Cat A vs Cat B Fit-Out: What the Difference Means for Your Make Good
Cat A and Cat B are the two standard levels of Australian office fit-out. Here is what each means and how they decide your make good scope.
Cat A and Cat B are the standard terms Australian commercial property uses to describe office fit-out levels, and they matter directly for your make good because most clauses reference one of them as the handback standard.
Category A (Cat A)
A Cat A fit-out is the base building brought to a lettable standard: raised access floors, a suspended ceiling grid, basic mechanical and electrical services, and fire protection systems. It has no partitions, workstations, branding or customised design features, it is essentially a blank, serviced shell ready for a tenant to build their own fit-out inside.
Category B (Cat B)
A Cat B fit-out is everything a tenant adds on top of Cat A: partitions, workstations, meeting rooms, kitchens, branding and any customised finishes. This is the layer that makes an office recognisably 'yours', and it is almost always the layer a make good clause requires you to remove.
Why this matters for your scope
| Your handback standard | What you typically need to do |
|---|---|
| Return to Cat A | Remove your entire Cat B fit-out: partitions, workstations, branding, extra cabling, back to the base shell. |
| Return to condition at commencement | Match the space to whatever existed when you first moved in, which could be Cat A or a previous tenant's partial fit-out. |
| Fair wear and tear only | A narrower obligation: repair damage you caused, but ordinary wear from use is not your responsibility. |
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Check your actual lease wording
Some leases specify 'Cat A' directly, others use less precise phrasing like 'base building condition' or 'original condition'. If your lease is vague, ask the landlord in writing which standard they mean before you get quotes, since a full Cat A strip out costs considerably more than matching a partial fit-out that was already there when you moved in.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Cat A fit-out?
The base building finished to a lettable standard: raised floors, ceiling grid, basic services and fire protection, but no partitions, workstations or branding.
What is a Cat B fit-out?
Everything the tenant adds on top of Cat A: partitions, workstations, branding, kitchens and custom finishes. This is usually the layer a make good clause requires the tenant to remove.
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Sources: Crown Interiors, The difference between Shell and Core, Cat A, Cat A+ and Cat B fit out , Peldon Rose, The difference between Cat A, Cat B and Cat C office fit out