Glossary

Office Fit-Out Glossary

80+ terms every office fit-out decision-maker should know — from BOQ to WELL, Cat A to warm shell. Plain English definitions written from real Indian project experience.

A

Activity-Based Working AHU (Air Handling Unit) ASHRAE

B

Bare Shell Bill of Quantities (BOQ) BIM (Building Information Modelling) Biophilic Design BMS (Building Management System) BUA (Built-Up Area)

C

Carpet Area Cat A Fit-Out Cat B Fit-Out Chilled Beam CIBSE Circular Economy (in interiors) Commissioning

D

Data Cabling (structured) Day Lighting Factor Dead Load Defects Liability Period (DLP) Design-Bid-Build Design-Build

E

Embodied Carbon End-User Commissioning ESG (in built environment)

F

Fit-Out Fit-Out Ratio Fixed-Price Contract Floating Floor Fresh Air Unit (FAU)

G

GCC (Global Capability Centre) Glazing Ratio Green Star GRIHA

H

Hot Aisle / Cold Aisle Hot-Desking HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning)

I

IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Integrated Ceiling System

L

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Live Load Lux Level

M

MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing) Millwork Mock-Up

N

Neighbourhood (in ABW) Net Lettable Area (NLA)

O

Occupancy Density Open Plan Office Operational Carbon

P

PMC (Project Management Consultant) Point-of-Work Technology Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE) Prefabrication

Q

Quantity Surveyor (QS)

R

Raised Access Floor Return on Investment (fit-out) Reverse Auction

S

Sit-Stand Desk Snag List Space Planning Space Utilisation Stacking Plan Super Built-Up Area

T

T-Grid Ceiling Tenant Improvement (TI) Allowance Turnkey Fit-Out

U

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) Utilisation Rate

V

Vastu Shastra (in commercial design) VRF / VRV (Variable Refrigerant Flow/Volume)

W

Warm Shell WELL Building Standard Work Order Workplace Strategy

Z

Zero Snagging Handover

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Last updated: June 2026