Building IT1, floor IT4? Yes, and here's why

One of the most frequently asked questions about the IT-Label concerns a seeming contradiction: how can a building as a whole carry a high classification, while a floor in that same property receives a much lower classification? The answer is simpler than it seems, and it touches on the core of how the IT-Label looks at real estate.

The IT-Label does not measure one single thing, but always distinguishes between two layers. The first layer is the building-bound IT infrastructure, for which the owner is responsible. The second layer is the IT setup of an individual space, for which the tenant is usually responsible. Each of these two layers has its own quality, and therefore its own classification.

This is precisely why a building can carry an IT1 classification while a floor is IT4 at that moment. That is not a contradiction, but a logical consequence of who fits out which part. In this article we explain how that works.

The digital foundation is the owner's domain

The building-bound digital infrastructure is the part that is permanently connected to the property and used by every tenant, regardless of who occupies the space. An owner determines the quality of this during construction or renovation and keeps it up to standard. This is the layer that has the most influence on the digital building infrastructure in the long term.

Provisions typically covered by the building label include:

• Fiber optic connections into the building, including multiple providers where possible.
• Redundancy in connections, so that a single fault does not bring down the entire property.
• A well-organized patch room and meter cupboards with sufficient capacity.
• Backbone cabling between floors and technical rooms.
• A foundation for wifi infrastructure in shared spaces.
• Smart building systems (BMS), climate control, access control, cameras and monitoring.

If these provisions are present at a high level and are future-proof, a building can achieve a classification such as IT1 HIGH PERFORMANCE or, with AI-ready provisions, IT1+ PREMIUM. You can read more about the role of fiber in the knowledge base on fiber optics in buildings.

A floor delivered empty says nothing about the quality of the building, and everything about the tenant's freedom.

A floor may be deliberately empty

As soon as we look at an individual floor or office space, the question changes. Here it is no longer about the fixed infrastructure of the property, but about the setup that a specific user needs. And that setup is often not yet present, simply because there is no tenant yet, or because the tenant wants to make their own choices.

A floor delivered as shell space or in flexible condition gives the tenant room to build their own network, wifi, cybersecurity, telephony, printers, servers and other workspace facilities. At that moment, the IT setup of that space is minimal, and the floor might receive a classification such as IT4 CORE. This does not detract from the quality of the building beneath it. What a shell space tells you in advance is explained in the article on renting a shell space and the IT-Label.

The IT-Label looks at building and user level

The key lies in the distinction between building-bound and tenant-bound provisions. The IT-Label maps out that distinction, so that an owner is not held accountable for a setup that belongs to the tenant, and a tenant knows what digital foundation to expect from the building. This gives a firm basis for the agreements on who does what, including for the division in the ROZ lease agreement.

Why this creates flexibility

For multi-tenant buildings, business parks and turn-key concepts, this distinction is actually an advantage. Take a modern smart office building with fiber optics, redundant connections and full smart building provisions. On the ground floor sits a law firm that rents a fully turn-key workspace with a high-level IT setup of its own. Two floors up sits a startup that deliberately rents shell space and sets everything up itself.

Both tenants benefit from the same high-quality digital foundation, but choose a different IT level for their own space. The owner does not need to change anything about the building for this. The classification of the property remains high, while the floors each tell their own story. You can read more about this at the IT-Label for office buildings.

The comparison with the energy label

Anyone familiar with the energy label will recognize the pattern. A building can be energy efficient thanks to insulation, installations and a good building envelope, while the layout of an individual space differs completely per user. The energy label of the property does not change because one tenant handles heating or equipment differently. The IT-Label works the same way: the building layer and the user layer stand side by side. We explore this parallel further in IT-Label versus energy label.

Taking the next step

A high-quality building label and a flexible tenant level do not exclude each other, they reinforce each other. A strong, future-proof digital foundation makes your property attractive to any future tenant, regardless of how extensive their own IT environment eventually becomes. The owner delivers the foundation, the tenant builds further on top of it.

Would you like to know which building-bound provisions in your property count and how the classification is determined? Take a look at how the IT-Label works or explore the full classification from PREMIUM to SHELL, so you know which level fits your ambitions.