Most architects and workplace designers have a go-to list of furniture brands they specify again and again. The list works until it does not. A product gets discontinued mid-project, a supplier misses a staged delivery window, or a compliance certificate turns out to be expired. Suddenly the shortlist needs rebuilding, and the process for doing that well is rarely documented anywhere in the practice.

OLG Office works with design firms and project teams across Australia, and one pattern shows up repeatedly: the criteria that separate a smooth fit-out from a costly scramble are almost never about aesthetics alone (while that is important). They sit in supply chain reliability, certification rigour, and how well a manufacturer supports the specification process from first enquiry through to installation sign-off.

The questions that follow are the ones that separate reliable specification partners from brands that look good on a mood board but create problems once the project is live.

What does ‘commercial grade’ actually mean in the Australian market?

The phrase ‘commercial grade’ appears on product pages across the industry, but it carries no standardised legal definition in Australia. A desk marketed as commercial grade might be independently tested to AFRDI Level 4, 5, or 6. Or it might not be tested at all.

AFRDI (the Australasian Furnishing Research and Development Institute, operating as Furntech) runs a certification program that tests furniture against performance criteria for strength, durability, stability, and fitness for purpose. Products that pass can carry the AFRDI Blue Tick, which tells specifiers the item has been independently verified against a defined test level. For office and contract seating, those levels range from Level 4 for basic commercial applications through to Level 6 for severe commercial and heavy industrial use.

When shortlisting, the first filter is whether a brand can provide current AFRDI certification or equivalent independent test documentation for the products you intend to specify. Brands that test voluntarily and maintain active certification tend to be the ones investing in quality control across their range. Brands that rely on self-declared compliance leave the liability with the specifier.

For government tenders and institutional projects in particular, expired or absent certification can stall procurement approvals and delay entire project timelines.

OLG Office offer a number of products with the AFRDI Blue Tick including Engage Task Chair, Tilly Task Chair, Klass Desking, Vista Breakout chair just to name a few.

Another clear distinction is the level of warranty on each individual product. For ‘commercial grade’ a minimum of 10 years warranty should be required to give you piece of mind that the product can stand up to the test of the environment it is being placed in. Under 10-year warranty especially a product offering under 5 years should raise concerns of the quality and reliability of the product.

How do you assess whether a supplier can actually deliver on a project schedule?

Delivery capability is where many shortlists break down. A brand might have the right product range and the right certifications, but if they cannot stage deliveries to match a construction program, the fit-out stalls.

Three questions reveal more than a brochure:

First, ask how the supplier handles staged rollouts. A 200-workstation project across four floors rarely arrives in one truck. The supplier needs to coordinate with the builder’s program, hold stock or manufacture in sequence, and deliver floor by floor as spaces become available. Suppliers with warehouse and distribution infrastructure can absorb schedule changes without passing risk back to the design team.

Second, check whether the brand has a quick-ship program for their core range. Projects run into late changes. A specified chair gets deleted from the schedule and a replacement is needed inside two weeks. Brands that maintain stock on popular configurations reduce the project team’s exposure to last-minute procurement scrambles.

Third, ask for references from completed projects of similar scale and complexity. Any supplier worth shortlisting can point to specific fit-outs they have delivered, name the design firms involved, and describe how they managed the logistics. A supplier who cannot do this has not done the work.

What should specifiers look for in a furniture range to support design intent?

Design intent and product reality collide when a specified finish is unavailable, can’t meet budget, a dimension does not work with the floor plan, or a product family lacks the ancillary pieces needed to complete the scheme.

A strong shortlist candidate offers coordinated product families rather than isolated SKUs. This means desks, workstations, storage, screens, and reception furniture that share a design language, a finish palette, and compatible dimensions. When these elements come from a single system family, the visual coherence of the fit-out holds together without the designer needing to patch mismatched ranges from different suppliers.

OLG Office’s Klass desking range, for example, spans desks and workstations with coordinated screen systems including AcoustIQ, Edge25, Studio50, Radius18. That system-level integration means a project team can specify private offices, open-plan workstations, meeting rooms, and reception areas from a single product family, reducing the number of supplier relationships and the coordination risk that comes with managing multiple ranges.

Look also at whether the brand offers height-adjustable options within their core system. Activity-based working demands sit-stand capability at workstations, and retrofitting electric desks from a different supplier into a coordinated fitout introduces visual inconsistency and complicates warranty claims.

How important is the wholesaler-to-reseller model for architects?

Many Australian commercial furniture brands operate through a dealer or reseller network rather than selling direct to end-users. Understanding this model matters because it affects how you access pricing, technical support, and project management.

