Painting occupied offices: working around a live building

An office that stays open while it is decorated is a different job from an empty floor. The finish is the same. Everything around it changes: when you can work, how much you can protect at once, and what state the space has to be in when staff arrive the next morning.

This article sets out how GSD London plans office painting in occupied buildings across London, so a main contractor or facilities manager knows what to expect before the order is placed.

Phasing comes before paint

The first decision is not colour or coats. It is which areas can be released, in what order, and for how long. On most occupied offices the building is walked with the site team and split into zones: a floor, a wing, a run of meeting rooms. Each zone gets a start, a finish and a handback time. That sequence goes into the programme and the RAMS before anyone opens a tin.

Zones are usually worked in the evening, overnight or at weekends. Where daytime working is agreed, it is confined to areas the client has already emptied, with the route in and out fixed so materials never cross a working floor.

Protection and clearance at the start of every shift

Nothing in an occupied office is disposable. Desks, screens, cabling, floor boxes and carpet all stay. Each shift begins with protection: floor coverings taped at the edges, furniture sheeted or moved into an agreed holding area, and dust control at the workface. Who moves the furniture is settled in writing before the order, so there is no gap in scope on the night.

Fire exits, alarms and detectors are never covered without the building manager's agreement, and any temporary covers come off before the area is handed back.

Low odour, fast return to use

The specification decides the products, but on occupied offices the specification is usually written around one requirement: staff must be able to sit at their desks the next day. That points to water-based systems with low odour and a short recoat time, applied in coats that cure inside the shift. Where a solvent-based product is specified for a particular substrate, its use is planned for the start of a weekend so the building has time to clear.

What handback looks like

At the end of the shift the area is cleaned down, furniture is reinstated to its marked positions, and protection is removed or left in place only where the client has agreed to it. The site team walks the zone before the doors open. Anything not finished is recorded and picked up on the next shift, never left for the client to find.

Snagging and sign-off

Because the building is in use, snagging happens zone by zone rather than in one visit at the end. The site team inspects each area as it is completed and snags are closed out on the following shift. Handover records, product data sheets and any warranties are issued together once the final zone is signed off.

What to send us for a price

Floor plans marked with the zones and their release dates, the specification or a schedule of areas, and the building's working hours and access rules. Where the scope is still moving we price on a provisional basis and confirm once the survey is done.

Recent occupied office work includes Vodafone House, Bracknell for OD Group and 22 Baker Street for Faithdean. Both were phased around a working building. See the full service on the office painting page.