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Commercial · Central London

Central London Office — Cat B Refurbishment Survey Above an Occupied Trading Floor

A financial services tenant needed a refurbishment survey for a Cat B fit-out on the two floors directly above an occupied 24-hour trading floor.

OfficesCommercialRefurbishmentSampling & Testing

Project anonymised by sector and region. Named version available on request once the client has confirmed publication consent.

Overnight office riser inspection
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Overnight riser inspection above trading floor

Property overview

1980s central London office building with raised access floors, suspended ceilings and multiple riser routes, tenanted across all floors.

Challenge

Any dust or vibration event would disrupt trading below, and access was limited to overnight windows with strict noise limits.

Survey undertaken

Refurbishment survey to HSG264 covering all planned Cat B disturbance zones — ceiling voids, risers, raised floor voids and MEP interfaces.

Materials identified

  • AIB soffit boards and riser panels
  • Vinyl floor tiles and bitumen adhesives beneath raised floor
  • Historic textured coatings retained above later suspended ceilings

Laboratory testing

72 bulk samples analysed to UKAS ISO/IEC 17025 with priority overnight turnaround.

Our solution

Elements phased inspections into overnight windows, used low-impact micro-opening techniques and coordinated with the base build FM team on containment and dust control.

Outcome

The tenant's Cat B fit-out proceeded on programme; base-build FM team retained a clean audit trail of controls used above the trading floor.

Results at a glance

  • Trading floor operations uninterrupted
  • Refurbishment survey complete within 2 weeks
  • Clear register for the fit-out contractor
  • No dust or vibration events reported

Timeline

5 overnight visits over 2 weeks

Report turnaround

Draft within 5 working days; final within 10

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