Architectural drawings and a bound specification on a walnut desk under a brass lamp

Journal

The questions owners ask before they sign. Answered in writing.

Answered by the people who build, with the numbers we build by. Generalities are left out.

12guides on cost, licences, scope and the programme. Written from the work, not about it.

A restaurant dining room a day before opening, with a drawing, a tape measure and a sample board on one table

CostWhat does a restaurant fit-out cost in Riyadh in 2026?Per square metre, by specification, with a 250 m² room worked through to the last riyal of VAT.5 min read

Cost

An open-plan office with oak workstations, felt acoustic baffles, a timber-lined wall with a phone booth and full-height glazing

CostWhat does an office fit-out cost in Riyadh in 2026? Base handover and full fit-out, in numbersA ready-to-work floor and a full fit-out are different jobs with different prices. Both, per square metre.4 min read

Licences

Permit folders tied with string, a restaurant floor plan, a rubber stamp and a brass lamp on a desk

LicencesThe licences for opening a restaurant or café in Riyadh, in orderSix approvals, the order they fall in, who issues each one, and who carries it on the project.5 min read

A fire-protection plant room with a sprinkler alarm valve set, red pipework and a fire alarm panel

LicencesWhat does civil defence require of a shop and a restaurant?System by system, for a shop and for a restaurant, and when in the programme each one has to be right.4 min read

Programme and handover

A boutique being fitted out behind a white hoarding in a mall at night

Programme and handoverHow long does a mall store fit-out take in Riyadh?Stage by stage, in weeks, and the four things that move a mall store's opening date.4 min read

A handover set on a travertine counter: a box of spare tiles and stone, maintenance manuals and a key cabinet

Programme and handoverThe handover file: what you should receive on the last day of a fit-outDrawings as built, certificates, warranties, keys. The file that decides how the next ten years of maintenance go.4 min read

Scope

A commercial HVAC plant room with insulated pipework, valves, a fan coil unit and ductwork

ScopeWhat an MEP fit-out includes, and what it does notFrom the landlord's connection point to the outlet in the room. Where MEP starts, where it stops, and what it leaves out.4 min read

A stainless kitchen extract hood with baffle filters and a welded grease duct rising above it

ScopeKitchen extract, grease and drainage: what a restaurant fit-out must get rightThe duct above the pass and the drain below it. The two systems that decide whether a restaurant opens, and stays open.5 min read

An office floor in shell-and-core state: exposed slab, bare columns, raw screed and full-height glazing

ScopeShell and core, Cat A, Cat B: what each means for a Riyadh officeThree stages of the same floor, and who pays for each. Read the lease before you price the fit-out.4 min read

Before you sign

A contract open with a fountain pen, drawings and a sample tray on an oak meeting table

Before you signFive questions to ask a fit-out contractor before you signWho builds, what is excluded, when the price is fixed, how the date is kept, and who answers afterwards.4 min read

A perspective drawing on an easel in front of the finished dining room it shows

Before you signDesign and build or design-bid-build: what changes for the ownerTwo contracts or one. Who answers for the gap between the drawing and the building, and what it costs the owner.4 min read

A bill of quantities open on a desk with a ruler, a highlighter, a calculator and reading glasses

Before you signHow to read a fit-out quotation, line by lineLine by line: what is priced, what is only estimated, and where two quotations stop being comparable.4 min read

A curved fluted walnut bar with a green marble top, brass footrail and backlit oak shelving

A bar front in fluted walnut

Your room

Send the plan. In two working days, you have a programme.

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