Property Management

Office Fit-Out Management: From Space Plan to Handover

Swara - Property Management Technology Consultant September 17, 2026

Office fit-out management is the landlord's side of a tenant's fit-out: approving the design, granting the licence to alter, coordinating the works with the building's services and other occupiers, inspecting at completion, and recording what was built so that the reinstatement obligation at lease end is enforceable. The tenant's project manager runs the fit-out; the landlord's building manager makes sure it does not damage the building, breach the lease, or leave the landlord with a dilapidations claim it cannot prove.

This guide uses UK and international vocabulary (fit-out, Category A and Category B, usually shortened to Cat A and Cat B in fit-out guides and heads of terms, licence to alter). The US equivalent, with tenant improvement allowances, draws and lien waivers, is covered in our guide to the tenant improvement build-out process.

Category A vs Category B vs shell and core

The Category A vs Category B distinction (the Cat A vs Cat B fit out question, as the market abbreviates it), with shell and core as the stage before both, describes the state of the space at handover, and therefore where the landlord's works stop and the tenant's start. Getting them wrong in the heads of terms is the first source of fit-out disputes.

	Shell and core	Category A	Category B
What it is	The structure, envelope and common parts complete; the floor plate is bare concrete with no services beyond the riser	A finished but empty floor: raised floor, suspended ceiling, lighting, basic mechanical and electrical distribution, fire detection, blinds	The tenant's occupied workspace: partitions, meeting rooms, tea points, furniture, IT, branding, enhanced services
Who does it	Landlord (developer)	Landlord, or tenant against a Category A contribution	Tenant, or landlord as a "Category B fit-out" or "plug and play" offer
Typical inclusions	Slab, columns, façade, lift lobbies, toilets on the core, capped services at the riser	Raised access floor, ceiling grid and tiles, LED lighting to an open-plan layout, HVAC distribution (fan coil units or VAV boxes), sprinklers to an open-plan layout, fire alarm, small power to floor boxes on a grid	Partitioning, doors, floor finishes, joinery, kitchens, AV, data cabling, security and access control, supplementary cooling for comms rooms, adjusted sprinkler heads and lighting to the new layout
Who owns it at lease end	Landlord	Landlord	Tenant's alterations; reinstatement to Category A usually required
Typical UK cost range (per sq ft, indicative)	n/a	£40–£80	£70–£150 for a standard corporate fit-out; higher for high-spec
Where the dispute lives	What "capped services" means, and capacity at the riser	Whether Category A is stripped out for Category B and who pays for the waste	What must be removed at lease end and what can stay

Two variants matter. Category A+ (or "plug and play") is a landlord-delivered Category B to a generic layout, offered to attract smaller tenants who cannot fund a fit-out; it stays the landlord's property, and the lease should say so. And a Category A contribution is a cash sum the landlord pays a tenant who takes shell and core or part-Category A space and does the Category A works itself, which changes the approval process because the landlord is now approving works to its own base build.

Landlord approvals and the licence to alter

Almost every office lease prohibits structural alterations outright and allows non-structural alterations with the landlord's prior written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld. The document that gives that consent is the licence to alter (or licence for alterations), and the landlord fit out approval process is what produces it.

The tenant applies with a pack: scaled drawings of the proposed layout, mechanical and electrical drawings showing connections to base build services, a specification, the contractor's details and insurances, a programme, a method statement for noisy and disruptive works, and the fire strategy for the new layout. The landlord's team (building manager, and usually the landlord's building surveyor and M&E consultant, at the tenant's cost under the lease) reviews for six things.

Structural impact: floor loadings for compactus storage, comms rooms and feature staircases; penetrations through slabs or the façade. Base build services: whether the fan coil units, electrical distribution and sprinkler mains have capacity for the layout, and whether any change to base build plant is proposed. Fire strategy: escape routes, compartmentation, sprinkler and detection coverage for the new partition layout, and whether the fire engineer must re-certify. Statutory consents: Building Regulations approval (in England and Wales, via building control or an approved inspector), planning consent where the façade or use changes, and, for listed buildings, listed building consent. Interference with other occupiers: hours for noisy works, use of goods lifts and loading bays, and protection of common parts. Reinstatement: which items will be required to be removed at lease end, recorded in the licence itself.

The licence sets the conditions: approved drawings appended, the works to be carried out in accordance with them, the landlord's right to inspect, the tenant's obligation to provide as-built drawings, O&M manuals and statutory certificates on completion, and the reinstatement obligation at expiry. It also records that the works are tenant's alterations and are disregarded at rent review, which matters to the tenant more than any other line.

