A Schedule of Dilapidations is a document commonly prepared on behalf of a commercial landlord identifying alleged breaches of the tenant’s property-related lease obligations and the remedial works considered necessary.
It can include breaches relating to repair, decoration, reinstatement of alterations, removal of tenant installations and other obligations affecting the condition in which the premises should be maintained or returned.
A terminal Schedule forms part of the wider lease-end process and should not simply be treated as an invoice. The subsequent claim needs to consider the lease, physical condition, proposed remedies and the landlord’s actual loss.
For independent guidance, RICS provides an overview of commercial dilapidations in England and Wales

Dilapidations advice can be useful during the lease, approaching a break date, before lease expiry or after a claim has been received.
A landlord may require advice where there are concerns about the condition of the property, where an interim Schedule may be appropriate, or when preparing for lease expiry.
A tenant may require advice to assess potential liability, plan lease-end works, respond to a landlord’s Schedule or negotiate a claim.
A survey undertaken at the beginning of a tenancy principally to record the existing condition of the property would normally be a Commercial Schedule of Condition, rather than a dilapidations survey.
Incoming tenants who require wider advice on defects, future repair costs and the liabilities they may be accepting should instead consider a Commercial Pre-Lease Survey

Schedules of Dilapidations are commonly prepared by building surveyors experienced in commercial landlord-and-tenant matters.
The role requires more than identifying building defects. The surveyor needs to consider the relevant lease obligations, physical condition, appropriate remedial works, reasonable costs and, particularly for terminal claims, what the landlord actually intends to do with the property.
Fourth Wall’s dilapidations work is undertaken by experienced Chartered Building Surveyors with commercial property, repair and lease-end experience.
The RICS Dilapidations in England and Wales professional standard provides the principal professional framework for surveyors working in this area.

There is no single calculation.
The starting point is to establish the relevant lease obligations, identify whether a breach exists and determine the appropriate remedy.
The reasonable cost of the remedial works may then be considered, but the cost of undertaking those works does not automatically equal the landlord’s recoverable damages.
The ultimate position may also be affected by:
The landlord’s intentions for the property
Whether particular works will actually be undertaken
Supersession
The reasonableness of the proposed remedy
The reasonableness of the claimed costs
Diminution in value
Relevant statutory limitations
Other properly evidenced losses
This is why a £200,000 Schedule of Dilapidations does not necessarily result in a £200,000 settlement.
The Ministry of Justice Dilapidations Protocol provides further guidance on the approach to terminal claims.

The answer depends on the lease.
A commercial tenant may have obligations relating to:
Repairing the building
Internal and external decoration
Removing alterations
Removing racking, partitions or other installations
Reinstating previous layouts
Making good damage caused by removals
Returning the property in the condition required by the yielding-up provisions
The first step should therefore be to review the lease, any licences for alterations, the original Schedule of Condition and the actual condition of the property.
Where the lease is approaching expiry, obtaining advice early can help determine whether it is better to undertake the works yourself or address the liability through negotiation.
For a practical overview, see our Tenant’s Checklist Before Vacating a Commercial Property Lease.

Do not assume that every item or cost shown is automatically payable.
A tenant-side review should consider:
What the lease actually requires
Whether each alleged breach is valid
Any Schedule of Condition
Previous alterations and licences
Whether the proposed remedy is appropriate
The reasonableness of the claimed costs
The landlord’s intended works
Whether particular items may be superseded
Your surveyor can then prepare a technical response and negotiate the disputed items.
You may also find our guide to dilapidations claims as a commercial tenant useful.

Not necessarily.
A Schedule represents the landlord’s position on the alleged breaches and the remedial works considered necessary. It does not automatically establish the amount ultimately payable by the tenant.
Individual items can be accepted, challenged or negotiated, and the landlord’s properly recoverable loss may differ significantly from the total estimated cost of the works.
Our case study involving an industrial tenant in Essex demonstrates this in practice, where a claim approaching £497,000 was ultimately settled at £100,000.

