Dilapidations for Commercial Tenants in England and Wales: Compare Survey Scope

Which dilapidations service scope do you need?

For a commercial lease in England or Wales, choose an inspection for initial advice, add a formal Response and Scott Schedule to answer a landlord’s claim, and include negotiation where the surveyor will handle disputed items and settlement discussions.[2][4][5]

A dilapidations survey compares the property’s condition with the tenant’s obligations under the lease. The lease wording controls the relevant duties and potential liability.[1][5][7]

1. Condition inspection and advice. This may suit pre-expiry planning or an initial assessment of repair, reinstatement and decoration liabilities. Reports can include photographs, detailed notes and proposed remedies.[2][4]
2. Inspection plus costed analysis. Add this when estimated costs are needed for budgeting or assessing the landlord’s figures.[2][4]
3. Formal Response and Scott Schedule. Choose this when answering a landlord’s Schedule of Dilapidations. The Response is usually a letter or email accompanied by a Scott Schedule, which extends the landlord’s schedule so the tenant can answer each allegation.[5]
4. Negotiation and settlement support. Include this if the surveyor should meet the landlord’s surveyor, narrow disputed items and advise on settlement.[5]

An inspection report is not automatically a formal Response. Standard fees may or may not include lease review, item-by-item analysis, costing, photographs, Scott Schedule preparation, meetings or settlement advice, so require each proposal to list every inclusion.

Use RICS to find candidates, then compare survey practices

Compare providers by their written scope and terms, not directory prominence or brand recognition. The reviewed pages do not establish comparable fees, binding turnaround, engagement periods or cancellation terms for the practices below. Obtain these from written proposals; absence from a reviewed page does not establish that a practice never publishes them elsewhere.

Finding candidates: RICS Find a Surveyor

• Service capability: The directory helps users find dilapidations surveyors. RICS members may provide assessments, cost opinions, representation and project management.[3][5]
• Stated client fit: The directory is a route to chartered-surveyor support. RICS notes that not every practice listed on Find a Surveyor is an RICS Regulated Firm.[5]

The directory is a search route, not a competing survey practice. Use it to identify candidates and check professional status; compare the actual contracting firms separately on tenant-side experience and deliverables.

Bradley-Mason LLP

• Service capability: The practice advertises commercial dilapidations and leasehold-repair advice.[2]
• Pricing approach: Pricing depends on property size and requires a personalised quotation.[2]
• Stated client groups: Tenants, landlords, SMEs, corporate clients, property funds and franchises.[2]

AMS Surveys

• Service capability: AMS advertises full surveys by RICS chartered surveyors, identification of lease obligations, supporting documentation and negotiation guidance.[4]
• Stated client groups: Landlords and tenants dealing with lease-end condition, repair obligations and negotiations.[4]

Blakeney Leigh

• Service capability: The practice describes condition assessments using photographic, video and written evidence, with dispute support and pre-works condition records.[1]
• Stated client groups: Tenants, landlords, property managers, contractors and developers, at stages including pre-occupation and lease end.[1]

Earl Kendrick

• Service capability: The practice describes inspections against lease obligations, photographic and written reporting, and reinstatement or settlement support.[6]
• Stated client groups: Landlords, tenants, contractors, developers and property managers.[6]

These descriptions come from each practice’s own website and are not independent performance evidence. Request like-for-like written proposals based on the same required scope.

How to verify the surveyor and the firm

Check the individual surveyor separately from the practice employing them. RICS recommends a chartered building surveyor with relevant dilapidations experience. RICS members are subject to conduct rules, continuing competence requirements and appropriate professional-indemnity insurance.[5]

Directory presence alone does not establish firm-level regulation. Not every practice listed on RICS Find a Surveyor is an RICS Regulated Firm; a regulated practice may display the wording “Regulated by RICS”.[5]

Before appointment, request written confirmation of:

• the lead surveyor and their professional status;
• comparable tenant-side dilapidations instructions;
• who will inspect, prepare the advice and handle negotiations; and
• whether the contracting practice is RICS regulated.

There is no published minimum experience or case-volume benchmark, so judge comparable instructions on their detail.

What can be challenged in the landlord's claim?

A Schedule of Dilapidations lists alleged breaches, proposed remedies and sometimes estimated works costs. Under the Dilapidations Protocol, the Quantified Demand should be restricted to the landlord’s likely loss, which is not necessarily the same as the cost of works to remedy the breaches.[5][7]

Assess the claim through four questions:

1. Does the lease create the obligation? The Protocol does not define repair, reinstatement or redecoration; the required work depends on the lease and other relevant documents.[7]
2. Did the alleged breach exist? Compare each item with the condition evidence and claim documents.[5]
3. Did the landlord suffer loss? RICS says an item should not be included where no loss arose from the breach.[5]
4. Is the amount supported? The Protocol expects a works-based sum to be substantiated by an invoice or a detailed estimate, and other losses to be set out in detail and fully quantified.[7]

The diminution-in-value ceiling

RICS says the reasonable cost of the works is likely to be the main guide to compensation, but the law does not allow it to exceed “the amount by which the property had in fact been devalued” by the tenant’s breaches when the lease ended.[5] Earl Kendrick identifies this ceiling as section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927, which caps damages for disrepair at the diminution in the property’s value.[6]

