CHOOSING THE RIGHT OFFICE SPACE

CHOOSING THE RIGHT OFFICE SPACE

CHOOSING THE RIGHT OFFICE SPACE

Finding the perfect office is oftentimes akin to the search for the Holy Grail: it probably doesn’t exist. Yet a right office is oftentimes the first step to a business’ success.

The search for a dream office may be daunting when you first get down to it but doing your due diligence will greatly increase your chances of finding your perfect office, an office you can call home.

By asking the right questions and sourcing for relevant information, you may be able to find the right office space that is inspiring, cost efficient, and operationally effective for your business. Read on.

Contents

Location, location, location The office space itself

Going green (environment and sustainability) Get connected (IT and telecoms)

Costs

“What’s your best price?” (negotiations) Selecting a design & fit out company

Location, location, location

This is probably cliché but the ideal office space is all about location. Location means more than just the space within which you may be making your office: it entails wider

considerations of its connectivity, amenities, inhabitants and reputation.

It is important to define the function of your office at the outset

The nature of your business is an important consideration in the choosing of the location for your office space. For instance the industry of your business may require you to set up shop in a designated zone; or you may decide to locate your office in a certain cluster of similar businesses to achieve external economies. Further, in most instances, the function of an office would not match that of the place of operations; in that case you may wish to select the appropriate location that best suits the functionality of your office, ie is it going to be a place of general administration, a place that would enhance the branding of your business, or somewhere close to potential clients for easier solicitation of business?

Determine who or what comes into and goes out of the office

How much each factor below impacts your decision making depends on, again, the function of your office: Will the office be expecting a great inflow and outflow of goods, employees, clientele, and business partners, and by what modes of transportation?

General accessibility

Most parts of Singapore are generally quite accessible and with the ever expanding reach of our public transportation system, this should not be a major issue. On the other hand, Singapore’s population policy dictates that our population should reach 8 million within the next decade or so in order to sustain the economic growth of our country. As a consequence, public transportation is becoming an increasingly thorny issue in land-scarce Singapore.

Planned closures

Road and MRT networks could affect the travel time for both your employees and visitors. Unplanned break-downs aside, are there any long-term closures of the MRT stations nearby planned? Or if there’s a new MRT station being built nearby, will it come into operation with the rest of the line, or will it remain closed for a few more years like Buangkok Station on the Northeast Line?

Ad hoc closures for events are also increasingly common in downtown Singapore. There are annual closures for parades such as Chingay and National Day, and public runs like the Army Half Marathon and Standard Chartered Full Marathon, among others. Singapore has also secured rights to hold the F1 Grand Prix until 2018, which will mean more road closures in certain areas.

Employees’ travel time

Every Singaporean knows how stressful it is to miss a train in the morning because it’s too crowded, and then to board a train to be squashed against the window for the rest of your trip. Think about the journey to work for your employees. If you are moving your office to a new area, think about the impact on their travel time.

Traffic jams

Rush hour on the roads in Singapore is no joke, so think about whether your proposed location is in a very congested area, or if it requires your employees and visitors to drive through one of those areas to reach your office. During peak hours, take a test drive into and out of the office.

Reputation of the area

Whether your office is located in a reputable area will have an immediate impact on your clients. If other reputable firms are also situated nearby, clients will feel more at ease dealing with you in an industry-familiar location.

Neighbours

Think also about the other businesses inside and around the building (of your planned office) and whether they will be a boon or a bane to your business. For example, a tuition centre should be wary of operating next to nightclubs and bars.

Proximity to competitors

Are your competitors nearby? Will that cause problems, or as mentioned above, will that be a boon to the reputation of your area?

Couriers

Some businesses require courier services several times a day, and certain couriers offer such services for delivery within a particular area, e.g., the CBD.

Meeting clients

If your business requires you to meet with clients regularly, you will either need to set aside office space for such purposes, or check if there are any establishments nearby which will meet your needs.

  Food

Are there enough places to eat near your location? How much do foods at those places cost? Hawker centres are usually large enough to accommodate the lunch crowd and offer a wide range of food at affordable prices. If there aren’t hawker centres or food courts nearby, how far would your staff need to travel to get food?

