What’s Included in a Dilapidation Survey Report

What’s Included in a Dilapidation Survey Report

A dilapidation survey report will be drafted by a commercial building surveyor and is typically produced for the landlord. The landlord will serve the dilapidation survey report on to their tenant. The report is often served on to the tenant anytime from 12 months prior to lease expiry, to once the tenant has vacating following lease expiry. It is important that the contents of the survey report accurately reflect the tenant’s lease obligations. Other legal documentation and the landlord’s intentions for the property should be taken into consideration when drafting the dilapidations survey report. 

Dilapidation Survey Reports

The dilapidation survey report will include a general description of the property inclusive of items location, size, age, layout, use etc. The report will also summarise the date of the inspection; the weather conditions at the time of the building survey; the details of the surveyor who undertook the survey and any accompanying parties; and any limitations of the survey. 

Within the front section of the dilapidation survey report a building surveyor’s endorsement will be included, which will confirm that the contents of the report are in accordance with the surveyor’s findings and their understanding of the landlord’s intentions for the property.

Preambles 

The preambles section of the dilapidation survey report will include a summary of the various legal documentation which is relevant to the dilapidations claim. The most relevant document is the lease. The lease will clarify the extent of the tenant’s demise, and the various lease obligations which the tenant should comply with. The most relevant lease obligations are the ‘repair’, ‘reinstatement’, and ‘decoration’ covenants. There will likely be other applicable covenants including compliance with statutory obligations and the tenant’s responsibility to pay for fees in association with the production of the dilapidations survey report.

A licence for alterations may have also been produced which will summarise any alterations undertaken to the premises. Often this document will include a reinstatement clause which can also be included within the preambles. 

A schedule of condition may have also been prepared and if so, suitable wording should be included in the preambles to state that this has been reviewed and any impact on the dilapidations claim has been taken into consideration. 

The Schedule 

The main part of the schedule will be in table format. The table will often be split into the different tenant obligations, so repair items, reinstatement items, decoration items etc. Alternatively, the table may have been prepared on an element or area basis, for example roof items, elevation items etc. 

No matter the format the table will include a description of the breach, the proposed remediation, associated budget cost for the remediation and a reference to which tenant lease obligation the breach aligns with. 

The table will list all breaches, proposed remedies and costs in a manner which is easy to follow and review. Depending on building surveyors preference, some may include a large amount of detail and itemised all breaches, others may provide more general, cover all items. 

Summary of Claim 

A summary of claim will also be included within the dilapidations survey report. This will outline the cost of works as per the schedule. Contractors OHP and preliminaries will be applied to these costs. The summary will also include professional fees associated with completing the works, including contract administration, principal designer and any other specialist consultants which are required. 

Consequential losses may be included in the summary which is the additional costs/losses which may result from a property being handed back to a landlord in disrepair. These are often loss of rent, loss of service charge, loss of rates etc. These will be calculated using the current on previous tenant’s rental agreement. 

The summary will also include costs associated with the preparation and service of the dilapidations claim, typically the building surveyors and solicitor’s fee. Fees for negotiating the claim may also be included, subject to a tenant’s lease obligations. 

Quantified Demand 

If the dilapidations survey report has been prepared following lease expiry then it will include a quantified demand. The contents of the quantified demand will likely be the same as those included in the summary of claim. The Quantified Demand sets out the landlords losses as a result of the tenant not complying with their lease obligations.  

We hope you found this blog helpful, you can also check out our dilapidation survey checklist. At Commercial Building Surveyors, we offer Dilapidation surveys in the following parts of the UK: Dilapidation Survey Bristol, Dilapidation Survey London, Dilapidation Survey Manchester, Dilapidation Survey Cardiff.

Or you can head straight here for more information about: Schedule of Dilapidation