Office strip-out waste checklist for Perth project managers

Office strip outs fail in the details. Demolition is booked, the painter is locked, and then workstations have nowhere practical to go mid week. Waste is not a soft close out task. On Perth commercial floors it sits on the same critical path as lift bookings and dock slots.

This checklist is for fitout project managers running strip outs and make goods in Perth, including CBD towers and suburban commercial parks. It is an operational prompt, not a substitute for building management rules, your WHS plan or your council’s requirements.

Copy it into the project folder before the site walk. Assign an owner to each section. Tick only when verified. Revisit at 50 percent strip and before handover.

Before: mobilisation and planning

1. Scope the waste, not only the demolitions

• Room by room note of fixed joinery, partitions, glass and loose FF&E
• Estimate of carpet tile and ceiling tile quantity
• Flag of bulk items that will not travel easily via goods lift
• Photo record of pre existing damage so waste disputes do not blur into make good claims
• List of client owned items that must be retained, relocated or returned

If the client still has IT equipment, artwork or archives on the floor, freeze the strip date until ownership and chain of custody are clear.

2. Separate streams on paper first

• Furniture and FF&E pathway defined (reuse, resale, donation where appropriate, or disposal)
• Construction and strip waste pathway defined
• Cardboard and packaging pathway for any concurrent make good deliveries
• E waste and data bearing equipment pathway
• Unknown or suspect materials protocol: stop, isolate, assess

3. Lock building logistics

• Goods lift dimensions, protection requirements and booking method confirmed
• Dock booking lead times and vehicle limits confirmed
• After hours access rules for crew and service vehicles confirmed
• Bin staging locations approved in writing where required
• Induction and insurance paperwork for external service staff submitted
• Fire egress paths marked as no storage zones on the site plan

If dock access is only early morning, your empty schedule must respect that.

4. Size capacity and assign people

• Peak strip days identified on the programme
• Bin capacity matched to peak, not to the quiet admin week before
• Service or swap frequency agreed for those peak days
• Contingency path if volume exceeds estimate
• Named waste owner on site each day
• Booking and escalation contact for bin hire shared with the leading hand
• Building management contact for dock conflicts
• Accounts reference or PO confirmed on the booking

Short term hire should flex with the programme. Book the curve you actually have. One unnamed “the boys will handle it” is how bags appear in fire stairs.

During: strip execution

5. Daily open checks and load discipline

• Waste path clear from workface to staging point
• Lids usable and vessels not already over the safe fill line
• Spill and dust controls in place on carpet pull and ceiling works
• Temporary protection still intact in lifts and corridors
• Overnight illegal dumping check (other trades sometimes contribute)
• Heavy materials distributed evenly
• No overfill above the rim, no long items creating transport hazards
• Glass handled as a planned task, not forced into the wrong vessel
• Food waste and crew lunch rubbish kept out of construction streams
• Liquids and chemicals not tipped into general bins

Overfill is a safety and service failure, not a badge of productivity.

6. Keep furniture and construction streams apart

• Workstations broken down where safe to reduce bulk air
• Chairs and soft items staged for their pathway, not buried under plaster
• Metal frames and clean streams kept cleaner when a recycling pathway exists
• Mixed only when the plan deliberately allows mixed general waste

Re sorting mid project costs more hours than sorting at the workface.

7. Mid strip control and building hygiene

• Actual volume compared to estimate at halfway
• Service frequency adjusted if the floor is running hot or cold
• Dock bookings updated when the programme shifts
• Shared docks left clear after each service
• Noise and dust complaints addressed the same shift
• After hours work kept within agreed zones

A strip that finishes early still needs waste capacity early. Your next tenancy in the same tower depends on this week’s manners.

After: close out and handover

8. Final sweep, vessel recovery and documentation

• Every room walked, including tea points, store cupboards and risers you opened
• Ceiling voids checked if works occurred above the grid
• Cable offcuts and floor box debris collected
• No small piles left for a vanished crew
• Final service or collection booked to match handover
• Staging area restored to building standard
• Hired assets accounted for
• Photos of empty floor and clean dock for the project file
• Waste related variations closed with accounts
• Lessons logged: what size worked, what service rhythm failed, what the building enforced

That last file note is how your company gets faster on the next Perth strip.

Furniture versus construction waste

Furniture and FF&E: desks, screens, chairs, soft seating, reception units and loose storage. Bulky, often recoverable, awkward in a pure demo load. Decide reuse or disposal before the first partition falls.

Construction and strip waste: partitions, ceiling tiles, carpet, underlay, plaster patches, fixings and mixed light demo. Keep overfill and prohibited item rules clear.

Packaging: make good deliveries during strip create cardboard spikes. If rebuild starts on one wing while strip finishes on another, run packaging capacity in parallel.

Recycling opportunities in principle

Without inventing local facility claims, good Perth projects still follow durable principles:

• Clean separation beats hopeful mixed loads.
• Metal and some hard plastics are often easier recovery candidates than mixed soft furnishings.
• Carpet tile programmes sometimes support take back when the product and volume suit it. Confirm case by case.
• Workstations may have resale or reuse value if time allows dismantling and the client permits it.
• Cardboard is only useful if kept dry and reasonably clean.
• Data security outranks recycling fashion. Disks and devices need proper handling first.

If recovery is part of the client’s ESG story, write the method into the preliminaries before strip week.

Perth pressure points and emergency prompts

CBD dock competition means book early and reconfirm when the building allows. Closed lids and timely empties matter in warm weather. Suburban business parks need the same clear staging. Compressed make good windows mean waste delay is programme delay. Check your council’s requirements for any external placement.

Keep these on the site clipboard:

1. Bin full before dock window: stop loading, protect egress, call the hire contact, do not overfill.
2. Suspect material found: stop, isolate, notify PM, do not bag to keep moving.
3. Dock slot lost: escalate to building management, shift crew to non carting work if needed.
4. Client wants to keep items mid strip: quarantine zone, update the estimate, inform the crew once.
5. After hours service clash with security: call the named building contact, do not argue at the boom gate.

Closing

A Perth office strip out is logistics wearing demolition clothes. Run the before, during and after checklist so furniture stays out of construction loads, docks stay usable and handover floors look finished.

Starting a Perth strip out or make good? Get a quote for short term bin hire and bring your floor plans, peak strip dates and dock rules so capacity shows up when the first partition comes down.