Has the make good clause in your lease agreement left you confused? Office dilapidations, also known as office ‘make goods’, is a procedure which requires a tenant to handover a property in a specific condition at the termination of the commercial property lease. This condition is established by the lease agreement. Office make good will usually involve physical work, such as demolition of built-in furniture and partitions, stripping services and reinstallation of the original fixtures, fittings and finishes.

Lease agreements can vary regarding their make good requirements of the tenant. In some cases, there is no need to remove the fitout and make good. However, quite often landlords will still require tenants to carryout some form of make good procedure. At the other extreme, the tenant may be required to demolish all fitout and partitions completely and put the property back into its base building configuration.

Make Good Obligation: Tips to Keep Make Good Costs Low

The make good obligation may prove to be a hassle when you are looking for new premises when your lease agreement expires. Here are some great tips to help you keep your office make good costs low at the termination of your lease agreement.

Examining the premises before signing lease:

• When you are assessing the property before you sign the lease, identify if there are any services or finishes which you would like to modify or change when you fitout the place.
• Discuss these proposed changes with the owner and find out if you have to remove them at the end of the lease. Also, find out the costs associated with the removal of furniture. You might even reach an agreement with the owner, where some costs can be shared especially in cases where the equipment you add is considered as an overall improvement.
• Negotiate and try to exclude the costs of these improvements from the make good claims.

Planning Your Office Fitout:

• Avoid replacing or removing the landlord’s base fixtures and equipment, such as ceilings and floorings.
• You could even consider using free standing systems so that its fixings cause no damage to the building.
• Try to keep the impact of your office fitout on the original base building as low as possible. This will help to significantly keep make good costs low.

Keeping these tips in mind and proper planning can work wonders to help you minimise your make good costs. Contact Office Fitout Sydney for enquiries about Making Goods.