Office furniture: specifying a workplace with one supplier

Before choosing products, work out how the space is used. How many people are in on a typical day, and on the busiest day? How much desk sharing is realistic? Which teams need quiet focus, which need to talk, and how many meetings are video calls? The answers decide the ratio of desks to meeting rooms, phone booths and informal areas, and they stop you buying desks for people who are at home most of the week.

A supplier offering office design will usually produce a space plan and layout drawings. Ask how it accounted for circulation routes, fire escape routes, access to windows and radiators, power and data positions, and accessibility for staff and visitors with disabilities. A layout that looks good on screen can fail when the cable route does not reach the desk.

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 apply to workers who use screens daily for continuous periods of an hour or more. HSE summarises the employer's duties as carrying out a workstation assessment, reducing risks, including breaks or changes of activity away from the screen, providing an eye test if a worker asks for one, and giving training and information. The regulations also apply to people working from home.

The regulations do not prescribe a particular chair or desk. What matters is that the workstation lets each person work without strain: a chair that adjusts to their height and supports their back, a desk with enough space for screen, keyboard and documents, a screen at the right height and distance, and lighting without glare. Buying adjustable furniture makes assessments easier to act on, but it does not replace the assessment itself.

If an employee has a disability, the Equality Act 2010 may require reasonable adjustments, such as a specialist chair or a height-adjustable desk. The government's Access to Work scheme can help in some cases; check eligibility with the scheme directly.

Source: legislation.gov.uk · legislation.gov.uk

Sit-stand desks let people change position during the day. When comparing them, look at the height range against your tallest and shortest users, the stability at full height, lifting capacity if monitors are on arms, noise of the motor, and cable management that moves with the desk. Ask for the relevant European standard for office chairs and desks to be named in the specification, and for the warranty on frames, motors and gas lifts.

Open-plan offices often fail on noise rather than on space. Acoustic solutions include ceiling rafts and baffles, wall panels, screens between desks, soft flooring and booths for calls. An acoustic supplier should look at the room's hard surfaces and the activities in it, and explain what each measure is expected to achieve rather than simply selling panels by the square metre.

Reception areas set the first impression and deal with visitors, deliveries and sometimes security. Think about sightlines to the entrance, accessible counter heights and where visitors wait.

Office furniture proposals range from a product list to a full fit-out. The following points make them comparable.

• a product schedule with manufacturer, model, finish and quantity for every item
• the standards each chair and desk is tested to, and the warranty for each
• lead times, including for made-to-order finishes and imported items
• delivery, installation, assembly and removal of packaging
• out-of-hours installation if the office stays open
• disposal, resale or recycling of existing furniture, with waste paperwork
• space plan and drawings, and how many revisions are included
• payment terms, and whether leasing or phased delivery is possible

In rented offices, partitions, booths fixed to the building, and changes to lighting or power usually need the landlord's consent under the lease, and the landlord may require you to remove them at the end. New walls or changes that affect escape routes or fire separation may also need Building Regulations approval, which the fit-out contractor should handle.

The layout must keep escape routes clear and wide enough, and the business's fire risk assessment should be reviewed after a major reconfiguration. Upholstered furniture for workplaces should meet the flammability standards the supplier can document; ask for them.

Tell us the size of the space, the number of workstations, the products or services you need and your timescale. After we verify your mobile number by text code and your email address by link, the brief is offered, without your company name or contact details, to office furniture suppliers in your region. Exactly one supplier can buy it and pays Offrano; the brief is then withdrawn. There is no charge to you.

Before the supplier sees your details, we email you its name, address and phone number. Offrano checks that the buyer is a registered business and nothing beyond that, so ask for showroom visits, samples and references. You are free to decline its proposal and to talk to other suppliers.