Cat A usually describes a base office fit-out, while Cat B describes work that adapts the space for an occupier. When comparing offers, check what each one includes, from the existing ceiling to the last specialist connection.
A label is a starting point for the conversation. Ask for the current specification, a record of the space being handed over and a schedule of the work still required. Those documents let you compare two offers against the same intended office.
What is a Cat A fit out?
A Cat A fit out generally provides the base finish of an office before it is adapted for a particular occupier. It often includes an open-plan space with basic services and wall finishes; raised floors and suspended ceilings may also be included. The actual handover specification decides what is provided.
What is a Cat B fit out?
A Cat B fit out adapts that starting space to the business using it. This can include meeting rooms, partitions, finishes, furniture, tea points and changes to services around the chosen layout. Record which elements are retained, altered or installed, and who supplies each one.
The Government Commercial Agency’s introductory explanation sets out this distinction. Its April 2019 article is background guidance, not the specification or procurement agreement for your premises.
Cat A specification checklist
Before comparing an office offer, ask the landlord or project team to confirm these points in writing. This is a checking list, not a promise that every Cat A space includes every item.
- Floors: the floor construction, levels and condition; whether any raised floor and final floor covering are included.
- Ceilings: exposed or suspended arrangement, condition, access panels and responsibility for changes around new rooms.
- Walls and perimeter: the extent of completed finishes and what requires preparation or decoration.
- Services: the documented lighting, power, ventilation, heating or cooling provision, and who assesses changes for the occupier’s layout.
- Safety systems and records: the supplied system information, test and commissioning records, outstanding work and the responsible specialists.
- Facilities and handover: which toilets, kitchen or tea-point facilities are provided, the drawings and condition record, and what remains to be installed.
An existing ceiling may not suit the new layout. Carry unresolved items into the scope matrix below before comparing costs.
Start with what is already there
Walk through the landlord's handover information with your designer and relevant specialists. Mark what is present, its recorded condition and what needs further assessment. Keep that starting-condition record separate from the drawing of the finished office.
Then identify what your business needs: rooms, workstations, storage, kitchen or tea-point facilities, finishes and equipment. Where the new layout changes services or performance requirements, ask the responsible designer or specialist to identify the connected work before it is priced.
Use one scope matrix for both offers
The following is an unpriced comparison sheet you can adapt. Put each offer's drawing revision and specification date at the top. Replace every question with a confirmed inclusion, exclusion, allowance or unresolved item.
| Item | Starting condition | Required outcome and responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Partitions and doors | Which walls and doors remain? | Record the new layout, complete specified systems, finishes and design owner. |
| Ceilings | Retain, repair or replace the existing ceiling? | Identify levels, access panels, service openings and who reinstates disturbed areas. |
| Floor and wall finishes | What preparation is known or still to be assessed? | Name products, measured areas, supply, installation and final decoration. |
| Building services | Which existing installations are being relied on? | Assign assessment, design, alterations, connections, testing and handover information. |
| Furniture, IT and equipment | What is retained or supplied separately? | List purchases, installation, delivery dates and building-work interfaces. |
| Access and completion | What hours, routes and occupied areas constrain the work? | Define protection, waste, phases, cleaning, snagging and the agreed handover condition. |
Add a supplier, installer and decision owner wherever they differ. “Client supplied” still leaves unloading, storage, fitting, connections and missing parts to be assigned.
An example: two offers called Cat B
Take the same office layout issued to two contractors. This is a hypothetical comparison, not a Vayton project or price.
Offer A includes new meeting-room partitions, alterations to the retained ceiling and new floor finishes. Offer B includes the partitions and floor installation, but leaves the floor material purchase and ceiling repairs to others. Both are described as Cat B; their totals cover different work.
Mark the missing ceiling work and floor supply in the matrix. Obtain the separate prices or ask for revised offers before comparing the complete construction cost. Do the same for furniture, IT, services and fees. Keep the tax basis consistent and add each separate purchase once.
Our office refurbishment cost guide gives a worked example of how different supply responsibilities change an apparent price per square metre.
What if the offer says Cat A+?
Ask for the same inventory and scope comparison. Record which rooms, furniture, equipment and services the offer provides, what your business can retain and what still needs changing. A more fitted starting space can still leave important work outside your particular offer.
Keep this comparison in the Cat A and Cat B schedule so the same ceiling, furniture or service alteration is not counted twice under different headings.
Keep landlord, occupier and contractor decisions visible
Name who confirms landlord requirements, obtains any needed design or consent information and instructs changes. Ask your appointed adviser to explain lease obligations and any reinstatement requirements. A construction scope comparison does not decide those obligations.
Before agreeing a programme, resolve outstanding layout decisions, product deliveries, working restrictions and specialist appointments. Record what must be complete before each room is returned to use.
Send a brief for the office you need
Send us the London postcode, existing and proposed layouts, current specification, handover information and intended occupation date. List client purchases, work by others and anything still undecided. We can discuss a defined office refurbishment or fit-out package and the information needed for a comparable quotation.