Local amenities

Sometimes when your employees need to stay late in the office, they will need to pick up some groceries or run some errands during lunch or dinner time. Your staff will appreciate having an office near a bank, supermarket or shopping centre. It also doesn’t hurt to have gym or spa facilities or watering holes in the vicinity.

Construction

The pace of development in Singapore is staggering. Every day, old buildings are being torn down and new developments built in their place. Check for current or expected construction nearby. Construction sites may inconvenience your employees and visitors, and cause air and noise pollution.

Building appearance

Consider whether your business requires that clients come to your office regularly. The exterior of a building gives clients the first impression of the businesses operating inside, and a building façade congruent with your business’ image will create a favourable first impression.

Windows

Windows allow natural light to enter the office, which reduces stress and increases employee performance. Think about whether you want your office to have a good view. If a good view is important, ensure that there are no potential developments which will

eventually create an obstruction.

Parking

It is extremely difficult to find parking space in the Singapore CBD because it is scarce and very expensive where available. Buildings also generally allocate very minimal parking space to tenants. If your office is located in other areas, parking space might be marginally easier to locate, either within the building or nearby. You might wish to consider renting some parking space within the building for visiting clients.

Other offices

If you have offices at other locations and your employees need to travel between them, you could consider situating the offices nearby or at a place where it is convenient for travelling, such as on the same MRT line or near a bus-stop with a bus that shuttles between the two locations.

Asbestos removal

Since the late 1980s, the use of asbestos materials in buildings and the import of raw asbestos have been prohibited in Singapore. However, many older buildings still have asbestos-containing materials such as corrugated roofs, ceiling boards and partition walls. This is a health hazard to your employees, and should be removed by NEA-approved

asbestos disposal contractors.

Building age

You should expect the quality of the facilities in the building to deteriorate with age, even if they are well maintained. Is there a risk of damage to your office if facilities fail, such as a burst water pipe causing flooding? If so, consider whether it will be in your interest to cover such risks with insurance. Further find out in advance who would bear the liability when damage occurs, the building management, the landlord (e.g., strata-title owner or its lessee), or you as the occupant?

Also, different building regulations apply to buildings built at different times. More recent building regulations in Singapore include requirements to meet certain minimum standards for electrical and water efficiency, waste disposal and other functions. This will impact the operating costs of your office.

Size

How many people do you need to fit within the office? Always take potential growth into account. It will be a massive headache for you to move into your new premises only to realise that, after a year, your business has expanded so quickly that you will need to go through the process of moving again. Is there sufficient extra space in the office premises for expansion?

Also, is the floor plate an unusual shape? Non-rectangular buildings make unusual angles, and can accommodate fewer workspaces, increasing the per-unit cost of the office.

TIP  FOR  FINDING  AN  OFFICE:  

First  things  first:  What  function  is  your  office  to  serve  and  which  location  best  fits  that   function?  Also  look  at  how  your  employees  will  travel  to  work  at  the  new  office,  and   determine  whether  their  travel  time  will  be  substantially  affected.  Is  it  possible  for  them  to   get  to  work  in  another  way,  by  switching  from  taking  the  MRT  to  taking  the  bus  or  vice   versa?  

Within the confines of the office

Don’t wait until you’ve committed yourself to the lease before you check out your new office space. Always make sure that the space you’re getting tallies with your operational

requirements. This will relieve you of the trouble of having to deal with future problems by pre-empting them.

After-hour access

Is it possible for your employees to access the office after office hours or on weekends if needed? Will you need to put in place extra security measures for this?

Operations manager of the building

Find out whether the building is well-managed, and whether the management of the building is credible and reliable.

Security

Does the building provide the level of security you require for the operation of your business? Do you need to implement additional security measures? Find out if there have been recent break-ins or criminal activities in and around the building.

Drainage

Depending on the requirements of your business, you might wish to install additional kitchens or tea points in the office. Check if the building drainage system for your level(s) has the capacity to support these uses.

