Bare Shell vs Warm Shell: What the Landlord Hands Over

The label on the lease is not a specification

Most office searches in India meet these words early. A broker describes a floor as "bare shell" or "warm shell", rent is quoted against it, and the budget and move-in date are set on what the words seem to promise. The common assumption is that the terms mean something fixed, the way a concrete grade does.

They do not. No Indian standard defines them, and two landlords in the same city can use "warm shell" for floors that differ by an entire air conditioning system.

That matters to a CEO or CFO because the gap between what was expected and what is actually on the floor lands in the fit-out budget and the programme. Air conditioning that has to be designed and installed from the plant connection onwards, a fire detection system that has to be extended across an empty slab, or an electrical supply that has not been brought to the floor are not finishing items. They are among the longest-lead, most coordination-heavy parts of a fit-out. The time to find out which of them is yours is before the lease is signed, while the handover condition can still be negotiated.

How bare shell, warm shell and Cat A relate

The table shows typical usage, not definitions. Your building may sit anywhere between the rows.

The boundary between warm shell and Cat A is the most blurred. One landlord's "warm shell plus" has ceilings and lights; another's "Cat A ready" has only an air conditioning stub at the riser. The split between Cat A and Cat B, and why Cat B often undoes part of Cat A, is explained in Cat A vs Cat B fit-out. This page is about the step before that: knowing what is actually on the floor on day one.

What the handover schedule should say, system by system

The protection is a handover specification annexed to the lease: a schedule that lists what the landlord provides, where each service stops, its capacity and its condition. These are the items that most often decide fit-out scope.

Ceiling and floor. Is there a ceiling, or only the exposed slab? Is the floor screeded and level, or raw structural slab? Is a raised floor provided? The floor condition alone decides whether finishes can go straight down or need levelling first.

Air conditioning and fresh air. This is where the labels diverge most. Ask whether the base building provides cooling at all, of what type, and where it stops: plant only, a chilled water or refrigerant connection at the riser, ductwork across the floor, or terminal units in place. Ask how fresh air reaches the floor and what occupancy it was sized for, whether there is spare capacity, and who operates and maintains the system after handover.

Lighting. None, temporary site lighting, or a general lighting layout. Where general lighting exists it was designed for an unknown occupier and may be removed or relaid under the fit-out.

Fire detection, alarm and sprinklers. Whether sprinkler mains and detection exist on the floor, laid out for open plan, or only up to the floor boundary. These systems are usually shared with the rest of the building, so the schedule should also say who may extend or modify them. Fire and life safety provisions sit in NBC 2016, Part 4; what a particular layout requires is for the fire consultant and the authority having jurisdiction to establish.

Electrical capacity. The capacity allocated to the tenant, where the supply terminates, whether a tenant meter and distribution board are provided, and whether backup power is available and to what extent. The supply sets limits on server rooms, pantries and dense seating; sanctioned load explains how capacity is approved and why it is not easily increased later.

Washrooms, water and drainage. Whether washrooms are in the common core or must be built inside the tenant's floor, and whether water and drainage points are provided for pantries, and where. Plumbing provisions are covered in NBC 2016, Part 9. A pantry that needs drainage far from the core can force floor penetrations or a raised zone, which is a design decision, not a site fix.

Facade and access. Whether the facade is complete and weathertight, whether blinds are part of the base build, and how materials will reach the floor.

How the handover condition changes scope and time

Scope. Every service missing at handover is a package the tenant must design, coordinate with the landlord, procure, install and commission. The difference between a bare shell and a well-specified warm shell is not a few line items; it can be most of the services content of the project.

Time. The items most often missing (air conditioning, fire systems and the electrical supply) are also the ones with long lead times, landlord approvals and interfaces with shared base-building systems. A weaker handover condition therefore lengthens the programme in its least predictable stages, not only at the end.

Money and dates. Rent-free fit-out periods are usually negotiated on an assumed handover condition. If the floor arrives weaker than assumed, the rent-free period can run out before the office is ready, and rent starts on space that cannot yet be used.

A bare shell is not automatically the worse option. It avoids paying, directly or through rent, for a generic ceiling and services layout that a cellular or specialised layout would partly demolish. The trade is more design responsibility and a longer programme, which is a reasonable trade if it is made knowingly.

Common mistakes

• Budgeting on the broker's label. The budget is set against "warm shell" before anyone has read what the building means by it.
• Accepting "as per building standard" in the lease. That phrase describes nothing that can be checked at handover.
• Not asking where each service stops. A connection point at the riser and a distributed system on the floor are very different scopes.
• Assuming the air conditioning suits your headcount. Base-building cooling and fresh air are sized on the landlord's assumptions, not your seating plan.
• Agreeing the rent-free period before the handover condition is known. The period is then fixed against work nobody has scoped.
• Skipping the joint inspection at handover. Without a dated record of what was on the floor, disputes about missing or faulty items are hard to settle.
• Designing before measuring. The handover drawings show the intended floor; a measured site survey before design shows the built one.

What to ask before signing

• Is there a handover specification annexed to the lease, system by system?
• For air conditioning, fresh air, electrical supply, fire detection and sprinklers, where exactly does the landlord's scope stop?
• What capacity is allocated to this floor for cooling, fresh air and power, and on what occupancy was it based?
• Who is permitted to extend or modify shared fire and air conditioning systems?
• Are washrooms in the core, and where are water and drainage points for pantries?
• What is the floor condition: level screed, raw slab or raised floor?
• When will the floor be handed over, and how is its condition recorded?
• Do the fit-out guidelines restrict any of the work this layout needs? See reading the landlord's fit-out guidelines.

A design-and-build contractor should be able to read the handover schedule against your brief and list what the fit-out must add before a budget is set.

Standards referenced

Fire and life safety provisions in NBC 2016, Part 4; building services provisions, including air conditioning and electrical installations, in NBC 2016, Part 8; plumbing services in NBC 2016, Part 9. Bare shell, warm shell and Cat A are commercial terms, not defined in these codes, and their meaning on a particular lease is a contractual matter. The services capacity and statutory requirements for a specific floor must be established by the project's engineers, consultants and the authority having jurisdiction.