Cat A and Cat B are the two stages most office fit-outs are described in, and knowing where one ends and the other begins is the key to an getting to the right budget. Most people mean Cat B when they talk about a fit-out, but it is the Cat A condition that decides how far your Cat B budget will go.
What Cat A includes
Cat A is what the landlord delivers, typically raised floors, suspended ceilings, basic mechanical and electrical services and sometimes lighting. It leaves a clean, open floor that is ready to occupy on paper, although very few businesses could move in and work well in it as it stands.
What Cat B adds
Cat B is everything the tenant adds to make the space their own, including partitions, meeting rooms, kitchens, furniture, branding and any special services. This is where most of the design work happens, because Cat B takes a generic floor and turns it into an office shaped around how your team actually works.
Why Cat A condition matters
Poor Cat A adds cost, because old services, a shallow ceiling void or too little power can each bring unplanned work into the Cat B package. And there is sometimes overalp. That is why we check the Cat A condition before you sign the lease and test it against what your Cat B fit-out actually needs. It is a cheap check that avoids a costly surprise, and it gives you something concrete to negotiate with if the landlord’s works fall short. On our office interior fit-out at Weston Street in London Bridge we were working directly for the landlord getting the Cat A fit out right and then we taylored the design for the specific tenant (Cat B).
Our office fit-out page explains how we help, from checking the Cat A condition to designing and tendering the Cat B works. Our guides to office fit-out costs and the commercial fit-out process, week by week, cover what comes next.
See also:
Designing an office that actually gets used
Commercial fit-out, week by week
Project page: Weston Street
