Refitting Your London Shop? How to Keep Trading Safely

A shop refit creates a decision well before the new fixtures arrive: which work can happen while customers are inside? Replacing a display is a different proposition from lifting floors or opening ceilings. Consider keeping the doors open against the work, with arrangements for each phase.

For a small London shop sharing an older building or working with limited storage space, start by walking the work area with the contractor. Trace the customer route, delivery access and escape routes. Identify where construction activity could affect people who have come in simply to shop.

Decide which phases need closure

Ask the contractor to explain the risks associated with each stage and the measures needed to protect staff and customers. Consider dust, noise, equipment movements and the possibility of material falling or being carried beyond the work area. Defined boundaries and suitable measures should keep unauthorised people away from construction activity.

Some tasks may be manageable behind suitable separation. Others may require closure of a section or the whole shop. Agree the conditions for reopening before work begins, including who checks that the area is ready.

Take evening work into account as well. A contractor finishing shortly before opening leaves little time to address an unfinished floor or unavailable exit. Build a handover period into the schedule rather than treating the contractor's departure time as automatic permission to admit customers.

Check older materials before disturbing them

Before drilling, stripping finishes or lifting flooring, obtain the asbestos information. Buildings constructed or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos, including materials concealed within their structure. Work disturbing areas where asbestos could be hidden may require appropriate investigation before it starts.

Ask the landlord or managing agent for the records, then have the contractor check whether they cover the proposed work. A report prepared for normal occupation may leave questions unanswered about the space above a ceiling or beneath a floor.

Where a refurbishment survey is needed, arrange it through a competent surveyor. The affected area must be vacated during the intrusive survey and confirmed fit for reoccupation afterwards. Plan that interruption before advertising a reopening date.

For staff whose work could disturb building materials, the right UKATA asbestos awareness course can support awareness of likely asbestos locations and the response to suspected disturbance. Awareness training does not qualify someone to remove asbestos or undertake other asbestos work.

Agree responsibilities before accepting the programme

A retailer commissioning construction work for its business is a commercial client under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015. Commercial clients must make suitable project-management arrangements, provide relevant information and allow sufficient time and resources. Employing a contractor does not remove those client duties.

Ask who will coordinate the construction activity and how it will fit around trading. Where more than one contractor is involved, check the requirements for appointing a principal designer and principal contractor, who coordinate the relevant design and construction phases.

Set down the practical responsibilities too. Decide who moves stock, removes waste and reinstates barriers after deliveries. Agree a contact for unexpected discoveries or changes to the work. The shop manager should know whom to call without having to work through a list of separate tradespeople.

Keep escape routes usable throughout

A temporary sales layout still needs workable fire precautions. Escape routes should remain clear, with suitable exits, emergency lighting and arrangements for people who need assistance. Review those arrangements whenever work changes how people move through the premises.

Walk the route while imagining normal trading conditions, including a queue at the till or a stock delivery arriving. Check that temporary displays and work barriers leave the agreed route available. Staff should understand any temporary exit arrangements before their shift starts.

Where the shop shares entrances, stairs or other facilities with neighbouring occupiers, discuss the work with the people managing those areas. Make sure delivery arrangements do not depend on storing materials in a shared escape route. Raise any proposed interruption to alarms or other fire precautions with the appropriate competent person before it happens.

Manage the floor between work periods

Refitting can introduce temporary changes in level, loose packaging and equipment cables into areas where people walk. Cleaning can also leave smooth floors slippery. Retail guidance identifies contamination, obstructions and cleaning arrangements as matters requiring attention.

Give temporary materials designated storage places. Plan cable routes so they do not obstruct walkways, and have changes in floor level assessed and controlled. Check mats and temporary coverings during the day, especially after stock or equipment has been moved.

Arrange cleaning around the work and customer movement. Where a floor remains wet, use appropriate measures to prevent access until it is safe, with warning signs supporting the arrangements. A sign can communicate the hazard while someone deals with its cause.

Staff responsible for spotting and reporting these conditions can use slips, trips and falls training to develop their understanding. Connect the learning with the shop's arrangements: where cleaning materials are kept, whom to notify and what staff should do when they cannot safely resolve a problem themselves.

Brief every shift on what has changed

A short briefing at the beginning of a shift can focus on the work happening that day. Explain which areas are restricted, how deliveries will be handled and whether the customer route has changed. Include cleaners and temporary staff who may arrive after the main briefing.

Give staff a straightforward way to report a displaced barrier or an unexpected obstruction. Agree how the manager and contractor will respond when the trading arrangements no longer match the work being done. Review changes before they become the default working arrangement.

Inspect each area before returning it to use

Walk the completed area with the contractor before moving stock back or admitting customers. Check the agreed work and any outstanding defects, then confirm that temporary arrangements can be removed.

Where the refit changes asbestos information, arrange for the relevant records to be updated. Describe any asbestos-containing materials left in place and restrictions affecting future maintenance. Give that information to whoever approves later shop alterations.

Keep relevant handover records and maintenance instructions accessible. Revisit the new layout during a busy trading period: a route that looked adequate in an empty shop may need adjustment once displays, queues and deliveries are in place.