Shop Fit Out in Brisbane: Café, Restaurant and Retail Fit-Outs

Cockatoo Plumbing Electrical provides shop fit outs in Brisbane and across South East Queensland for cafés, restaurants, juice bars, food kiosks, retail stores and other commercial tenancies. Based in Toowong, Brisbane, we plan and build commercial fit-outs from the first measure of an empty shell to the day you open your doors, with the counters, joinery, partitions, finishes and building services a working business needs.

Our Managing Director, Tim Wu, has more than 20 years of trade experience. Our core trades are plumbing, gas fitting, electrical and air-conditioning, and carpentry and joinery are now part of a full shop fit out service. That background matters on a fit-out: the trickiest parts of a café or restaurant are usually hidden in the walls, floor and ceiling. Water, drainage, grease arrestors, gas, power, lighting, air-conditioning and kitchen exhaust all have to be planned before the first counter is built.

We work alongside a registered architect partner and engineer partners for hydraulic, electrical and mechanical design, and we coordinate approval and certification with an independent building certifier. That keeps design, construction and certification moving in one sequence, so you have a clear point of contact as your tenancy becomes a compliant, finished shop.

Talk to us about your fit-out: call 0450 963 633 or 0416 230 789, or email cockatooservices@gmail.com.

Shop fit out services in Brisbane

A shop fit-out turns a bare tenancy into a space that works for staff, customers and inspectors. As a Brisbane shopfitter with our own licensed trades, we can take on the whole fit-out or the parts you need:

• Café, coffee shop and restaurant fit-outs, including commercial kitchens
• Juice bar, smoothie bar and food kiosk fit-outs
• Retail store, salon and shopping centre tenancy fit-outs
• Commercial interiors: partitions, ceilings, wall linings and offices
• Counters, display units and custom joinery
• Glass, flooring and painting as part of the fit-out
• Plumbing, gas fitting, electrical and air-conditioning built into the fit-out
• Commercial kitchen exhaust hoods, coordinated with an engineer and the certifier

Café fit-outs

A café fit-out has to serve two audiences at once: the customers who see the counter, seating and lighting, and the staff who work behind it for every service. We plan the flow from the front counter to the espresso station, food preparation, dishwashing and back-of-house storage, so staff are not crossing paths with customers or carrying dirty dishes past the display cabinet.

Behind the finishes, a café needs hand basins in the right places, hot and cold water, floor waste, a coffee machine water supply and drain, dedicated power circuits for the espresso machine, grinders and refrigeration, and often a grease arrestor. Because we hold plumbing, gas and electrical licences, those services are set out before the joinery is built rather than squeezed in afterwards.

Restaurant and commercial kitchen fit-outs

Restaurant fit-outs carry the most compliance weight of any hospitality job. The commercial kitchen has to meet Food Standards Code Standard 3.2.3 (Food Premises and Equipment), which covers cleanable floors, walls and ceilings, hand washing facilities, adequate lighting, ventilation and suitable storage. In Brisbane, plans for a new food business are lodged with Brisbane City Council before construction or fit-out starts, and Council inspects the premises before it decides on the food business licence.

We plan the kitchen line around the cooking equipment you will actually use: gas or electric appliances, wok burners, combi ovens, cool rooms and dishwashers. That sets the gas supply, power load, water and drainage, exhaust hood size and the floor and wall finishes. Food businesses in Brisbane also need a trade waste approval from Urban Utilities, which is issued to the property owner rather than the tenant, and most kitchens that cook on site need a grease arrestor of at least 1,000 litres that is pumped out at least every 13 weeks or as the approval requires.

Juice bar and food kiosk fit-outs

Juice bars, smoothie bars and food kiosks pack a lot into a small footprint, often inside a shopping centre. A single counter may carry blenders, juicers, under-counter fridges and a refrigerated display, so the electrical design has to spread the load across enough circuits. Fruit preparation needs washing sinks, hand basins and floor finishes that cope with wet, sticky spills, and the counter itself becomes the shopfront. We build kiosk and shopfront layouts that suit the centre’s fit-out guide and the food safety rules at the same time.

Retail store fit-outs

Retail fit-outs are about display, lighting and the path a customer takes through the store. We build display joinery, shelving, cash and wrap counters, fitting rooms, feature walls and shopfronts for boutiques, salons, pharmacies, convenience stores and showrooms. Shopping centre tenancies usually come with a landlord’s fit-out guide and design approval process, and we work to those requirements on materials, finishes, shopfront details and services connections.

