Commercial Strip Out by Property Type: What Changes the Price

Office, retail and industrial strip outs price differently. Here is what drives the cost in each, and what to ask a contractor to include.

Commercial strip out cost depends heavily on what kind of space you are stripping. An open-plan office with no asbestos strips out cheaply compared with a heavily fitted retail shopfront or an industrial space with racking and plant to remove. Getting quotes without specifying your property type is the most common reason strip out estimates vary so widely, and strip out is only the demolition stage of a wider commercial defit project.

Office strip out: process, timeline and cost

How property type changes the price

Retail spaces tend to cost more to strip out than offices. Shopfitting, joinery, signage and specialty finishes take longer to remove and dispose of than an office's partitions and carpet tiles, and retail jobs often run on tighter access windows set by the shopping centre.

What changes the price within a property type

• Building size, height and access, ground floor is cheaper than lift-access upper floors.
• Presence of asbestos, which requires licensed removal and adds time.
• Layout complexity: heavily partitioned spaces cost more than open plan.
• High-specification fitouts with specialty finishes cost more to remove than a basic tenancy.
• Disposal fees and how much material needs to leave the site.

Full cost benchmark table by scope and city

Frequently asked questions