Business Bay office, months after the fit-out little things are showing up (doors, AC balance, snags), whose job is the aftercare?
We did an office fit-out in a Business Bay tower a few months ago, and now that we are using it daily little things are appearing: a couple of partition doors have dropped and rub, the cooling is uneven between rooms, one run of finishes looks loose, and there are a few small electrical and joinery niggles. Nothing major, but it adds up. Is this normal post-fit-out settling that the contractor should be fixing, or are we now into general maintenance? Trying to work out what to chase as snagging versus just get sorted, and keep the fit-out in good shape.
2 answers
What you are seeing is completely normal for the first few months of a new office fit-out, the space settles into daily use and into the building, and a snag list appears, the question is just which items are the contractor's to close and which are now ongoing upkeep. The ones to chase as snagging are the defects: partition doors that have dropped and rub (adjustment or re-hang), finishes that are loose, lifting or shrinking back, and any electrical or joinery item that was not right at handover, these should be fixed under the defects period your fit-out contract almost always includes, at no extra cost, so log them and raise them formally before that window closes. The uneven cooling is usually a commissioning and balancing item rather than a fault: as the office fills with people and equipment the system needs balancing across the rooms, which is a normal post-occupancy adjustment. Beyond the defects period, doors, seals, finishes and AC balance become routine maintenance to keep the fit-out looking and working as handed over. So the move is to write the list now, split it into defects (contractor closes) versus maintenance (ongoing), and get the AC balanced. A team that handles fit-out and aftercare across Business Bay towers will know what these buildings typically throw up and what the contractor should still be covering. Logging it early, while you are inside the defects window, is what saves you paying for things that should be closed for free.
Manage a few floors in these towers. Ninety percent of what you listed is normal first-quarter snagging, get it documented and raised inside the defects period or you lose the free fix. The uneven cooling is nearly always balancing once the floor is occupied, not a broken system. Keep a simple log.
People also asked
- New villa handover coming up, what should actually be on my snagging checklist before I sign off?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- One handyman for everything, or separate specialist trades — when is a handyman actually the right call?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- How do you actually choose a reliable home maintenance company in Dubai without getting burned?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- Landlord annual maintenance calendar — how do you actually schedule a Dubai property's upkeep across the year?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- Post-summer villa exterior check — what should you actually inspect once the worst heat has passed?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- Barsha South / Arjan new-tower apartment — what should I snag and check before the developer's warranty runs out?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
More in Apartment & Office Renovation
- How Can Businesses Improve Staff Transportation in Dubai?0 repliesApartment & Office Renovation
- Jumeirah Islands villa, 20 years on: caulk splitting and cracks reopening at every junction — patch or fully redecorate?3 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- Gypsum Partition Work in Dubai1 replyApartment & Office Renovation
- Want to freshen up our apartment kitchen and bathroom without a major renovation — what's realistic (and NOC-free)?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- Just bought our first Dubai home — how should we actually budget for annual upkeep, and what are the big costs?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation
- Our building's defects-liability period is about to end — after that, who's responsible for fixing things?2 answersApartment & Office Renovation