An item might be challenged because:
There is no relevant breach
The repairing obligation does not extend as far as alleged
The original condition is relevant to liability
A Schedule of Condition limits the tenant’s obligation
The proposed remedy goes beyond what is reasonably required
The claimed cost is excessive
The landlord’s intended refurbishment or redevelopment affects the claim
The objective should not be to dispute every item automatically. It should be to identify the areas where the landlord and tenant genuinely disagree and support the tenant’s position with appropriate technical evidence.
Read more about our approach to negotiating commercial dilapidations.

Undertaking the works may allow the tenant to control procurement, cost and quality, particularly where liability is relatively clear and sufficient time remains before expiry.
Negotiation may be preferable where:
The landlord intends significant refurbishment
There are genuine disagreements over liability
Some works may be superseded
Time remaining is limited
Access after expiry will not be available
A financial settlement provides greater commercial certainty
The important point is to assess the position early enough that both options remain available.
For practical lease-end planning, see our Tenant’s Checklist Before Vacating a Commercial Property Lease.

For larger or more complex properties, it can be sensible to begin considering lease-end liability 12–24 months before expiry.
This provides time to:
Understand likely liability
Review alterations and reinstatement
Budget for works
Obtain competitive contractor prices
Consider the landlord’s intentions
Decide whether works or negotiation are preferable
Waiting until the final weeks of the lease can remove options and make the process considerably more reactive. However, don’t worry, we can still help you negotiate a claim at any point. Our Dilapidations Guide for Tenants provides further guidance on preparing for lease expiry.

For substantial, complex or heavily altered properties, an early review 12–24 months before expiry can help establish:
Repair and decoration obligations
Existing condition evidence
Alterations and reinstatement requirements
Significant deterioration
The landlord’s intended future use
Whether refurbishment or redevelopment is proposed
The appropriate dilapidations strategy
As expiry approaches, the landlord can then inspect the property, preserve evidence and decide whether the preferred outcome is physical works, reinstatement, a financial settlement or a combination of these.

For terminal commercial dilapidations claims in England and Wales, the Dilapidations Protocol provides a structured pre-action process.
The landlord’s Schedule should generally be served within 56 days after termination of the tenancy, together with or followed by the appropriate Quantified Demand.
The tenant will then normally have 56 days from receiving the Quantified Demand to provide its substantive Response.
The parties and their surveyors are encouraged to meet and narrow the areas of disagreement before litigation is considered.
These are Protocol timescales for progressing a terminal claim. They should not be confused with a requirement that a “dilapidations survey must be completed within 56 days”.

Each party will usually appoint and initially pay its own professional advisers.
However, the landlord’s ability to recover professional fees from the tenant can depend on the wording of the lease and the circumstances of the claim.
Many commercial leases contain provisions dealing with surveyor or professional fees, but recoverability should be checked rather than assumed.
Your solicitor should advise on the contractual position where required.

The fee depends on the nature of the instruction rather than simply the floor area of the building.
Relevant factors include:
Property size and type
Complexity of the lease
Number and extent of alleged breaches
Availability of lease and alteration documentation
Whether costs need to be prepared or reviewed
Whether negotiation is required
Whether we are acting for the landlord or tenant
Requirement for further inspections
Complexity of the dispute
Fourth Wall provides a clear scope and fee proposal after reviewing the property and available information.
Request a dilapidations quote and speak to one of the team today

Yes.
We can provide fixed fees for clearly defined instructions such as:
An initial lease-end liability assessment
Preparation of a Schedule of Dilapidations
Review of an existing landlord claim
A defined inspection and report
Where the instruction includes ongoing negotiation, repeated inspections, extensive document review or matters that cannot reasonably be defined at the outset, we will explain the proposed fee basis before instruction.

