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Are you an entrepreneur looking for commercial real estate?
The type of property, location, amenities, and rent are key factors in finding the right office space. These important aspects are essential for starting your search. Not only does this take a lot of time, but it also involves a lot of work. That's why good preparation is very helpful. Whether you are a start-up or a large company, these criteria are fundamentally the same when searching for the right property. A good overview is therefore the ideal starting point. To help you with this, we have summarized the most important information and tips for you.
We will start with the type of property and explain all other points step by step.
The type of property
There are different types of commercial space. A distinction is made between retail and logistics properties, office space, and retail space. There are entire office buildings, lofts, studios, and even individual offices. The individual property types vary greatly in design.
In the next steps, we have put together a brief summary of the different types of offices.
Individual offices:
An individual office is an office space in which only one employee works. The size of the company must be taken into account here, as this concept requires a lot of space. The advantages of this option are that employees can work in a focused and undisturbed manner. They can customize their entire workspace, room temperature, and lighting conditions. In addition, confidential conversations and documents are guaranteed. Although individual offices are pleasant for organizing one's own daily work routine, they do not promote teamwork and the general working atmosphere. Instead, they tend to create an isolated atmosphere among colleagues.
Multi-person offices:
This alternative offers a minimum of two and a maximum of four workstations. This concept is useful for companies with several smaller departments. It allows employees in a team to communicate with each other quickly and easily. This is simple and efficient to manage. However, there are also disadvantages, such as a higher potential for conflict and a higher noise level.
Combined offices:
This is a combination of individual offices and communal areas. The individual offices are usually located on the outer edge of the space, but have transparent partitions to the communal areas. This allows employees to work undisturbed and concentrate, while still having an open view of their colleagues and the shared environment. This option requires a lot of space for a company and is not always feasible in terms of floor space.
Open-plan offices:
Open-plan office concepts have a floor space of approximately 400 m² for a large number of employees. The workstations can be separated by dividers such as cabinets, partition walls, or room-in-room systems. In addition to simple and quick communication, a positive aspect of this option is the flexible redesign of the workspaces. The downside of this concept is the high noise level and the supply of fresh air, as special measures must be taken in large offices.
a) Average gross space requirement for an office workstation
Area in m² |
|
Range | Average | Total |
| Office workstation |
smaller office workstation |
11.0 |
13 |
15 |
| | Additional space for consulting, storage |
1.5-4.2 |
2 |
|
| Office ancillary space | Sanitary facilities | 0.6-0.8 | 0.7 | 9 |
| | Conference/training | 0.3-1.0 | 0 | |
| | Archive space | 0.4-1.0 | 0.6 | |
| | Storage | 0.4-1.5 | 0.6 | |
| | Canteen, cafeteria, tea kitchen | 0.6-1.6 |
1.1 |
|
| | Entrance area | 0.2-0.7 | 0.4 | |
| | Supply and disposal | 0.5-1.5 | 1 | |
| | Postal service | 0.3-0.5 | 0.4 | |
| | Data center | 0.5-1.5 | 1.0 | |
b) Other standard room sizes
Single office for all activities without a meeting table:
| for the first workstation | approx. 10 m |
| each additional workstation in the same room | approx. 8 m |
| Individual office (manager/team leader) | approx. 20-25 m² |
| Typical double office | approx. 22-25 m² |
| Typical triple office | approx. 24-29 m² |
| Typical four-person office | approx. 30-35 m² |
| Group office (5 people or more) | from approx. 50 m² |
| Open-plan office (10 people or more) | from approx. 80 m² |
c) Standard building dimensions for new buildings
| Window axis | 1.35 m |
| Building depth | 13.50 m - 13.80 m |
| Room depth | 5.50 |
Legal guidelines for floor space
It is important to observe all legal regulations. Health guidelines and safety precautions, such as space requirements, are paramount to ensuring safe and efficient work quality for employees. It must be checked that air exchange and workplace size requirements for employees are met. According to workplace guidelines, a room volume of 20 cubic meters should be planned for an employee who performs sedentary or light physical work, provided that the office rooms have openable windowsthe windows and ventilation of an office space are an important legal issue in this regard. Furthermore, possible customer contact must also be taken into account, which requires at least ten cubic meters per customer for every hour spent in the office. The space requirements also depend on the number of common rooms, server rooms, meeting rooms, and storage rooms. The safety guidelines are very strict and must be checked depending on the type of property and industry.
Council Directive 89/654/EEC of November 30, 1989, concerning minimum safety and health requirements for the workplace is the first individual directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC. This Directive was intended to lay down minimum requirements to promote improvements in the working environment in particular, with a view to protecting the safety and health of workers.
