August 18, 2026 · 10 min read

Office Renovation Cost Guide for Metro Vancouver Businesses

Office renovation cost in Metro Vancouver generally runs $120–$220 per sq ft for a full fit-out, and $95–$180 per sq ft for a lighter refresh that keeps the existing layout. The gap between those two bands is the most useful thing in this guide, because it is where most of the decision lives: whether you are moving walls or not. Everything else — finishes, furniture, whether the lease is in Vancouver or Surrey — moves the number far less than that single question does. Any office renovation contractor pricing your space will start there too. This guide breaks down what drives commercial construction cost per square foot on an office project, what the landlord typically pays for, and how to scope a renovation so the bids you receive are actually comparable.

Key takeaway. Budget $120–$220 per sq ft for a full office fit-out in Metro Vancouver and $95–$180 per sq ft for a cosmetic refresh. On a 2,500 sq ft office that is roughly $300,000–$550,000 for a full fit-out against $240,000–$450,000 for a refresh. Moving walls is what moves the cost, because mechanical, electrical, sprinklers and ceiling all have to move with them.

Office Renovation Cost by Size

These ranges apply the bands published on our office renovation and commercial renovation service pages. They cover construction only — not furniture, IT, moving costs or professional fees.

Refresh or Fit-Out: The Decision That Sets Your Budget

The honest test is simple: if the existing layout roughly works and the space just looks dated, a refresh will get you 80% of the benefit for well under half the disruption. If the layout is actively working against how your team operates — wrong number of meeting rooms, no quiet space, reception in the wrong place — a refresh spends real money without fixing the problem.

What Actually Drives Office Renovation Cost

1. How many walls move. Partitions are not expensive on their own. What is expensive is that every relocated wall drags sprinkler heads, ceiling grid, lighting, HVAC diffusers, power and data along with it. A plan that respects the existing service grid costs meaningfully less than one that ignores it.

2. The age and condition of the base building. This is the largest variable in Metro Vancouver, and it matters more than which city you are in. An older building may require electrical upgrades, asbestos abatement in materials disturbed by the work, or accessibility upgrades triggered by the scope of the renovation.

3. Meeting room and enclosed office count. Every enclosed room adds walls, a door, a light switch, a diffuser, and usually acoustic treatment and AV. Open plan is cheaper per square foot; the trade is acoustic comfort, which then costs money to solve properly anyway.

4. Mechanical scope. If the renovation changes the density of people in the space or the layout of the ceiling, the mechanical system usually needs work. Post-pandemic ventilation expectations have made this a more common scope item than it was.

5. Finish level. Flooring, millwork, lighting and glazing are where discretionary budget goes. Glass office fronts, feature ceilings and premium millwork can move a project across the whole band on their own.

6. Working hours. Occupied-building work after hours costs more per hour and takes longer. If the landlord restricts noisy work to evenings, that belongs in the budget from the start.

How Office Cost Compares to Other Commercial Builds

If your office renovation is actually a conversion to clinical use — a common move in Metro Vancouver as medical and dental tenants take up office stock — price it as a healthcare build rather than an office one. The mechanical and finish requirements are different enough that an office budget will not survive contact with the drawings.

What the Landlord Pays For

Most commercial leases include a tenant improvement allowance, quoted per square foot of rentable area. Three things are worth knowing before you count on it:

• It rarely covers a full fit-out. It is a contribution, not a budget.
• It usually excludes your trade fixtures, furniture and IT, and sometimes excludes anything that does not stay with the building.
• It is paid on completion, against invoices, which means you finance the construction and get reimbursed — a cash flow reality that surprises tenants regularly.

Our guide to what a tenant improvement allowance covers sets out where the line usually falls, and base building vs. tenant improvement explains which side of the boundary each scope item lands on — which is the argument you want to have before signing, not during construction.

Getting Comparable Bids

Office renovation bids diverge for the same reason clinic bids do: the scope was not written down precisely enough. Three things fix it.

Issue one written scope to every bidder. Not a floor plan and a conversation. A scope, with the finish schedule and the mechanical expectations stated.

Require an exclusions list from each bid. The cheapest bid is almost always the one that excluded the most, and it is usually excluding mechanical work and after-hours premiums.

Ask what each bid assumes about the base building. If one contractor assumed the existing electrical is adequate and another priced an upgrade, you are not comparing bids — you are comparing assumptions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does an office renovation cost in Metro Vancouver? A full office renovation or fit-out in Metro Vancouver generally runs $120–$220 per sq ft turnkey, and a lighter cosmetic refresh within a sound existing layout runs $95–$180 per sq ft. A 2,500 sq ft office therefore costs roughly $300,000–$550,000 for a full fit-out, or about $240,000–$450,000 for a refresh.

What is the commercial construction cost per square foot in Vancouver? General commercial construction in the Lower Mainland runs $120–$220 per sq ft turnkey for a standard fit-out. Clinical and healthcare space sits above that at $150–$320 per sq ft because of ventilation, finish and compliance requirements. Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey sit at similar rates; the larger variable is the age and condition of the base building rather than the municipality.

What is the difference between an office refresh and a full fit-out? A refresh keeps the existing walls, ceiling grid and services largely in place and replaces finishes — paint, flooring, lighting, some millwork. A full fit-out reconfigures the layout, which means demolition, new partitions, and relocating mechanical, electrical and sprinkler heads to match the new plan. Moving walls is what moves the cost, because everything in the ceiling has to move with them.

Does the landlord pay for an office renovation? Partly, usually. Most commercial leases include a tenant improvement allowance, commonly quoted as a dollar figure per square foot of rentable area. It rarely covers a full fit-out, and it typically excludes furniture, IT and anything considered your trade fixtures. Price your scope against the allowance before signing rather than after.

How long does an office renovation take? Most office renovations in Metro Vancouver run 2 to 4 months of construction once the building permit is issued. Permitting sits ahead of that and varies by municipality. Landlord approval of your drawings is a step tenants routinely forget to schedule, and it can add several weeks before a permit application is even filed.

Can we keep working in the office during the renovation? Sometimes, if the space can be phased and the work is not primarily mechanical. Phasing typically adds 20 to 40 percent to the schedule and some cost, because the crew works in smaller zones and does noisy work outside business hours. For a full fit-out involving ceiling and services work, temporary relocation is usually cheaper than the disruption.

Conclusion

Office renovation cost in Metro Vancouver is easier to predict than most commercial work, because the scope is well understood and the variables are few. Decide first whether you are moving walls, because that choice moves you between the $95–$180 per sq ft refresh band and the $120–$220 per sq ft fit-out band and is worth more than every finish decision combined. Then check the base building, because its age is the next largest variable. We renovate offices and professional interiors across Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey and the Fraser Valley, and the most useful thing an office renovation contractor can do early is walk the space and tell you which of those two projects you actually have.