Every office project has a moment that makes a fit-out specialist wince. The design is finalised, the partition walls are going up, the furniture has been ordered, and then someone asks: "So, how is IT actually arranged in this building?" Thijs Verdriet knows that moment all too well. As the driving force behind Kato Projecten, a company that guides organisations from the very first design sketch through to a fully realised, furnished workplace, he encounters this scenario more often than he would like. That experience, practical, unfiltered, and grounded in hundreds of square metres of completed office space, is exactly why IT-Label has welcomed him as a new member of its knowledge collective. We sat down with Thijs to find out what motivates him, where things consistently go wrong, and what he hopes to build together.
1. Thijs, why are you joining IT-Label?
The answer comes quickly and without hesitation. "Because I see it every single day," Thijs says. "A client comes to us with a brief. We work on the design, we align with the architect, we plan the fit-out, and IT is almost never part of that first conversation. Somewhere halfway through the project, someone suddenly wonders how internet connectivity, cabling, or WiFi access points are going to be handled. By that point, decisions have already been made that are very hard to undo."
For Thijs, this is not a technical complaint. It is a fundamental process problem. "IT is no longer an add-on. It is a basic utility, just like electricity or heating. You would never start designing a kitchen without knowing where the power outlets are. But with IT infrastructure in commercial real estate, we still act as if it can be figured out at the end. IT-Label is trying to change that, and I want to be part of that change."
2. What typically goes wrong in practice?
Kato Projecten works at the intersection of design, construction, and interior fit-out, which means Thijs is often the person left dealing with the consequences of earlier miscommunication. "The chain is long," he explains. "You have the landlord, the letting agent, the project manager, the contractor, the interior specialist, and eventually the tenant. Each of those parties has a different understanding of what 'IT-ready' means, if they think about it at all."
The result is a familiar pattern of gaps. Tenants assume internet connections are in place. Landlords assume the tenant will arrange everything themselves. Brokers focus on lease terms and square metres, not on what digital infrastructure exists behind the walls. Nobody is necessarily acting in bad faith, but without a shared standard, nobody is fully informed either.
"We regularly arrive at a site and discover that cabling runs are missing, that WiFi coverage has never been mapped, or that the number of data points is completely insufficient for the way the client wants to work," Thijs says. "That means additional work, additional cost, and delay. It is avoidable, but only if the right questions are asked at the right moment." For anyone weighing up the full picture of what they are committing to, understanding the hidden costs of renting commercial property is a useful starting point before signing anything.
3. What does this mean for a fit-out specialist or contractor?
From where Thijs stands, clarity is not just helpful, it is essential to doing the job well. "My ideal situation is simple: before the design is locked, before the first contractor sets foot on site, I want to know exactly what IT infrastructure is present, what is promised, and who is responsible for what. That is not a lot to ask. It is basic project hygiene."
When that information is missing, the fit-out team often ends up improvising, which is never the cheapest or most elegant solution. Retrofitting data cabling after a ceiling has been finished or rerouting network infrastructure after partitions are installed costs time and money that nobody budgeted for.
Thijs smiles when he reflects on how he learned this lesson. "I never finished my degree, dropped out of the University of Applied Sciences, if I'm honest. But one thing I did pick up along the way: clear communication makes everything easier. It sounds obvious. It is obvious. And yet it remains the most underrated skill in any construction project." The delivery condition of a space matters enormously here too, something our guide on office and warehouse delivery levels from casco to full service covers in detail.
4. Why does IT-Label fit this challenge so well?
"Because it creates a shared language," Thijs says. "And that is exactly what is missing right now."
Not every landlord needs to be a network engineer. Not every tenant needs to understand server infrastructure. But everyone involved in a commercial real estate transaction, from the office space in Amsterdam being let by a large institutional investor to a single-floor unit in a regional business park, should be able to answer three basic questions before contracts are signed: What digital infrastructure is present? What will be delivered? And what are the mutual expectations?
"IT-Label makes the IT delivery level of a building visible and comparable," Thijs explains. "It gives tenants a benchmark. It gives landlords a way to demonstrate quality. And it gives people like me, the ones who actually have to build the space, a foundation to work from rather than a series of assumptions to unpick."
This connects directly to a broader shift in how the market is thinking about building quality. The conversation around IT infrastructure as the new scarcity factor in commercial real estate is no longer theoretical, it is playing out on project sites every week.
5. What do you want to contribute to the knowledge collective?
Thijs is clear about what he brings and what he expects in return. "I am not here as a theorist. I am here as someone who has spent years on project sites, in client meetings, and in conversations where IT was either the last item on the agenda or not on it at all. I want to share that experience: the friction points, the workarounds, the moments where better upfront information would have saved everyone time and money."
He also believes the value flows both ways. "The knowledge collective brings together people from real estate, technology, and operations. That is the right combination. No single discipline has the full picture. But if you put those perspectives in the same room, or the same framework, you start building something that actually works for everyone."
Building a Better Standard Together
IT-Label was not created because everything in the digital real estate landscape is already working smoothly. It was created because a conversation was overdue: a structured, cross-disciplinary conversation about what modern buildings should be able to deliver and how that should be communicated across the entire chain.
Thijs Verdriet represents exactly the kind of expertise that makes that conversation meaningful. He has seen the consequences of poor digital preparation. He has worked around the gaps. And now he is bringing that knowledge into a collective that is working to make those gaps obsolete.
"Together with specialists like Thijs, IT-Label wants to help the commercial real estate sector make digital expectations crystal clear, before the first wall goes up, before the lease is signed, and before the surprises begin."
Want to learn more about IT-Label or join the knowledge collective? Visit www.it-label.com and discover how shared standards are shaping the future of digital real estate.
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