Commercial interiors

Many businesses need a practical interior rather than a showpiece: offices, back-of-house areas, staff rooms, storage and consulting spaces. We frame and line partition walls and bulkheads, install suspended ceilings, fit doors and hardware, and coordinate the lighting, power, data and air-conditioning that go with them, so a commercial interior is ready to use when the trades leave.

Carpentry and joinery, now part of shop fit out

Carpentry is no longer a separate service on our site; it is the backbone of our shop fit out work. Our carpenters and joiners handle the timber and board work a fit-out depends on: wall and ceiling framing, finish carpentry, doors and frames, skirting and trims, counters, banquette seating, display units and cabinetry. Building joinery around services that have already been planned means fewer cut-outs on site and cleaner finishes at handover.

Glass, flooring and painting

Glass splashbacks and partitions, floor finishes and painting are delivered as part of our shop fit out and carpentry work under our existing QBCC licence, not as separate licence classes. For food areas we select floor and wall finishes that are smooth, durable and easy to clean, as Standard 3.2.3 expects, with coved junctions where a kitchen needs them.

Commercial kitchen exhaust hoods

A commercial kitchen exhaust system is life-safety equipment, not just a fan and a canopy. We install exhaust hoods in-house or through appropriately licensed subcontractors, and we coordinate the design with an RPEQ engineer and the independent building certifier so the system is documented from the start. The key requirements include:

• NCC F6D12: the National Construction Code requires a kitchen exhaust hood where any single cooking appliance exceeds 8 kW (electric) or 29 MJ/h (gas), or where total cooking appliance input exceeds 0.5 kW or 1.8 MJ/h per square metre of kitchen floor area.
• AS 1668.2 and AS 1668.1: AS 1668.2 sets the ventilation design, including hood type, airflow, make-up air and discharge. AS/NZS 1668.1 covers fire and smoke control, including duct construction, clearances from combustible materials and enclosures where ducts pass through fire-resisting construction.
• Brisbane City Council: a food business licence is needed, and Council assesses the fit-out against its design and fit-out guide for food businesses. The guide states that exhaust hoods should be designed by a registered professional engineer, canopies need removable grease filters, and exhaust must not discharge over neighbouring properties or less than 3 metres above a pedestrian area.
• Certification: the certifier will usually rely on design and inspection certificates (Forms 15 and 16) from a competent person, typically an RPEQ mechanical engineer, before final approval.
• Gas and electrical connections: gas appliances are installed to AS/NZS 5601.1, including any gas and exhaust interlock the design requires, and electrical connections are completed by a licensed electrical contractor.

On each exhaust job we also look at duct access for cleaning, make-up air, noise from fans and roof plant, and the discharge location. Planning the exhaust before construction costs far less than retrofitting it into a finished ceiling.

Our design and approvals team

Good fit-outs are designed before they are built. Tim Wu leads our projects and brings in the design partners each job needs:

• An Jiu, our registered architect partner, who prepares fit-out drawings and layouts.
• Hetuo Li, one of our partners.
• Engineer partners for hydraulic, electrical and mechanical design, including exhaust, drainage and power documentation.

We also work with an independent building certifier. In Queensland, building certifiers are licensed by the QBCC, act in the public interest and must not design or carry out the work they certify. We coordinate the application, inspections and paperwork; the certifier makes the decision independently.

How a shop fit-out runs

1. Brief and site check. We inspect the tenancy, read the lease and any landlord fit-out guide, and record existing water, sewer, gas, power and ventilation.
2. Design. Our architect partner prepares the layout and drawings, and our engineer partners document the hydraulic, electrical and mechanical work.
3. Approvals. We coordinate building approval with the independent building certifier, help prepare food premises plans for Council, and support the property owner’s trade waste application.
4. Build. Our carpenters, joiners and shopfitters complete demolition, framing, linings, ceilings, joinery, glass, flooring and painting.
5. Services. Plumbing, drainage, gas, electrical, lighting, air-conditioning and exhaust are installed by licensed trades, then tested and commissioned.
6. Handover. Inspections are completed, compliance certificates are collected, and you receive the documents you need to open and trade.