A Quantified Demand is the landlord’s statement of the monetary losses being claimed following termination of the lease.
It should explain and substantiate the damages sought in relation to the alleged breaches and any other properly claimed losses.
Importantly, it is not necessarily the same as simply adding together every estimated cost contained within the Schedule of Dilapidations.
The Dilapidations Protocol provides the relevant procedural framework for terminal claims.

A Scott Schedule is a working document commonly used during dilapidations negotiations.
It records the landlord and tenant surveyors’ respective positions against individual items, allowing the parties to see:
What is agreed
What remains disputed
Why an item is disputed
The respective positions on the required remedy
Differences in cost
It provides a structured way of narrowing the technical issues and progressing negotiations towards settlement.
Our Essex tenant dilapidations case study provides an example of Fourth Wall negotiating a substantial claim through the Scott Schedule process.

Supersession concerns the effect of the landlord’s proposed future works on the repairs being claimed from the tenant.
For example, if the landlord intends to strip out and completely replace an area immediately after expiry, requiring the tenant to undertake certain repairs or decorations to the existing layout may provide little or no practical benefit.
The position is fact-specific.
The landlord’s genuine intentions, the proposed works and the tenant’s actual lease obligations all need to be considered.
For landlords, considering future refurbishment or redevelopment early can help ensure that the claim strategy reflects the actual plans for the property.
For tenants, it can be an important consideration when reviewing whether particular claimed works genuinely contribute to the landlord’s loss.

Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 can limit damages for certain breaches of repairing covenants.
Broadly, the landlord’s damages for disrepair may be limited by the reduction in value of its interest caused by the breach.
It can also become relevant where the landlord intends to undertake alterations so extensive that carrying out particular repairs would provide no value.
Section 18 is a specialist legal and valuation issue and should not be treated as a simple percentage reduction from the Schedule total.
Where relevant, the building surveyor should work alongside the client’s solicitor and an appropriately qualified valuation adviser.
For more on the underlying repairing obligations, read our guide to commercial tenant repair obligations.

Potentially.
Where the lease properly limits the tenant’s repairing obligation by reference to a Schedule of Condition, it can provide important evidence of the condition the tenant was not required to improve beyond.
The effectiveness of a Schedule therefore depends on both:
The quality and completeness of the condition record
The way the limitation is incorporated into the lease
If you are considering a new commercial lease, our Pre-Lease Survey service can help identify the wider repair risks before commitment.
You can also read our guide to Schedule of Condition vs Schedule of Dilapidations.

Potentially.
Where a tenant intends to exercise a break option, repair, reinstatement or other property-related obligations may need to be considered well before the break date.
A building surveyor can inspect the premises, assess the condition and advise on the practical works that may be required.
Your solicitor should separately advise on the legal requirements for exercising the break and whether any relevant conditions have been satisfied.
The RICS Dilapidations in England and Wales professional standard includes break clauses within the matters surveyors should consider when advising in this area.

Yes.
Our dilapidations work can extend beyond the initial inspection and report to include:
Preparing or reviewing Schedules of Dilapidations
Preparing technical Responses
Reviewing remedial costs
Scott Schedule negotiations
Meetings with the opposing surveyor
Strategic advice
Coordination with solicitors and other professional advisers
Supporting remedial works where separately instructed
Our Tenant Dilapidations Negotiation case study in Essex demonstrates our tenant-side negotiation work, while our landlord dilapidations case study in Flint demonstrates preparation and negotiation of a landlord claim.
Where legal interpretation, diminution valuation or another specialist discipline falls outside our role, we identify this and work alongside the appropriate adviser.

Yes, on separate instructions.
Fourth Wall advises both commercial landlords and commercial tenants on dilapidations.
Working on both sides of the market gives our surveyors practical insight into how claims are prepared, challenged and negotiated.
For tenants, this helps us anticipate how a landlord and its surveyor are likely to approach alleged breaches.
For landlords, it helps us understand which elements of a claim are most likely to be scrutinised or challenged by an experienced tenant-side surveyor.