Fire plan

It is a statutory requirement for certain categories of larger buildings to have a fire

emergency plan and to conduct evacuation drills to test such plans. Check that these plans are in place, and find out if you have to incur additional costs to ensure fire safety.

Upgrading works

Does the common property (toilets, hallways and reception) require any upgrading? The landlord should undertake any of these upgrading works if required.

Mechanical and electrical

Don’t run the risk of discovering that the mechanical and electrical equipment in the new office space does not meet your operational requirements. Think about spending on a full survey to ensure the equipment is operational.

Office noise

Productive staff need conducive work environments to fulfil their full potential. A noisy office could make it difficult for staff to concentrate and derail productivity. If there is excessive external noise, consider getting an acoustic survey done to find out how to reduce sound permeation and retention. Furthermore, ensure the acoustics of the internal space does not cause excessive echoing.

Floor plate

Will your office be spread out over several storeys? Larger floor plates maximise cost efficiency because facilities such as tea-points, copiers, storage areas, etc. may be shared over more users.

Raised floor for cabling

Is there a raised floor to cater for cabling? If not, you will have to ensure that your design caters for cabling to allow network access and electrical power points at your workstations.

Reception desk

Does the building have a joint reception? If not, you may have to cater for a reception area in your office design.

Services

Important services are not always provided by the building management. Will you have to provide for your own services, such as plumbing and waste disposal? What is the extent of the services provided? Most buildings switch off centralised air-conditioning at a certain time, so consider whether you need to provide for after-hours air-conditioning.

Storage

If office space is expensive, you may have to consider reducing storage space requirements at the office by using storage facilities at other cheaper locations, or switching to electronic archives.

TIP  FOR  FINDING  AN  OFFICE:  TEST  FIT  YOUR  SPACE  

To  be  sure  that  the  office  space  fits  your  business  needs,  your  outfitting  company  can  do  a   ‘test  fit’  to  determine  how  well  your  office  space  will  suit  your  operational  needs.  Do  this   before  you  begin  negotiating  the  lease  to  save  time  and  money.  

A green office

Having a green office is beneficial both to the environment and to the balance sheet of your business. Green offices require less water and electricity, reducing office expenditure in the long run.

The Singapore government has also been actively promoting the idea of sustainability in offices, and the BCA gives out cash incentives under their Green Mark scheme to businesses for meeting certain sustainability criteria in the design of their office interiors.

Air conditioning

In Singapore, air-conditioning accounts for 40-50% of a building’s energy consumption. An energy efficient air-conditioning unit will consequently reduce electricity bills significantly. Since most office buildings use centralised conditioning, find out if the building’s air-conditioning units are new and energy efficient. Otherwise, consider installing your own.

Double glazed windows

Office buildings in Singapore are increasingly switching to double glazed windows because they help reduce air-conditioning costs significantly.

Windows

Does the office have large windows allowing natural light to enter? Natural light is positive for employee morale, and also will help to reduce electricity requirements for lighting in the day.

Equipment

If the office space comes with electrical equipment, ensure that they are energy efficient as well. Large consumer appliances in Singapore come with energy labels issued by the NEA, which rate the energy efficiency of appliances on a scale of 1-3 ticks, 3 ticks being the most energy efficient. If the electrical equipment provided is inefficient, it might be cheaper in the long run to purchase and use energy efficient equipment instead.

Communications Networks

Depending on the nature of your business, you might need to set up a large amount of communications networks, including telephones, local networks and internet connectivity points. However, some buildings are unable to meet such demands with existing

infrastructure, and you will need to consider this in your decision making.

Power

Is there sufficient power supply for your needs? Depending on your requirements, you will have to conduct a load check to verify that your potential office can sustain the equipment you’ll need for the operation of your business.

Internet Speed

Singapore is in the process of upgrading its internet infrastructure to fibre optics cables under the government’s Next Gen Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN) plan. However, Next Gen NBN has not reached 100% coverage, and even if the building is Next Gen NBN ready, you might still have to incur costs for installation of the network in your office space. You will thus need to check for building coverage and for access points within the office space.

