Are you about to sign a lease on a commercial property and commit to potentially onerous liabilities? Have you considered documenting the current condition of the property by having a schedule of condition prepared and attached to your lease?
A schedule of condition is a report, whether descriptive or photographic, on the condition of the property identifying its current condition, any existing defects and possible future defects.
Graeme Harper of Goadsby Building Consultancy comments ‘Having a schedule of condition undertaken and attached to the lease could save you substantial amounts of time and money at the lease termination, both for the Landlord and the Tenant.
We frequently deal with dilapidations claims for Landlords and Tenants where if the Tenant had a schedule of condition they could save substantial amounts of money by limiting their liability.
From the Landlord’s perspective if a schedule of condition forms part of the lease they can protect their investment in the property as they will have a clear representation of the property’s condition at the lease commencement.’