A wholesaler-reseller model, when it works well, gives architects access to a single product source backed by a network of local resellers who manage the commercial relationship, handle site logistics, and provide post-installation support. The wholesaler maintains the range, the certification, the stock, and the technical documentation. The reseller brings local project knowledge, installation capability, and an ongoing service relationship.

For the specifier, this means one set of product specifications to learn and one set of compliance documentation to trust, while the local reseller handles the commercial and logistical complexity of each individual project. The model also mitigates risk: if one reseller cannot service a particular geography or timeline, the brand can route the project through another partner without the design team needing to re-specify.

Where this model falls down is when the wholesaler does not support their resellers with adequate specification tools, clear lead-time information, or responsive technical assistance. During shortlisting, ask the brand how they support their dealer network. Do resellers have access to online specification and ordering tools? Can they provide project-specific pricing and availability in real time? A strong back-end system behind the reseller network signals operational maturity.

OLG Office has been supporting resellers in Australia since 1987 and though this experience has demonstrated the ability to adapt over time to meet the requirements of different reseller and specifier needs.

What role does sustainability play in shortlisting decisions?

Sustainability criteria are now embedded in procurement frameworks for government, education, and many corporate clients across Australia. A brand’s sustainability credentials are no longer a differentiator; they are a minimum threshold for inclusion on many tender panels.

When evaluating sustainability, look past the general commitments on the brand’s website. The useful questions are specific: Does the brand publish material composition data for their products? Do they use low-VOC finishes? Do they have a Global GreenTag or Greenguard certificate on thier ranges? Can they provide lifecycle durability metrics that demonstrate a product’s expected service life in a commercial environment? Are their products designed for disassembly and component replacement, or are they single-life items destined for landfill when a mechanism fails?

The Australian Furniture Association’s Furniture 360 initiative has been developing circular economy design principles for the commercial furniture sector, pushing the industry toward solutions that design out waste and reduce reliance on landfill. Brands that align with these principles, through durable construction, replaceable components, and responsible material sourcing, are better positioned for the projects where sustainability is evaluated as part of the tender criteria.

Requesting specific documentation rather than accepting general sustainability statements also protects the architect. If a project’s sustainability criteria call for low-VOC finishes or recycled content and the specified product cannot demonstrate these attributes after installation, the specifier carries the reputational risk.

How do you evaluate a brand’s specification support and technical depth?

A furniture brand’s product range is only as useful as the information that supports it. Architects and workplace designers need dimensioned drawings, finishes and materials data, weight-load specifications, compliance documentation, and clear installation requirements, often under tight deadlines and frequently revised.

During shortlisting, test the brand’s responsiveness. Request a specification pack for a product you are considering and note how long it takes to arrive, how complete it is, and whether it includes the technical detail you need for documentation. Brands that invest in specification support, including detailed product data sheets and responsive technical contacts, reduce the administrative burden on the design team and lower the risk of specification errors that surface during procurement or installation.

OLG Office provides specification documentation, compliance certificates, and product data through their reseller network and direct channels, supporting project teams from initial product selection through to delivery and installation coordination. That kind of end-to-end documentation access separates brands that operate as genuine project partners from those that simply supply furniture.

Also consider how the brand handles custom configurations. Many commercial projects require non-standard dimensions, finishes, or configurations to suit specific spatial or functional requirements. A brand that can accommodate custom requests within defined parameters, and communicate lead-time and cost implications clearly, adds real value to the specification process. Again, OLG Office offers local manufacturing and has high capability to customise products from sizes, colours including customer upholstery.

Shortlisting office furniture brands is a project management task as much as a design decision. The brands that earn a place on your list are the ones that can demonstrate current certification, coordinate with your project schedule, provide the specification support your documentation requires, and back it all with a supply model that does not transfer risk to the design team.

Start with compliance and supply capability. Layer in range depth, system-level coordination, and sustainability credentials. Then test responsiveness: call the brand, request documentation, and see how they perform before you commit them to a project. The shortlist you build from that process will hold up when the project pressure arrives.

OLG Office supply the whole floorplate: ergonomic task chairs, mesh and executive seating, height adjustable sit-stand desks, workstations and desking systems, meeting and collaborative tables, soft seating and breakout furniture, desk mounted and freestanding screens, acoustic panels and ceiling solutions under AcoustIQ by OLG, storage, lockers, reception furniture and workplace accessories.

OLG Office products are independently certified and specification ready. Across the range that includes AFRDI, BIFMA, GECA, GREENGUARD Gold, FSC, Global GreenTag, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, with Group 1 fire rated acoustic products and a minimum 10 year warranty.

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