What “Strip-Out” Actually Means at End of Lease
The day your London office lease ends, the floor you walk away from has to match the specification agreed at the start of the tenancy. For the vast majority of commercial tenants, that means removing every alteration made during the lease — every partition, every added socket, every tea-point kitchen, every piece of branded signage — and returning the space to its original Category A condition.
The formal document that lists the works is the schedule of dilapidations. The landlord’s surveyor prepares it, and it typically lands 6-12 months before lease expiry. What the schedule does not do is tell you in practical terms what a strip-out actually involves on the ground. That is what this checklist is for.
Used properly, it helps you scope the works accurately, brief a specialist contractor with confidence, and avoid the single most expensive mistake London tenants make: leaving items behind, defaulting on the physical works, and letting the landlord bring in their own contractor to finish the job at a steep mark-up.
The Full Strip-Out Checklist
Work through every category below. If an item is present in your office and was not there at lease commencement, it needs to come out — and in most cases, the surrounding area needs making good to match the original finish.
Partitions and Walls
- All demountable and stud partition walls installed during the tenancy
- Frameless glass partitions, sliding glass doors and meeting-room pods
- Manifestation decals, frosting and film on any retained glazing
- Pin boards, whiteboards and wall-mounted acoustic panels
- Tenant-installed doors, door frames and ironmongery
- Skirting, architraves and coving added during fit-out
- All floor, wall and ceiling junctions made good after partitions are removed
Flooring
- Carpet tiles, broadloom carpet, vinyl or resin floor finishes installed by the tenant
- Raised access floor panels altered or replaced during tenancy (landlords often require original panels refitted)
- Anti-static matting in server rooms and comms cupboards
- Stair nosings and transition strips added during tenancy
- All adhesive residue, screed patches and trip hazards made good
Ceilings and Lighting
- Suspended ceiling tiles altered or replaced during tenancy
- Feature ceilings, exposed-service zones and bulkheads installed during fit-out
- Tenant-installed lighting: pendants, track lighting, spot lights, feature luminaires
- LED strip lighting installed above partitions, desks or feature walls
- Ceiling grid repositioning or alterations returned to original configuration
- All missing or damaged tiles replaced to match landlord specification
Electrical and Data
- Small power installed during fit-out: floor boxes, wall sockets, under-desk power
- Data cabling installed for tenant IT systems, including all Cat5e / Cat6 runs and patch panels
- Comms room / MDF and IDF cabinets, racks and associated sub-distribution
- Containment added during fit-out: trunking, tray, basket, conduit
- UPS units and tenant-installed battery backup
- AV cabling and floor-box terminations in meeting rooms
- All sub-main wiring added during fit-out, back to the landlord’s distribution board
Mechanical Services (HVAC)
- VRF fan coils and cassettes installed during fit-out, particularly in meeting rooms and server rooms
- Ductwork alterations and any additional supply or extract grilles
- Tenant-installed fresh-air units supporting dense occupation areas
- Server room cooling and precision air conditioning
- Plumbing runs to tenant-installed tea points and kitchens
Kitchen and Tea Point
- Kitchen joinery, work tops, splashbacks and panelling
- Sinks, taps, instant boiling-water taps, dishwashers and under-counter fridges
- Feature tiling and bespoke finishes
- Plumbing and waste connections back to the main stack
- Associated small power and fused spurs
Joinery and Built-In Furniture
- Reception desks and reception feature walls
- Built-in storage, banquette seating and window benching
- Phone booths and acoustic pods (Framery, Room and similar)
- Fixed desk benching and custom-made workstations
- Library walls, feature shelving and display units
Glass, Signage and Branding
- Reception signage, 3D lettering and brand walls
- External signage (where permitted by the lease)
- Branded manifestation on glazing — partial or full coverage
- Wall vinyls, painted murals and printed wallpapers
- Lift lobby branding and floor-directory signage
Security and Access Control
- Tenant-installed access control: readers, controllers, electronic locks
- CCTV cameras, recorders and associated cabling
- Door entry systems and video intercoms
- Visitor management kiosks and tablets
- Turnstiles, speed gates and physical security barriers
Typical Strip-Out Items by Category (Quick Reference)
A summary view that surveyors, facilities managers and finance teams can scan in under a minute — useful for benchmarking a draft schedule of dilapidations against reality.
