Installation and scheduling
How long does a commercial installation take?
Short answer
Most single-site retail or office jobs are one to three days on site. The bigger variable is access, not area: what we can complete in one night in an empty store can take three evenings in a trading one. Every schedule comes out of the survey, not a rate card.
Duration comes down to four things: how much surface there is, how many separate elements are involved, what access we get, and whether the site is ready when we arrive. Area is usually the least significant of the four.
A typical single-store décor and graphics package runs one to two days with a two-person crew. A full office branding rollout across a floor is usually two to three days. Elevator cab refinishing is generally one cab per day, worked out of hours. Solar or security film across a glazed elevation depends on pane count and access equipment more than on square footage.
The most common cause of overrun is site readiness. Fixtures still in front of the wall, a substrate that needs cleaning or repair, a lift that has not been booked, or a decision that has not been made all cost more time than the installation itself.
For multi-site rollouts we schedule differently. We build a per-store duration from a pilot install, then sequence the remaining sites against it, so the programme has a defensible schedule instead of an optimistic one.
What we confirm before booking a date
- Access hours, and whether the space must stay open
- Whether lifts, scaffolding or swing stage access is required
- Substrate condition and any preparation needed
- Who is clearing fixtures and merchandise, and when
- Site contact, loading access and parking for the crew
- Sign-off process at completion
Give us the access constraints early and the schedule we quote is the schedule you get.