Handing back an office in the Square Mile comes with pressures you don’t face anywhere else in London. Landlords and their surveyors in the City are some of the most experienced in the country, schedules of dilapidations are detailed and uncompromising, and the buildings themselves — from Victorian conversions around Bank and Moorgate through to modern Cat A floors in the Broadgate and Bishopsgate towers — each bring their own reinstatement headaches.
London Dilaps is a specialist dilapidations and Cat A reinstatement contractor working across the City of London. We handle every stage of the lease-end process, from pricing the served schedule to the final handover walk-round with the landlord’s surveyor, so tenants can exit cleanly and avoid disputes over the final account.
Whether your office is a 3,000 sq ft floor in a Georgian conversion near Bank or a full Cat A handover in an EC2 tower, our team has delivered something very similar before. Every City project is priced directly against the served schedule, managed by a named project lead, and handed back with zero retained items and a signed-off landlord walk-round.
Most City buildings don’t allow noisy works during occupied hours. Strip-out, core drilling, ceiling grid removal and partition knock-downs are typically restricted to evenings, weekends or overnight, particularly in multi-let buildings around Bishopsgate, Cheapside and Lombard Street. Loading access is the other constraint — kerbside space is minimal, and waste removal usually has to be booked through the building’s loading bay with strict time slots. We plan every City programme around the permitted working window first, then build the sequencing around that, rather than the other way around. It’s the single biggest factor in delivering on time in the Square Mile.
The City’s major estates — Broadgate, Paternoster Square, Leadenhall and the Bishopsgate cluster — each operate their own permit-to-work systems. Before we lift a tool, we produce method statements, RAMS, insurance certificates and fire impairment notices, sit the team through the building’s induction, and book our access slots through the managing agent. Smaller multi-let buildings around Moorgate, Cornhill and Fenchurch Street have lighter processes but equally firm rules on noise, hot works and waste. We handle the full compliance pack on your behalf, so the first time the building manager hears from the project team is when we’re ready to start, not scrambling for paperwork.
The Square Mile has some of the oldest commercial stock in London. Offices around Bank, Cornhill, Leadenhall and Threadneedle Street often sit within listed buildings or conservation areas, with original fabric that cannot be altered, replaced or stripped out regardless of what the schedule says. A good dilapidations contractor knows the difference between a tenant’s reinstatement obligation and a listed-building restriction — and uses that distinction to push back on schedule items that shouldn’t be there in the first place. We flag protected features early, liaise with the landlord’s surveyor, and make sure you aren’t paying to reinstate something you were never contractually allowed to touch.
A recent City project brief: a professional services tenant handing back a 6,500 sq ft floor in a multi-let building near Liverpool Street. The schedule ran to 82 items, including full removal of a bespoke client reception, reinstatement of the original Cat A ceiling grid, re-commissioning of fan coil units disturbed during the fit-out, and a full redecoration. Work was restricted to 6pm–6am Monday to Friday with Saturday daytime working permitted. We delivered the project in four weeks and handed back to a signed-off landlord inspection with zero retained items. That combination — restricted hours, detailed schedule, strong landlord scrutiny — is typical City work.
London Dilaps is a specialist dilapidations and Cat A reinstatement contractor — not a general builder picking up lease-end work on the side. We know the specifications the major City landlords and managing agents work to, we know which materials they’ll accept and which they’ll reject, and we know how to programme a reinstatement around the restricted working hours and building rules that come with every EC postcode.
Our teams regularly work across the full Square Mile, including Bank, Moorgate, Liverpool Street, Bishopsgate, Cornhill, Cheapside, Cannon Street, Fenchurch Street, Aldgate, Holborn Viaduct, Farringdon, Barbican and the Broadgate and Paternoster estates. If your office sits inside EC1, EC2, EC3 or EC4, we can be on site. Every project is priced directly against the served schedule, managed by a named project lead, and handed back with zero retained items and a clean signed-off walk-round.
We’re happy to attend site for a walk-round before quoting, especially where the schedule is long or ambiguous — it saves surprises later.
If you’ve been served a schedule of dilapidations at the end of your City lease, we can price every item directly against it and deliver the works needed to discharge your obligations. We cover the full scope — redecorations, floor repairs, partition removal, Cat A reinstatement and M&E — and push back with your own surveyor on items that aren’t your contractual responsibility. The goal is a clean handover and a final account that matches the original quote, with no late surprises dragged in by the landlord.
Cat A reinstatement is the largest line item in most City lease-end budgets. We return your floor to the landlord’s exact base-build specification — suspended ceilings, raised floors, lighting, HVAC, decorations and finishes — using approved materials so nothing is rejected at inspection. Whether you’re handing back a single floor in a multi-let building around Moorgate or a full Cat A across a Broadgate tower, we handle the full reinstatement package end-to-end, including re-commissioning M&E and producing the test certificates your landlord’s surveyor will ask for at sign-off.
Before reinstatement can start, the tenant fit-out has to come out. Our City strip out service removes partitions, glazing, kitchenettes, joinery, IT and AV installations, floor boxes, signage and bespoke features, with all arisings managed through licensed waste routes and maximum material recovery for recycling. We handle method statements, building permits, out-of-hours working, loading bay bookings and waste logistics — all the moving parts that make City strip-outs harder than they look. The floor is cleared cleanly, ready for Cat A reinstatement to start without delay.
Our London teams can mobilise quickly for time-critical City lease-end projects — call us to discuss your programme.