, or dispute will need the complete record.
The last item is the one people skip and later regret. The next person to negotiate a renewal, an exit or a dispute over what must be removed will need all of it in one place, and that person may not be you.
Before Taking Possession
- Photograph and video every part, dated
- Confirm delivery condition in writing
- Get agreed list of what you may leave
- Confirm systems workHVAC, power, water, alarms
- Collect keys, access cards, alarm codes, contacts
- Confirm insurance active from possession date
- Diary every lease date and reporting obligation
- File executed lease, work letter, plans, closeout
Common questions
What has to be settled before I book a single tour?
Your headcount range, how you actually work, the genuinely non-negotiable requirements, a budget expressed as total occupancy cost, and a timeline worked backwards from your expiry or opening date with contingency for permitting.
What do landlords want to see from a tenant?
Registration details and the exact signing entity, recent financials, bank or trade references, insurance, and details of any guarantor. Having it assembled makes you a more credible counterparty and speeds the deal up.
What belongs in the letter of intent rather than the lease?
Everything that will be hard to reopen later: the expense structure and base year, the operating expense cap, the allowance and how it is paid, free rent, options and their notice windows, the guarantee and its cap, the use clause, and assignment rights.
What do people most often forget on possession day?
A dated photographic record of the space before anything is moved in, and a calendar entry for every date the lease creates. Both are trivial then and expensive to reconstruct later.
