The site office is often the first building on a new project and the last to leave. It holds the drawings, the site diary and the first-aid kit, and every day it takes a beating from boots, dust and heat. Site office furniture has to survive that and still be easy to pack up when the job moves on.
This guide covers desks and steel storage, heavy duty chairs and weight ratings, PPE lockers, filing and meeting tables, with seven products from our office desks, lockers and seating ranges.
Planning site office furniture
Most site offices are portable or demountable buildings, with a desk area, a meeting space and a crib room, sometimes all in one. Plan the furniture around the jobs done there each day.
| Site office need | What to look for | Product in this guide |
|---|---|---|
| Desks for plans and laptops | Steel frame, adjustable feet, flat-packed | Premium Grade Steel Frame Desk |
| Task chairs used all day | A stated weight rating and AFRDI rating | Endeavour Pro PU |
| Visitor and meeting seats | A high weight rating, stackable | Multi Ultra Heavy Duty Visitor Training Chair |
| PPE and personal items | Full-height lockers with vents and a hanging rail | Steelco 1 Door Locker |
| Drawings and permits | A3 drawers with a stated drawer load | Steelco A3 3 Drawer Vertical Filing Cabinet |
| Site meetings | A table that folds away | Steel Frame Folding Table |
| Crib room and toolbox talks | Light chairs that stack, indoors or out | Heavy Duty Poly Chair - PIPEE |
Desks that handle drawings and dust
A site desk needs room for a drawing set and a laptop, on a frame that copes with floors that are not quite level. The Premium Grade Steel Frame Desk (from $239) has a black powder coated steel frame, 40mm steel legs with adjustable feet and a full under frame for strength. It comes in 4 sizes, from 1200W x 600D to 1800W x 900D, with a Beech, Oak or White top.
It ships flat-packed, which helps in a portable building with a narrow door, and it carries a 3 year Australian warranty. The 1800 x 900mm size gives a site manager room to spread out plans.
Heavy duty chairs and weight ratings
Site staff often sit down in work gear, so a site office chair gets more wear than one in a carpeted city office. Check the weight rating on every chair, and look for an independent rating where one is stated.
The Endeavour Pro PU (from $438) is a heavy duty high back chair with a 4 lever mechanism, seat slide and triple strip lumbar support back. It carries an AFRDI Level 6 rating and is load rated to 160kg. AFRDI, the Australasian Furnishing Research and Development Institute, is an independent body that tests and certifies furniture for Australia and New Zealand. It comes with or without arms and has a 10-year warranty.
For visitors and site meetings, the Multi Ultra Heavy Duty Visitor Training Chair ($470) has a 272 kg weight rating and an extra wide upholstered seat and back. It sits on a black powder coated frame with standard non-marring floor glides. It stacks for storage and carries a 5 Year Warranty.
Our guide to heavy duty office chairs and weight ratings explains ratings and 24/7 seating in more detail, and our heavy duty office chairs range has more options.
Lockers for PPE and personal items
Hi-vis, hard hats, boots and wet weather gear need a home that is not the back of a chair. Full-height lockers with a hanging rail and ventilation suit gear that comes in damp or dusty.
The Steelco 1 Door Locker (from $302) has a hanging rail, ventilation holes in the door and a flush door that opens 180 degrees. It comes 305mm or 380mm wide, both 1830mm high and 460mm deep, with a keylock or padlatch. Units stand alone or bank together as a bay, arrive pre-assembled and carry a 10 year warranty.
A padlatch lets each worker bring their own padlock, which suits crews that change between projects. Our steel lockers range has more sizes and door counts.
Filing for drawings, permits and site records
Plenty of site paperwork is still on paper: drawing sets, permits, induction records and the site diary. A3 drawings need A3 drawers.
The Steelco A3 3 Drawer Vertical Filing Cabinet ($740) keeps A3 files organised in three drawers. Each drawer has a 35kg uniform distributed load capacity and runs on heavy-duty double extension ball bearing runners. It has a built-in anti-tilt mechanism, a barrel exchange lock and full-length label holders, and it is AFRDI approved.
The cabinet is 1320mm high, 580mm wide and 620mm deep, and it arrives pre-assembled with a 10-Year Product Warranty. More cabinets are in our filing cabinets range.
Meeting tables and crib room seating
Toolbox talks, client walk-throughs and lunch all need a table. In a small building, a table that folds away frees the floor when it is not in use.
The Steel Frame Folding Table (from $270) has a strong 30mm steel frame and a folding leg mechanism for quick set-up and pack-away. It comes in 1500 x 750mm, 1800 x 750mm or 1800 x 900mm, with a Natural Oak, White or Beech top and a 3 year Australian warranty.
For the crib room or an outdoor lunch area, the Heavy Duty Poly Chair - PIPEE ($41) is a one-piece polypropylene chair that holds up to 150kg. It stacks up to 25 high, suits indoor or outdoor use and comes in Grey or White with a 3 year warranty. The product page notes that its colour will fade over time outdoors.
Furnishing a site office in Australian conditions
Australian sites are hard on furniture. Summer heat, dust on mine sites and wet-season humidity in the north all find their way inside a donga, the transportable building many sites use as an office. Choose finishes that wipe down easily and frames with adjustable feet for floors that are not quite level.
Plan for the move as well as the set-up. Flat-packed desks fit through narrow doors more easily, while pre-assembled lockers and filing cabinets need a clear path from the truck. Deliveries go to the ground-floor entrance, and each product page has a Delivery line naming the metro cities it reaches. For a remote or mine site, deliver to a metro yard or office and send the furniture out with the next load.
Site office furniture — frequently asked questions
What furniture does a site office need?
Most need desks, task chairs, lockers for PPE, filing for drawings and a meeting table. Stackable chairs help when the same room hosts toolbox talks and lunch.
What weight rating should a site office chair have?
Choose a rating that comfortably covers the heaviest regular user. The chairs in this guide are rated from 150kg for the PIPEE poly chair to 272 kg for the Multi Ultra visitor chair.
Can office furniture go in a portable building?
Yes, as long as each piece fits through the door and suits the floor space. Flat-packed desks are the easiest to get inside, and folding tables and stackable chairs free up floor space between meetings.
What lockers suit PPE in a site office?
Full-height steel lockers with ventilation and a hanging rail suit PPE, so hi-vis and wet weather gear can hang and air out. The Steelco 1 Door Locker has ventilation holes in the door and a hanging rail.
Shop the range
Every product in this guide is listed below in the order it appears.
- Premium Grade Steel Frame Desk (from $239): a flat-packed steel frame desk with adjustable feet for site offices
- Endeavour Pro PU (from $438): an AFRDI Level 6 heavy duty chair load rated to 160kg
- Multi Ultra Heavy Duty Visitor Training Chair ($470): an extra wide stackable visitor chair with a 272 kg weight rating
- Steelco 1 Door Locker (from $302): a ventilated full-height locker with a hanging rail for PPE
- Steelco A3 3 Drawer Vertical Filing Cabinet ($740): AFRDI approved A3 filing for drawings, permits and site records
- Steel Frame Folding Table (from $270): a heavy duty folding table for site meetings and toolbox talks
- Heavy Duty Poly Chair - PIPEE ($41): a stackable indoor or outdoor chair for crib rooms
Metro delivery is a flat $75 per order, and prices include GST.
