15 Things to Check Before Accepting a Core & Shell Office Handover
A core and shell handover is the point at which the landlord or developer transfers the office to the occupier so that fit-out work can begin.
This should not be treated as a quick visual inspection.
The purpose is to confirm that the actual unit matches the agreed core and shell delivery specification before the company assumes responsibility for turning the space into an operational workplace.
Problems identified after fit-out starts can become harder to separate from the occupier’s own construction work.
For larger offices, it can be worth having a fit-out or technical consultant attend the inspection.
If you are still defining exactly what this delivery condition should include, start with What Is Core & Shell in Office Real Estate?.
Here is a practical office handover checklist for the inspection.
1. Start with the agreed handover specification
Before inspecting individual defects, understand exactly what the landlord committed to deliver.
Review the lease, technical specification and approved drawings.
Which electrical, HVAC, fire-safety, plumbing and other services should be included?
The phrase “core and shell” is not a complete specification. Two projects can deliver substantially different base conditions under the same label.
The contractual delivery documents should therefore form the reference point for the inspection.
It also helps to understand how the delivered condition fits into the wider setup process. Office Finishing & Setup in Egypt: The Full Guide explains the different stages between taking possession of a unit and reaching an operational workplace.
2. Verify the unit boundaries and dimensions
Compare the physical unit with the approved plans.
Check entrances, columns, external walls, service areas and any irregular parts of the floorplate.
Small dimensional differences can affect workstation capacity, meeting rooms, corridors and the efficiency of the final workplace plan.
Do not assume the drawing and the physical space match exactly without checking.
3. Inspect the floor slab
Look at the condition and level of the unfinished floor.
Check for significant cracks, damaged areas, holes or uneven sections that may require repair or levelling before final flooring can be installed.
A poor slab condition can create additional fit-out cost that is easy to miss when viewing an empty unit.
Record any areas that need corrective work before covering the slab with finished flooring.
4. Confirm available ceiling height
Do not rely only on the advertised floor-to-ceiling measurement.
Look at beams, ducts, pipes, fire systems and other base-building services that may reduce the usable height.
The available space above the finished ceiling affects HVAC distribution, lighting, services and the overall office design.
A dimension that looks generous on a drawing may become much tighter once the required services are considered.
5. Review columns, walls and fixed structural elements
Confirm the position and condition of columns and any permanent walls or structural features.
The design team needs to understand what can and cannot change.
A workplace plan developed without accounting for these fixed elements can create inefficient layouts or force redesign later.
The earlier the team identifies these constraints, the easier it becomes to design around them.
6. Inspect glazing, windows and the façade
Check the glazing, frames, seals and any operable windows.
Look for signs of water ingress, damaged seals or deterioration around the façade.
Weather-tightness problems may not be obvious during a dry inspection, but they can become expensive after the interior fit-out is complete.
Document anything that could allow water or air leakage before accepting the unit.
7. Confirm electrical capacity and connection
Establish where power enters the unit and how much electrical capacity the office receives.
Inspect the incoming connection and main panel where these form part of the agreed delivery.
The key question is not simply whether electricity exists.
The available capacity needs to support employee workstations, meeting-room technology, pantry equipment and any specialist business requirements.
Compare the available load with the expected workplace plan rather than reviewing the electrical connection in isolation.
8. Understand the HVAC handover point
Confirm exactly what the base building provides.
Is cooling available at the boundary of the unit? Are indoor units already installed? Does the tenant need to complete all internal distribution?
Check the available capacity and clarify which parts of the system will remain the landlord’s responsibility after occupation.
This information needs to be clear before the fit-out HVAC design starts.
The type of system also affects what the tenant should inspect. Types of AC Systems in Egyptian Offices: What to Know explains the differences between split, VRF, central and other office cooling systems.
9. Check fresh-air and ventilation provision
Cooling and ventilation are different.
Confirm how fresh air will reach the office and where the base-building connection is located.
This becomes particularly important for meeting rooms and densely occupied working areas.
A well-cooled office can still perform poorly if the final design does not provide adequate ventilation.
The fit-out team needs to know the available fresh-air provision before finalising room layouts and occupancy levels.