A fit-out approval checklist for the building manager, in the order the items usually arrive:

Stage	Item	Who provides	Landlord check
Application	Layout, M&E and RCP drawings; specification	Tenant's designer	Complete set, scaled, revision-numbered
Application	Contractor insurances (public liability, contractors all risks, employer's liability)	Tenant's contractor	Limits meet lease minimums; landlord noted as interested party
Application	Programme and method statement	Tenant's PM	Noisy works in permitted hours; lift and loading bay bookings
Review	Structural engineer's comments	Landlord's engineer	Loadings, penetrations, façade
Review	M&E consultant's comments	Landlord's consultant	Capacity, base build interfaces, metering
Review	Fire strategy sign-off	Fire engineer	Escape, compartmentation, sprinkler and detection changes
Consent	Building Regulations application lodged	Tenant	Reference number on file
Consent	Licence to alter signed with drawings appended	Landlord's solicitor	Reinstatement schedule included
Works	Permits to work for hot works, isolations, working at height	Tenant's contractor	Building's permit system, daily
Works	Landlord inspections at first fix and before ceilings close	Building manager	Photos to the file
Completion	As-built drawings, O&M manuals, test certificates, Building Regulations completion certificate	Tenant	All received before the licence's completion date
Completion	Landlord's completion inspection	Building surveyor	Snag list closed; common parts made good

The licence should be signed before works start. In practice tenants pressure landlords to allow a start "at risk" before the licence is complete; the lease usually gives the landlord the right to refuse, and a start without consent is a breach that weakens the landlord's position on everything from reinstatement to insurance.

The fit-out timeline

A mid-sized Category B fit-out (10,000 to 30,000 sq ft) runs roughly 26 weeks from appointing a designer to occupation, of which the landlord approval process occupies weeks 6 to 12 and can extend the programme more than any construction activity if it is not managed. This office fit out process table is the fit out timeline from the landlord's side, showing where its actions sit.

Weeks	Tenant activity	Landlord activity	Common delay
1–4	Brief, space planning, concept design, budget	Provide base build drawings, O&M manuals and the fit-out guide (rules for contractors, hours, lifts, loading bay)	Base build information missing or out of date
5–8	Detailed design, M&E design, tender documents	Initial technical review; flag structural, services and fire issues early	Tenant submits for approval only once design is complete, and issues arise late
6–12	Licence to alter application; Building Regulations submission	Consultants' review; conditions agreed; licence drafted and signed	Landlord's consultants not appointed until application lands; solicitors slow on the licence
9–12	Contractor tender and appointment	Approve contractor; check insurances; induct site team	Insurance limits below lease minimums
13	Site mobilisation	Issue permits; protect common parts; confirm noisy works hours	Goods lift not booked; other occupiers not notified
13–16	Strip-out (if Category A is being removed) and first fix: partitions, M&E containment	Inspect before ceilings close; confirm sprinkler and detection changes to the fire engineer	Sprinkler drain-down not scheduled with the building
17–22	Second fix: finishes, joinery, data, AV, kitchens	Weekly walk; coordinate connections to base build (BMS, fire alarm, access control)	Fire alarm cause-and-effect not re-commissioned
23–24	Commissioning and testing; furniture; snagging	Witness commissioning of interfaces with base build systems; completion inspection	Building Regulations completion certificate delayed
25–26	Handover to tenant; move in	Receive as-builts, O&M and certificates; close the licence file; record alterations on the lease	As-built drawings never delivered, discovered at lease end

The row that most often costs the tenant a month is weeks 6 to 12. Landlords who appoint their reviewing consultants when the heads of terms are signed, rather than when the application arrives, cut that window in half, and the tenant's project manager will notice.

Reinstatement obligations and dilapidations

The reinstatement clause in the lease, repeated in the licence to alter, requires the tenant to remove its alterations at lease end and return the premises to the condition they were in before the fit-out, usually Category A, in repair. That obligation is the basis of the landlord's dilapidations claim, and the fit-out file is the evidence.

Three documents make the obligation enforceable. A schedule of condition or Category A photographic record taken before the works start, showing what "reinstated" means. The licence to alter with the approved drawings, showing what was added and therefore what must be removed. And the as-built drawings at completion, showing what was actually built (which is never quite what was approved).