Compliance and standards

Every fit-out sits inside a framework of laws and standards, and we plan for them from day one:

• QBCC licensing for building, plumbing, drainage, gas fitting, fire protection and air-conditioning work.
• National Construction Code requirements, including F6D12 for kitchen exhaust.
• Food Standards Code Standard 3.2.3 for food premises and equipment.
• AS 1668.1 and AS 1668.2 for kitchen ventilation; AS/NZS 5601.1 for gas installations; AS/NZS 3000 for electrical wiring.
• Brisbane City Council food business licensing and the Urban Utilities trade waste approval process.
• Building approval and final certification through an independent building certifier.

Why choose Cockatoo Plumbing Electrical for your fit-out

• Services knowledge first. More than 20 years in plumbing, gas, electrical and air-conditioning work means the hidden parts of your fit-out are planned properly.
• Shop fit out and carpentry under our QBCC licence. Counters, joinery, partitions, glass, flooring and painting are part of our own scope.
• Named design partners. A registered architect partner and engineer partners for hydraulic, electrical and mechanical design.
• Independent certification. We coordinate with an independent building certifier rather than certifying our own work.
• Local to Brisbane. Based in Toowong and working across Brisbane and South East Queensland.

Fit-outs by business type and area

We are preparing detailed guides for specific fit-outs across Brisbane and South East Queensland. Categories include:

• Cafés and coffee shops
• Restaurants and commercial kitchens
• Juice bars, food kiosks and takeaway shops
• Retail stores, salons and shopping centre tenancies
• Fit-out construction work: joinery, partitions, finishes, services, design and approvals
• Areas: Brisbane CBD and inner suburbs, Brisbane’s north and south, Logan, Ipswich and the Gold Coast

Related services: plumbing, electrical, air-conditioning, ventilation and fire protection. See our gallery.

Shop fit out FAQs

Do I need building approval for a shop or café fit-out?

Often, yes. Building work such as new partitions, ceilings, exhaust systems and changes to fire or access features usually needs building approval. The independent building certifier will confirm what applies to your tenancy, and we coordinate the application and inspections.

Do you have your own certifier?

No. Queensland building certifiers must be independent and must not design or carry out the work they certify. We work with an independent building certifier and coordinate the process for you.

Who applies for trade waste approval?

In Brisbane, Urban Utilities issues trade waste approval to the property owner, not the tenant. We can help prepare the plumbing information and install the grease arrestor once the approval path is clear.

Does my café need a kitchen exhaust hood?

It depends on your cooking equipment. Under NCC F6D12, a hood is required where any appliance exceeds 8 kW electric or 29 MJ/h gas, or where total cooking input exceeds the per-square-metre thresholds. A café with only an espresso machine and a sandwich press may not need one; a café with a cooktop or fryers usually will.

Can you fit out a café in a tenancy that used to be retail?

Usually, yes, but a change from retail to food use can affect planning, building approval, plumbing and trade waste. We check water, sewer, gas, power and exhaust routes at the brief stage so there are no surprises later.

Can you work to a shopping centre’s fit-out guide?

Yes. We build to the landlord’s design criteria and approval steps, including shopfront, finishes and services requirements, alongside Council and building approvals.

Is carpentry still available?

Yes. Carpentry and joinery are now part of our shop fit out service, covering framing, counters, cabinetry, doors and finish work for commercial projects.

Licences and credentials

• QBCC licence 15409163 (Builder, Carpenter and Waterproofing classes), including our shopfitting trade contractor and carpenter licences
• Glass, flooring and painting are carried out as part of shop fit out and carpentry work under these licences
• QLD Electrical Contractor Licence 91748
• Gas Work Licence LIC-GWL-025881
• QBCC fire protection alarm licence
• QBCC air conditioning and refrigeration licence class
• Cockatoo Plumbing Electrical HVAC Services Pty Ltd, ABN 62 672 328 853
• Managing Director Tim Wu, 20+ years of trade experience; based in Toowong, Brisbane

Start your Brisbane fit-out

Whether you are opening a first café, refitting a restaurant kitchen or moving into a shopping centre tenancy, we can help you plan the fit-out properly from the start. Call 0450 963 633 or 0416 230 789, email cockatooservices@gmail.com, or use our contact page. You can also find Cockatoo Plumbing Electrical on Google.