Renting workshop space

[jfc]

Is it possible to just rent a unit and set it up as a workshop or do these things have to be dedicated to office or workshop space ?

[mel]

YES
HTH
MEL
;D ;D ;D

[jfc]

Yes to what and whats HTH ?

[engineerone]

depends on the lease owner i guess.

some industrial estates restrict what you can or cannot do,
but if they are advertising workshop space, then you only need what ever office space you want.

biggest problem about moving to a unit is the rapid expansion of your overheads, although you have had problems at your present place, you will need to consider more extravagent security, you will of course be more open to elf and safety.

the other problem may well be whether there are units available that are economic for the kind of business you do.

paul

[thallow]

HTH = Hope This Helps,

HTH by the way! ;D

ROTFLMAO!!! ;D

[Stree]

Thats the trouble with TLAs

[Stree]

3 things spring to mind to be aware of when considering renting a unit for working in.

Rates...........included or not? These will be business and not domestic obviously, and will increase pro rata if you have space to build a mezzanine floor unless you can prove you only use it for storage.

Insurance... Probably circa a thousand pounds for even a modest unit.

Heating, most will not allow any form of naked flame heating, nearest you could get to that would be a gas or oil boiler and use some radiators for background heating , or halogen for localised heat.

Also think of security, will it need upgrading? Phone? Mains water and sewage? if its a lease then it could be 2 or 3 months rent in one go to start with, and do`nt forget the legal fees...... and if it IS a lease it will say in no uncertain terms what the conditions of use are anyway......

[jfc]

Hmmmm , think i'll stick to looking at local garages for now and somehow rejig my workshop . If i could store all the timber etc elsewhere i'm sure it would help .

[dom]

I'll look after it ;D

[Scrit]

Easy Dom, it's only pine......

[engineerone]

might be worth looking at a shurgard or similar place for some storage jason. or maybe one of the container storage places.

paul

[dom]

Or Fort Knox or The bank of England, ooh, ooh, The Tower of London ;D

[engineerone]

yea, but if he went to the tower, where would he put his head ;D ;D

paul

[Dave S]

engineerone said:

might be worth looking at a shurgard or similar place for some storage jason. or maybe one of the container storage places.

paul

We rent a container - costs about £25 per week. One thing to bear in mind is that they are pretty airtight. Also, in the summer sun, they can get pretty hot inside. I'm not sure what the implications for storing timber would be.

Dave

[jfc]

Easy Dom, it's only pine......

Oh you b*tch ;D

[barnie]

You could try asking a farmer for space. I rent a old piggery for a quarter of what i used to pay the council for workshop space.
The farm estate I used swapped from livestock to arable a number of years ago and had a large number of building left redundant.

[Scrit]

barnie said:

You could try asking a farmer for space. I rent a old piggery for a quarter of what i used to pay the council for workshop space.

I think Jason might have a few problems finding an old piggery nearby - he's in London.......

[jake]

I don't know, they seem to be closing stations down left right and center.



(with apologies to any policemen)

[engineerone]

actually i would guess jason's biggest problem is being so near to heathrow, so people think that warehouse space is really valuable

mind you there was a suburban farm not too far away, seem to remember that got closed down, maybe there is space there

mind you wherever he goes, it will never be tidy, in which case he'll never know how much wood he has ;D ;D

paul

[jfc]

The farm is still there but its the only one round here and still in use . The air ambulance launches from one of the fields . I wave when they go over but they never wave back the grumpy gits

[Scrit]

OK, Jason, I'll try to be serious on this.......

From the point of view of a woodworker you'll ideally need to look for somewhere on the ground floor with decent access. Try lugging MDF sheets two flights up or a completed wardrobe two floors down a few times, and...... well I'm sure you get my drift. Access is also important for moving those big bits of cast iron called machines in and out, too.