• Superseded work: the Quantified Demand should not include work likely to be superseded by the landlord’s intentions for the property, such as redevelopment or upgrading.[5][7]
• No profit: RICS says landlords should not profit from dilapidations payments, so the Quantified Demand may be lower than the schedule’s works estimate.[5]
• Diminution valuation: where the landlord has not carried out all the scheduled works, the Protocol expects a formal diminution valuation prepared by a valuer unless it would be reasonable not to. A tenant relying on a diminution defence must state its case and provide its own valuation.[7]

Where the relevant loss is established, a claim may include rent, business rates, service charges, professional fees and irrecoverable VAT.[5][6] Assessing these items requires the lease, condition evidence, claim documents and information about the landlord’s intentions.[5]

Example: trace one alleged breach through the response

This is a fictional response worksheet, not a liability opinion or an actual claim. A landlord alleges that a tenant must remove a partition and repair the finishes. The surveyor should connect the allegation to the lease, any alterations licence and reinstatement notice, condition evidence and the landlord’s intended works.[5][7]

• What obligation is alleged? — Evidence and response to record: Identify the precise lease or licence clause and any notice relied upon; send disputed interpretation to the solicitor.
• What condition was found? — Evidence and response to record: Record dated inspection photographs, location and the comparison with relevant condition records.
• What work and cost are claimed? — Evidence and response to record: Separate removal and making-good items; request a supported estimate or invoice and identify duplicated work.
• Would the proposed work be superseded? — Evidence and response to record: Request evidence of the landlord’s intended refurbishment; explain which claimed items may be affected.
• What remains disputed? — Evidence and response to record: State the tenant’s item-by-item position, supporting evidence and unresolved legal or valuation question in the agreed response format.

The Protocol separates alleged remedial works from the landlord’s likely loss.[7] Section 18(1) questions concerning disrepair need specific legal and valuation advice; do not assume the same ceiling resolves every reinstatement, decoration or other lease claim.

What normally happens after the lease expires?

1. Landlord’s claim: the Protocol says schedules should be sent within a reasonable time, which “will generally be within 56 days after the termination of the tenancy”; the Quantified Demand follows the same timescale.[7]
2. Tenant’s reply: the tenant should respond within a reasonable time, which “will usually be within 56 days after the landlord sends the Quantified Demand”. The Response is usually a letter or email with a Scott Schedule.[5][7]
3. Surveyor negotiations: the parties or their surveyors are encouraged to meet before the Response is due and should generally meet within 28 days after the tenant sends it, to agree as many disputed items as possible.[7]
4. Alternative dispute resolution: the parties should consider mediation, expert determination or arbitration. A mediator facilitates settlement, while expert determination and arbitration produce binding decisions.[5]
5. Litigation: court proceedings may follow if the dispute remains unresolved.[5]

The Protocol warns that the court will take compliance into account when making costs orders, and RICS says an unreasonable refusal to undertake ADR may be considered when costs are awarded.[5][7] The Protocol applies to commercial property in England and Wales; the RICS guide does not deal specifically with leases ending through a break clause.[5][7]

When are additional specialists needed?

Sizeable claims commonly involve building surveyors for both parties because construction knowledge and an understanding of complex legal principles are needed.[3] There is no published monetary threshold for appointing additional specialists.

Complex disputes may require a chartered valuation surveyor to prepare a diminution valuation, or technical specialists for lifts, air conditioning, cladding or land contamination.[5] Solicitors may interpret lease covenants or formally serve claims; proceedings may also involve barristers and expert witnesses.[3][5]

RICS says a surveyor acting as an expert witness owes a duty to the court rather than the appointing party.[5]

What to include when requesting quotes

Give each shortlisted practice the same available documents: the lease, Schedule of Dilapidations, Quantified Demand, reinstatement notice and relevant condition records or photographs. The lease is the controlling contract, so the claim must be assessed against its wording.[1][5]

Ask each practice to quote for the same deliverables:

• property inspection and lease-obligation review;
• item-by-item comments on liability, remedies and costs;
• a formal Response and Scott Schedule;
• negotiation meetings and settlement advice; and
• coordination of any required specialists.[2][4][5]

Request the fee basis, VAT treatment, deposit, exclusions, named personnel, target dates, cancellation terms and possible extra charges in writing, because the reviewed pages do not establish comparable terms.

References

1. What is a dilapidations survey and when would I need one? (blakeneyleigh.co.uk)
2. Dilapidation Survey | Dilapidations Surveyor | Bradley-Mason LLP (bradley-mason.com)
3. RICS Find a Surveyor – Dilapidations (ricsfirms.com)
4. A Guide to Dilapidations Surveys for Landlords and Tenants (amssurveys.co.uk)
5. Dilapidations in England and Wales (rics.org)
6. Dilapidations Survey: What it is & When You Need One (earlkendrick.com)
7. Pre-Action Protocol for Claims for Damages in Relation to the Physical State of Commercial Property at Termination of a Tenancy (the Dilapidations Protocol) (justice.gov.uk)