Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FF&E)
This domain tests furniture, fixtures, and equipment: selection, ergonomics, space requirements, procurement, budgets, lead times, and installation. Questions often combine a client's operational need with a realistic budget or delivery constraint.
Core rules
- Select FF&E against function, ergonomics, durability, maintenance, sustainability, and code; check actual dimensions, not catalog nominal sizes.
- Workstations require task space, storage, power/data access, and chair clearance; panel height affects privacy and daylight.
- Budget for furniture, freight, installation, taxes, and contingency separately. A purchase order price is not the installed cost.
- Confirm lead times and phasing; long-lead items can drive the schedule and require early release.
- Specification should include model, finish, warranty, and approved equal criteria; substitutions require review.
Worked example
A client has 90 workstations at $3,200 each = $288,000. Add 12% contingency, 8% freight/installation, and 7% sales tax: 288,000 x 1.12 = 322,560; x 1.08 = 348,365; x 1.07 = 372,750. Installed cost per workstation = 372,750 / 90 = about $4,142. If the budget is $350,000, the design is short by about $22,750; value-engineer the workstation or reduce quantity before cutting contingency.
Traps
- Forgetting freight, installation, tax, and contingency.
- Assuming a 30x60-in table seats two people comfortably with task equipment.
- Ignoring lead times or specifying a discontinued finish.
- Accepting a substitution without checking dimensions, finish, and warranty.