Power: Preferably 3-phase, but if not make sure that the supply is adequate. By that I mean 60A or above. Most commercial leases mean that you will need to wire-up the shop. All the landlord does is get the power to a consumer unit in most cases

Security: A key issue, this (sorry for the pun). This can mean avoiding locations with high crime rates, but also having a unit which is hard to break into. If a place looks secure the tealeaves will often go off in search of easier places to break into. The local police will happily send a Crime Prevention Officer round to advise you on security. It's free, so no harm in asking.

Is it dry?: You'd be amazed at how many places have rising damp, leaking roofs or are prone to flooding

Heating: Make sure that you have a gas supply and meter and that they are connected - or be prepared to have deep pockets or cold feet. You'll only get insurance if the heat source is a "black" heat source, e.g. a Reznor/Combat-type cube heater (which draw combustion air in from outside and blow warm air heated via a heat-exchanger) or radiant U-tube type heater. Propane blowers as used in garages/building sites are dangerous not to mention illegal, boilers and radiators don't stand a cat in hell's chance of heating much above room-sized (250 square feet) units with low ceilings and many commercial leases and insurances forbid the use of wood burning stoves such as the Hot Spot type (so check). The cost of installing heating can easily exceed £1,000 for an effective system even in a 500 ft workshop

Water, WC and Welfare Facilities: Does the premises have running water, a toilet and facilities to make a cuppa? Adding hot water to wash your hands or to speed-up washing-up after veneering, gluing, etc is another potential on-cost. A shared toilet facility is all very well, but how will potential customers view this and will that incur a service charge?

stree said:

Rates...........included or not?

Actually commercial rates (the "Unified Business Rate") are almost always a separate thing entirely and can be another major cost, at 1/3 or so of the rental cost of a smaller unit. Only weekly rented workrooms and very small places seem to be let out "all-inclusive" these days

Rent, Leases and Bonds: Is the premises available on a monthly contract agreement, is there a bond (often 3 months rent and with swingeing terms applied which can make it difficult to get back) or is the contract a lease with a minimum period, such as 2 years. Also most commercial contracts do not permit sub-letting so taking on a 1500 ft unit with the intention of sub-letting half the space won't be allowed. Many properties are now let with leases putting the onus of repairing the fabric squarely on the shoulders of the tenant. Personally I don't want to pay for repairs on a building which I don't own. Watch out for landlord's levying "service charges", etc. for the maintenance of shared facilities (such as access roads, toilets, etc) as these can be open-ended and quite steep. Leases/contracts sometimes have restrictions on use, hours of working (e.g. no noise between 10pm and 6am or at weekends), access hours (in shared premises - and this is also a security issue), loading restrictions (e.g. no commercial vehicles between certain hours), parking for yourself and customers, etc.

Insurance: You'll probably have two or three policies to worry about. The landlord will almost always levy a building insurance surcharge. This may be integral in the rent but nonetheless it will be there and covers him in the event that the building burns down, etc. Secondly you'll need business and contents insurance for your materials, work in progress and tools/machinery. Lastly you'll need public liability insurance. You need to ensure that if somebody walks through your door and trips up then you're insured against a claim. Multiple-occupancy premises, such as old mills, are more expensive to insure and sometimes you can't insure at all at a reasonable price, so check first.

As to health and safety having a premises makes little difference. The HSE and Council are highly unlikely to visit and even if they do they will write first, but in any case it makes sense to have documented procedures, an accident book, First Aid kit, etc. doesn't it? You're more likely to find insurers imposing standards on you in the first instance....

There's loads more, but that should be a starter for ten......

Scrit

[jfc]

Well i've managed to rent a garage two doors away with a leaky roof But it's got me out of trouble for now . Problem is that its just 2.1 m high but it will be handy for storing finished work ready to fit and materials as well as a glue up area leaving my workshop and build area a little bit clearer

[engineerone]

jason, space, clean

these do not compute

still jason good fortune to you with this next stage of your
venture.

can i have the film rights of you running round to get the stuff
from one shed to another ;D

paul

[jfc]

Now if i could just get the one in the middle id be laughing