10. Inspect fire and life-safety interfaces
Review the fire-alarm and fire-fighting systems included in the base delivery.
Confirm the locations of pipes, connections, sprinklers, detectors and other relevant elements.
The final office layout may require the fit-out contractor to reposition or extend some of these systems.
The team therefore needs an accurate starting point before designing ceilings, partitions and rooms.
Any difference between the agreed delivery and the physical installation should go into the snag list.
11. Check plumbing and drainage points
Where the landlord provides water or drainage for pantries, bathrooms or other uses, verify the locations and condition of the connections.
Understand whether the services terminate inside the unit or whether the occupier needs to extend them from another location.
The position matters.
Moving wet areas away from the available plumbing and drainage points can materially increase fit-out complexity and cost.
12. Confirm telecom and data routes
Find out how internet and telecommunications services will reach the office.
Identify the relevant risers, telecommunications rooms and entry routes into the unit.
The design team should address this before completing ceilings and internal partitions.
Reliable connectivity is an operational requirement, not something to solve at the end of construction.
Make sure the planned server room, workstations and meeting spaces can connect efficiently to the available infrastructure.
13. Identify service access requirements
Some base-building components must remain accessible after the office is finished.
Locate valves, electrical equipment, HVAC connections, fire-system elements and other service points.
The workplace design should maintain access to these components without requiring major ceilings, partitions or finishes to be removed later.
Ignoring access requirements during design can turn routine maintenance into disruptive construction work.
14. Confirm meters and utility arrangements
Understand how the building will measure electricity, water or central cooling consumption.
Where dedicated meters exist, record their identification and readings at handover.
Clarify how the building charges for shared services and whether any utilities use an allocation formula instead of direct metering.
This reduces uncertainty once operating costs begin after occupation.
It also helps the company understand the real financial impact of the unit beyond the headline rent. The existing True Office Cost / office-cost guide should be linked here once its current Places permalink is confirmed.
15. Create and document the snag list
Do not complete the core and shell handover based on verbal commitments.
Record every defect or discrepancy, photograph it and identify its location clearly.
Agree which items the landlord must correct before acceptance and which can be completed afterwards under an agreed timetable.
The formal handover documents should reflect any significant outstanding issues.
Keep copies of approved drawings, delivery specifications and relevant testing or technical documents with the final handover record.
Inspect with the future fit-out in mind
One of the best ways to improve a core and shell handover inspection is to have at least an initial concept of how the office will operate.
Where will the meeting rooms sit? How will HVAC distribution run? Is the electrical capacity sufficient for the planned headcount? Will service routes remain accessible?
A defect that appears minor in an empty shell can become expensive once the workplace design is built around it.
This is why the inspection should not focus only on whether the space looks clean or complete.
It should test whether the delivered base condition can support the workplace the company intends to build.
Handover inspection is not fit-out inspection
These are two different stages.
The core and shell inspection establishes the condition delivered by the landlord or developer.
A later fit-out handover checks the work completed by the company’s own contractors.
Keeping the two stages clearly documented helps prevent disputes about where a defect originated and who needs to correct it.
The distinction also matters when comparing different delivery options before committing to an office. Ready to Move vs Core and Shell Offices in Egypt looks at the wider trade-off between taking a space that needs fit-out and choosing one closer to operation.
How Places approaches the handover stage
A good handover starts before handover day.
When Places evaluates an office, delivery specifications, base-building infrastructure, layout efficiency and likely fit-out requirements form part of understanding the unit before a company commits.
At handover, the objective is to confirm that the physical space matches the basis on which the business made its decision.
A difference in HVAC provision, electrical capacity or actual unit condition can materially change the cost and timeline required to reach operation.
The handover is therefore not only about documenting defects.
It is the point where the company confirms that the property it is receiving can support the fit-out and operating plan it has already built around it.
Final thoughts
Knowing what to check at handover matters because the empty office becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
Verify the agreed specification, dimensions, slab, ceiling zone, façade, power, HVAC, ventilation, fire systems, plumbing, data routes, service access and utility arrangements.
Then document defects before accepting responsibility for the unit.
A core and shell handover may look straightforward when the office is empty, but small problems in the base condition can become expensive once design and construction begin.