Data centre

Data centres can place extremely heavy requirements on electricity because of the high energy consumption of servers and also the equipment ancillary to their operation, such as extra air-conditioning and security. Think about whether the office has the floor space you’ll need to install such a room.

Budgeting

To fail to plan is to plan to fail. Prudent business planning will prevent problems before they arise, and save you time and money. You should be aware of all costs involved, and prepare a budget accordingly so that your new office will be ready when you need it.

Deposit

Typically, leases require a refundable deposit to be placed with the landlord which will be returned at the termination of the lease, minus any costs incurred.

Energy efficiency

As mentioned earlier, the energy efficiency of a building will significantly impact office costs.

Renovation costs

The costs of renovation will depend on the designs of your office, and in turn determined by your objectives for the office. It is also wise to budget extra time in case renovation works run over the agreed deadline, which is a common occurrence.

Office furniture

Will you be moving your old office furniture to the new office? If so, make sure that you do your due diligence and ensure that the old furniture fits in the new office, and is possible to transport them to the office itself. Also, you might wish to confer with the designer and determine whether the furniture will be compatible with the interior design of the new office.

Insurance

It is mandatory to cover office premises with fire and other insurance. However, it may be wise to extend your insurance coverage beyond the necessaries, so that you will be protected against more possible issues. Retain a solicitor to advise you on the minimum insurance coverage required.

Cabling

The costs of installing cables for power or networks are substantial, so ensure that you make allowance for any cabling that you have to do.

Solicitors

Retain legal counsel to ensure that you meet all required local regulations, and to help deal with whatever bureaucratic hoops you have to jump through.

It is inevitable that you will have to enlist the help of your current employees to help with the moving, and you’ll have to take those costs into account. Providing simple things like food and drink, and even entertainment, will go a long way in motivating your employees.

Removal costs

It costs money not only to buy new furniture, but also to dispose of furniture from the old office. Budget for this additional cost.

Temporary storage

If you need some offsite storage while settling in to the new office, you will need to budget for those costs which can be quite substantial for larger amounts of storage.

Stationery

After moving, office stationery and corporate materials will need to be re-printed with your new address. This might include letterheads, name cards, email signatures, websites, invoices and other merchandise. This might be a substantial cost, and you might want to make good use of the money to embark on a re-branding campaign simultaneously.

Property agents

It is relatively easy to secure office space without hiring a property agent in Singapore, but if you have to, it might be a substantial cost. Agents typically charge a commission based on the monthly rental costs of your office space.

Negotiations

You may choose to engage a property agent to negotiate your lease for you, but knowing what to request for in negotiations will help you save money.

Rent holidays

You might be able to negotiate rent free periods for long term leases for the purpose of fitting out.

Re-instatement costs

Confirm the cost of returning the office space to its original condition upon vacating the space, so that you don’t have to pay unexpectedly large sums.

Terms of the lease

Your property agent will be able to advise you on normal lease terms and the extent of negotiation.

Selecting a design & outfitting company

You need to ensure that the office space you are getting will be able to meet your business’ operational requirements. In this respect, a design & outfitting company will be able to conduct the following appraisals.

Workplace appraisal

In order to find out how much space you will need and how the space should be utilised for your business.

Space plans for suitable buildings

This appraises whether the suitable buildings have sufficient space to fit your business needs.

Indicitive fit out cost

This will give you a budget estimate for outfitting the office space. This can become a good negotiation point in negotiating your lease.

Concept drawings and 3D visualisations

For you to see what your office will look like in advance.

Surveys

Conducted to determine the facilities of the office space, including mechanical and electrical, environmental, asbestos and contamination surveys.

TIP  FOR  FINDING  AN  OFFICE:  SELECTING  A  SUITABLE  DESIGN  &  OUTFITTING  COMPANY   Get  quotations  from  several  companies  and  determine  their  range  of  services.  Compare   between  companies  based  on  the  services  which  you  will  receive,  and  you  will  be  able  to   determine  which  company  is  the  most  suitable.