# Bare Shell vs Warm Shell: What the Landlord Hands Over

> Bare shell and warm shell describe how complete an office floor is at handover. Bare shell is usually structure, core and facade with services stopped at the riser; warm shell adds some base-building services on the floor. Neither term is standardised in India, so the handover schedule in the lease, not the label, decides what you receive and what your fit-out must build.

## 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.

| Handover condition | What is typically on the floor | What the tenant typically builds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Bare shell | Structure, core and external facade; services stopped at the riser or the floor boundary | Ceiling, air conditioning distribution and often the terminal units, lighting, extension of fire detection and sprinklers, power distribution, floor preparation and finishes |
| Warm shell | Bare shell plus some base-building services brought onto the floor, such as an air conditioning connection point, a main electrical distribution point, sprinkler mains or a fire detection backbone | Distribution of those services to suit the layout, plus ceiling, lighting, finishes and everything specific to the occupier |
| Cat A | A generic serviced open-plan floor: ceiling, general lighting, air conditioning distribution, fire systems laid out for open plan, sometimes a raised floor | Cat B: adapting Cat A to the layout, plus partitions, finishes, furniture, IT and AV |

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](/glossary/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](/glossary/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](/blog/office-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](/blog/reading-landlord-fit-out-guidelines-before-design).

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.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is warm shell the same as Cat A?

Not reliably. Some landlords use warm shell for a floor with services brought to a connection point and nothing more, while others use it for a floor that is close to a full Cat A with ceiling and lighting in place. Cat A usually means a generic, serviced open-plan floor. Because both terms are used loosely, compare the handover schedules, not the names.

### Is a bare shell floor always the worse deal?

No. A bare shell floor means more work for the tenant, but it also avoids paying, directly or through rent, for a generic ceiling and services layout that a cellular or specialised layout would partly demolish. Whether it is better value depends on the rent, the fit-out period agreed and how far your layout departs from open plan.

### What should the lease say about the handover condition?

It should annex a handover specification that lists, system by system, what the landlord provides, where each service stops, its capacity and its condition at handover. Ceiling, air conditioning, fresh air, lighting, fire detection and sprinklers, electrical supply, washrooms, water and drainage points and floor condition should each be covered. A phrase such as as per building standard is not a specification.

### How does the handover condition affect the fit-out programme?

Every service missing at handover becomes a package the tenant must design, get approved by the landlord, procure, install and commission. Air conditioning, fire systems and electrical supply are often the longest-lead and most coordination-heavy of these, so a weaker handover condition lengthens the programme in its least predictable stages, not just at the end.

### Who checks that the floor matches the handover schedule?

The tenant should, at a joint inspection with the landlord before the fit-out starts, ideally with the designer or contractor present. Record what is on the floor, what works and what is missing against the schedule, with photographs. That record protects the fit-out budget and is often relevant again at lease end, depending on how reinstatement is worded.

### Can the handover condition be negotiated?

Often, and it is worth asking before signing. A tenant can ask for services to be extended further, for capacity to be confirmed in writing, or for a shell handover with a rent or fit-out period adjustment instead of a finish it will remove. What a landlord agrees depends on its leasing approach, but nothing is negotiable once the lease is signed.

## Sources

- [NBC 2016, Part 4](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/) — Fire and life safety
- [NBC 2016, Part 8](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/) — Building services
- [NBC 2016, Part 9](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/) — Plumbing services

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Source: https://hagerstone.com/blog/bare-shell-vs-warm-shell-office-handover