| Category | Typical items | Where tenants miss |
| Partitions | Stud walls, glass partitions, acoustic pods | Manifestation residue left on retained glazing |
| Flooring | Carpet tiles, broadloom, raised-floor panels | Adhesive residue and screed patches under carpet |
| Ceilings | Feature ceilings, bulkheads, altered grid layout | Damaged tiles not matched to original spec |
| M&E | Small power, data, VRF units, sub-mains | Cabling left in ceiling voids and vertical risers |
| Joinery | Reception desks, built-in storage, banquette seating | Wall fixings not made good after removal |
| Signage | Branded manifestation, wall vinyls, reception logos | Adhesive residue and underlying paint damage |
| Security | Card readers, CCTV, door entry, turnstiles | Cabling left in door jambs and around frames |
Items London Tenants Commonly Miss
In fifteen years of London strip-out projects, the same items get left behind time and again. They are almost always the costly ones, because landlords have seen them forgotten before and price them punitively:
- Cabling in ceiling voids and risers. Landlords increasingly demand a clean void — all legacy data, AV and alarm cabling pulled back to source. A DIY strip-out that ignores the void almost always triggers a dispute.
- Floor box inserts and back boxes. Tenants lift the floor box lid but leave the containment in the raised floor. The whole assembly needs to come out.
- Sub-main wiring. If your fit-out added circuits, the breakers, sub-mains and containment back to the landlord’s board all need removal.
- Tenant-installed fresh air and cooling. Server room splits, meeting room cassettes and high-density fresh air systems are frequently forgotten, then itemised at premium rates in the schedule.
- Making-good works. Once partitions come down, walls need patching, sanding, painting and matching to the original Cat A finish. Removal alone is not enough.
- Ceiling grid reconfiguration. If your fit-out added bulkheads or altered tile layout, the grid has to return to the original 600×600 or 1200×600 pattern, tile-for-tile.
Why a DIY Strip-Out Usually Costs More Than Hiring a Specialist
On paper, asking your facilities manager to coordinate the strip-out with a handful of trade contractors looks like the cheapest route. In practice, three things catch London tenants out almost every time.
First, waste removal in central London is a specialist job. Goods-lift bookings in a Canary Wharf tower, out-of-hours access in the City, skip permits in Soho — a non-specialist coordinator loses days to logistics an experienced strip-out contractor handles in a morning.
Second, the handover standard is not obvious. “Remove the partitions” in a schedule of dilapidations actually means remove, patch, sand, skim, paint, match the carpet tile, and leave the ceiling grid in exact original configuration. Each step needs the right trade, sequenced correctly. Miss a step and the landlord’s surveyor flags it; you pay a premium to the landlord’s appointed contractor to come back in.
Third, DIY strip-out loses you the single biggest source of saving in any dilapidations project — negotiating directly with a specialist contractor at trade rates, instead of paying the landlord’s rates with full contingency and management uplift on top.
What London Strip-Out Works Typically Cost
For a straightforward office strip-out in central London, expect £15-£25 per sq ft. Premium areas and complex buildings — Canary Wharf towers, listed City buildings, Mayfair townhouses — push toward £30-£40 per sq ft. A full Cat A reinstatement layered on top adds a further £25-£45 per sq ft depending on specification.
Compared to a landlord-led works programme, a direct-to-contractor strip-out typically saves tenants 20-40% on the same scope. On a 5,000 sq ft floor that is often £40,000 – £80,000 back in the tenant’s pocket, with the added benefit that the works are demonstrably done and signed off — not left in a cash settlement that can be reopened months later if the landlord claims further losses.
A Word on Settlement vs. Completing the Works
If your schedule of dilapidations includes a cash figure, it is often tempting to negotiate that number down and walk away. Tenants regularly end up paying more that way, not less. Landlord-prepared cash figures are typically padded with contingency, supervisor fees, administrative uplifts and a loss-of-rent allowance during the works. Paying the settlement does not mean the landlord ever does the works — you have simply handed over cash.
Completing the works directly closes the liability on handover. The landlord signs off, the matter ends, and you retain control of specification, suppliers and programme throughout. In the overwhelming majority of London leases, that is both the cheaper route and the cleaner one.
Your Next Step: Get a Free Strip-Out Assessment
London Dilaps Ltd carries out end-of-lease strip-out, Cat A reinstatement and make-good works across every London postcode. We hold £5m Public Liability and Employers’ Liability insurance, work nights and weekends around building-manager restrictions, and handle everything from a single floor in Shoreditch to a 40,000 sq ft headquarters in the City.
If you have a schedule of dilapidations in front of you — or you are 6-12 months out from lease end and want to scope the works early — we will walk the floor with you and produce a line-by-line strip-out estimate at no cost. Most tenants find the works come in significantly below the landlord’s schedule figure, and the gap is your saving.
Ready to start? Contact London Dilaps for a free strip-out assessment and begin your lease exit on the front foot.
Further reading on londondilaps.com:
Office Strip-Out Services in London
The Complete Guide to Office Dilapidations in London