The amended Ordinance on Workplaces (ArbStättV) (Federal Law Gazette I No. 44, August 24, 2004, 2179) serves to implement EC Directive 89/654/EEC into German law. The ArbStättV serves to ensure the safety and health protection of employees when setting up and operating workplaces. Unlike previous versions, it is divided into a text containing general provisions and a legally binding appendix with specific requirements for workplaces.
When employing people with disabilities, their special needs must be taken into account, in particular through barrier-free workplace design. Contrary to the previous Workplace Ordinance, no detailed regulations are made. For example, specifications on minimum dimensions for work surfaces and room heights have been omitted, as have regulations on noise. Further changes result, among other things, from the requirement for sufficient daylight, but also from the omission of the requirement for a view to the outside.
Until further notice, the workplace guidelines will continue to apply to the setup and operation of workplaces. These are to be replaced at a later date by future regulations for workplaces, which are currently still being developed. A maximum period of six years is planned for this.
Features
There are also equipment features that should be taken into account. These include parking facilities for employees and customers, sanitary facilities, shower facilities for employees, special equipment, telephone and IT connections, and electrical installations. In addition, aspects such as lighting, acoustics, furnishings, and the architecture of the office space are becoming increasingly important.
Directive 89/391/EEC of June 12, 1989, on the introduction of measures to improve the safety and health of workers at work is also referred to as the European "basic law" on occupational safety.
The aim of this directive is to implement measures to improve the safety and health of workers at work. To this end, it lays down general principles for the prevention of occupational hazards, for safety and health protection, the elimination of risk and accident factors, information, consultation, balanced participation in accordance with national legislation or practice, the instruction of workers and their representatives, and general rules for the implementation of these principles.
The Product Safety Directive is to be regarded as a catch-all directive for products and safety risks that are not covered by other existing product directives. In addition, it has an umbrella function in that it supplements existing safety directives with specific provisions, e.g., on market surveillance. The directive came into force on January 15, 2002, and had to be transposed into national law by the member states by January 15, 2004. In Germany, the Equipment and Product Safety Act was enacted for this purpose.
Screen Directive 90/270/EEC and Screen Work Regulation (BildscharbV)
Council Directive 90/270/EEC of May 29, 1990, on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment is the fifth individual directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC EEC.
As stated in the preamble to the Display Screen Equipment Directive, compliance with the minimum requirements for ensuring a high level of safety at workstations with display screen equipment is an essential prerequisite for ensuring the safety and health of workers. Employers are therefore obliged to keep themselves informed of the latest state of the art and scientific findings in the field of workplace design in order to make any necessary changes and thus ensure better safety and health protection for their employees.
Screen Directive 90/270/EEC and Screen Work Regulation (sBildscharbV)
The Display Screen Equipment Regulation is the implementation of the EU Display Screen Directive into German law and came into force in December 1996. The regulation applies to work on display screen equipment with a few exceptions. It thus also forms an essential legal basis for working with display screen equipment in the office environment.
The BildscharbV is based on a holistic approach to occupational health and safety. It obliges employers to assess the specific conditions at computer workstations and, based on this assessment, to take technical, ergonomic, occupational health, and organizational measures. All characteristics and aspects of work with display screen equipment that may affect the health and well-being of employees are addressed. Requirements are therefore specified for display screen equipment, input and output devices and other work equipment, work tables, work chairs and the working environment.
The directive also contains provisions on the interaction between people and work equipment. These mainly concern requirements for the ergonomics and user-friendliness of software. The deadline for implementing these requirements was December 31, 1999.
Law on the implementation of occupational safety measures to improve the safety and health protection of employees at work (ArbSchG) of August 7, 1996 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1246) , last amended on December 23, 2003 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 2907).
This Act serves to ensure and improve the safety and health protection of employees at work through occupational safety measures. It applies to all areas of activity and transposes the EU Framework Directive on occupational safety into German law.
Law on company doctors, safety engineers, and other
Specialists for Occupational Safety (ASiG) of December 12, 1973 (Federal Law Gazette I p. 1885) , last amended on November 25, 2003
(Federal Law Gazette I p. 2325).
The appointment of company doctors and occupational safety specialists by the employer is intended to ensure that occupational health and safety regulations and accident prevention measures are applied in accordance with the specific operating conditions and that occupational health and safety findings can be implemented in the company. In addition, the measures serving occupational safety and accident prevention should achieve the highest possible degree of effectiveness.
Don't search – find!
Now you have a brief insight into the concept of property search and the search can begin! For a good overview, we recommend creating a checklist with all the important aspects. This is very helpful when making your selection. Important criteria such as location, size, and amenities make up a large part of the search and should be narrowed down in advance.
Alternatively, as specialists in commercial real estate, we are happy to offer our professional support in your search. With our local expertise, you are in the best of hands! You will receive comprehensive advice, an analysis tailored to your ideas and requirements, and an all-round service to find your dream property.
This overview is intended to give you an initial insight and help you in your search for commercial real estate.
We look forward to hearing from you!