The landlord should decide at the licence stage which items it will want removed and which it will accept. A tenant's high-quality partitioning and meeting rooms may be worth more to the next occupier than a stripped floor, and a landlord who says so in the licence (or at the reinstatement notice stage, where the lease requires the landlord to serve notice a set period before expiry) avoids paying for a strip-out it did not want. Conversely, a comms room with supplementary cooling, a feature staircase through the slab or a bespoke reception will almost always have to go.

The dilapidations process itself, from the terminal schedule to negotiation and settlement, is in our guide to managing lease-end dilapidations. The point here is that the claim is only as good as the fit-out file assembled five or ten years earlier.

Coordinating with building services

A tenant's fit-out is a construction site inside an occupied building, and the building manager's job during the works is to protect the base build systems and the other occupiers.

Base build interfaces are the technical risk. Fan coil units are rebalanced for the new layout; the BMS is updated; sprinkler heads are moved and the system drained and refilled, which affects the whole riser and needs a fire watch and the insurer's notification; the fire alarm cause-and-effect matrix is re-commissioned so that the new detectors and sounders behave correctly, which requires the building's alarm contractor, not the tenant's; access control is extended to the tenant's doors on the landlord's system or a separate one, and the two must not conflict on escape doors. Every one of these needs the landlord's contractor or consultant present, and every one should be in the licence as a condition.

Occupier protection is the operational risk. Noisy works (drilling, breaking out) are restricted to out-of-hours in most multi-let buildings, and the fit-out guide sets the hours. Goods lift and loading bay slots are booked, and the tenant's deliveries do not use passenger lifts. Common parts on the route from the loading bay to the floor are protected and cleaned daily. Dust and fumes are controlled at the floor, because a neighbouring tenant's complaint about paint fumes through a shared air handling unit becomes the landlord's problem, not the contractor's.

Utilities and metering are the billing risk. If the tenant's fit-out adds supplementary cooling, a comms room or a kitchen, the electrical load changes, and the landlord should confirm the tenant's sub-meter covers the new circuits before the works close, or the load ends up in the service charge.

Tracking approvals and works in the system

A fit-out generates a file that has to be found ten years later by someone who was not there: the licence, the drawings, the consultants' reports, the permits, the inspection photos, the as-builts and the certificates. In most buildings that file is spread across a solicitor's deed packet, a building surveyor's server and the building manager's email.

In RIOO on NetSuite, the licence to alter, the approved drawings and reports, and the completion certificates are kept on the lease record in leasing management with the other lease documents, so the reinstatement position is on file at expiry. The works themselves are tracked through service request and task management, where work orders are created, assigned and monitored to completion and scheduled inspections and compliance documentation are recorded against the building. Consultants' fees recharged to the tenant post to the tenant's financial record.

See how RIOO supports office and workspace management for multi-let buildings.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What is the difference between Category A and Category B fit-out?
Category A is the landlord's finished but empty floor: raised floor, ceiling, lighting, basic HVAC and electrical distribution, fire detection. Category B is the tenant's occupied workspace on top of it: partitions, meeting rooms, kitchens, furniture, IT and branding. Shell and core is the stage before both, with services capped at the riser. Category A is landlord's property; Category B is the tenant's alterations and is usually removed at lease end.

Q2. What is a licence to alter?
The formal written consent from the landlord to a tenant's alterations, required by most office leases for any non-structural works. It appends the approved drawings, sets conditions for the works, records the tenant's obligation to provide as-built information, and states the reinstatement obligation at lease end. It should be signed before works begin.

Q3. How long does an office fit-out take?
A mid-sized Category B fit-out of 10,000 to 30,000 sq ft typically runs about 26 weeks from appointing the designer to moving in: four to eight weeks of design, six weeks of landlord approval and statutory consent, and twelve to fourteen weeks on site including commissioning. Landlord approval is the stage most often extended.

Q4. Does the landlord have to approve a tenant's fit-out?
Where the lease says consent is not to be unreasonably withheld, the landlord must consider the application in reasonable time and can only refuse or condition it on reasonable grounds: structural impact, base build services capacity, fire safety, statutory compliance, interference with other occupiers and reinstatement. Structural alterations are usually prohibited outright.

Q5. Who pays the landlord's costs of reviewing a fit-out?
Under most office leases the tenant pays the landlord's reasonable professional costs of considering the application and preparing the licence, including the building surveyor, M&E consultant and solicitor. The licence records the amount or the basis.