Dilapidation: What it means for your office move

If you’ve discovered the phrase “dilapidation clause”, and you’re not a lawyer, then it’s likely that your business is moving office and you’ve come across the phrase in your lease contract. And like most people, you’ve probably gone straight to Google in an effort to find out what that means! That’s what we’d like to help you with in this blog post. 

It can mean a few different things, but essentially, dilapidation usually boils down to one, or some, of the following:

- Repairs.

- Decoration.

- Making sure the property looks like it did at the start of your lease.

- Making improvement based on new legislation 

What if I’ve made improvements to the property?

Let’s say you’ve been in a property for a number of years. It’s likely you’ll have done some work to improve the place. Unfortunately, if you have to abide by a dilapidation clause in your tenancy contract, then you still might have to put the place back the way you found it—as counterintuitive as this might sound.  

Your contract should contain the specs that show you exactly how you need to leave the place. So don’t worry, you won’t have to put the workspace back to how it was by memory alone!

The next question is, can you do the work yourself? Let’s take a look...

How to get dilapidation work done

If all you need to do are a few repairs or some decorating, then that shouldn’t be a problem. But what if you have to completely transform the workspace, either back to the way you found it, or to whatever standard your dilapidation clause demands?

The first thing you need to make sure of is exactly what your contract says you need to do. The part of your contract that talks about dilapidation will highlight exactly how you need to leave the property. An issue that many businesses find, however, is that this work is more than just a lick of paint, and they can’t handle it in-house.

That’s where a company like McFeggan Brown can help. 

We have many years of experience in working with companies that are struggling to meet the demands of their dilapidation clause.

We’ll work with you to make the process as easily as possible, from start to finish — and to make sure you don’t get caught out by not finishing your workplace to the required standard. Contact us today to find out more.