# Cat A vs Cat B Fit-Out: Who Pays for What

> Cat A is the landlord's base finish — a blank, serviced but unusable floor with ceiling, lighting, basic HVAC and raised floor. Cat B is the tenant's build on top of it: the layout, cabins, meeting rooms, branding and everything that makes the space specific to one occupier.

## Why it matters on a fit-out project

This is where fit-out budgets go wrong before design even starts. A tenant sees
a completed Cat A floor — ceiling in, lights on, air conditioning running — and
reasonably assumes most of the work is done.

It is not. Cat A is deliberately generic, and Cat B frequently involves undoing
part of it. Understanding the split early is what stops a budget being set
against the wrong scope.

## What sits in each

| Element | Cat A (landlord) | Cat B (tenant) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Raised access floor | Usually provided, bare | Floor finish, boxes, outlets |
| Ceiling | Grid and tiles, open plan | Cut, adapted or replaced for the layout |
| Lighting | Uniform general lighting | Zoned, feature and task lighting |
| HVAC | Distribution to the floor | Rebalanced and rerouted to the layout |
| Fire systems | Sprinklers, detection, open plan | Relocated to suit rooms and cabins |
| Partitions | None | All cabins, meeting rooms, glazing |
| Power / data | Basic distribution, incoming | Small power, containment, AV, IT |
| Finishes | Sealed floor, painted core | Carpet, wall finishes, joinery, branding |
| Furniture | None | All |

## Common mistakes

- **Budgeting Cat B on a Cat A impression.** The floor looks finished, so the
  scope gets underestimated by exactly the value of everything above.
- **Not scheduling Cat A in the lease.** "Warm shell" means different things to
  different landlords. It should be an annexed schedule, not a term.
- **Ignoring what Cat B undoes.** Sprinkler relocation, ceiling adaptation and
  HVAC rebalancing are real line items in every cabinised layout.
- **Fixing the layout before compliance is checked.** Adding rooms changes escape
  routes, travel distance and occupancy under NBC 2016 Part 4 — cheap to solve on
  a drawing, expensive after ceilings close.
- **Comparing quotes across different scopes.** One contractor pricing Cat B only
  against another pricing Cat A adaptation plus Cat B is not a comparison.

## Standards referenced

Occupancy, exits and travel distance — all of which move when a Cat A floor is
subdivided into a Cat B layout — are governed by **NBC 2016, Part 4**.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do bare shell, warm shell and Cat A relate to each other?

In Indian practice the terms overlap and are used loosely. Bare shell is a structural floor with no services — you build everything. Warm shell adds core services brought to the floor. Cat A roughly corresponds to a completed warm shell with ceiling, lighting and HVAC distribution in place. Because usage varies by landlord, the lease must schedule exactly what is provided rather than rely on the label.

### Why do tenants end up paying for the same work twice?

Because Cat A is built for an unknown occupier, and Cat B rearranges the floor. A landlord's ceiling grid and sprinkler layout assume open plan; the moment you add cabins and meeting rooms, ceilings are cut, sprinklers relocated and diffusers moved. On some floors it is genuinely cheaper to negotiate a Cat A reduction and build once.

### Can I ask the landlord to skip Cat A?

Often yes, and it is worth asking. A Cat A inducement or shell-condition handover with a rent adjustment can be better value than accepting a finish you will partly demolish. It depends on the landlord's leasing strategy, but tenants who never ask never find out.

## Sources

- [NBC 2016, Part 4](https://www.bis.gov.in/standards/national-building-code/?lang=en) — Fire and life safety — occupancy

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Source: https://hagerstone.com/glossary/cat-a-vs-cat-b-fit-out