Schedule of Condition
If you are to enter into a lease of commercial premises, for example, a shop, office or warehouse building, it is most likely that the lease will include terms for the tenant to undertake repairs and hand back the building at the end of the term in a similar condition to when the lease started and certainly in no worse condition. In order to establish the condition of the building at the commencement of the lease, it is necessary to prepare a Schedule of Condition at the outset in order that the condition of the building can be compared at the end of the lease.
It is most unwise to enter into a full repairing lease without a Schedule of Condition as at the end of the term, when the landlord inspects the building, you may be charged for repairs and outstanding maintenance for items which were in poor repair at the beginning of the lease. A Schedule of Condition involves a very detailed inspection of the premises which will be described in detail within the Schedule including condition and supporting photographs. Where the Schedule is to be attached to and forming part of the lease, it would normally be signed by both the tenant and the landlord in order to confirm that both parties are in agreement that the Schedule is an accurate assessment of the condition of the building at the beginning of the term.
