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Leaving a warehouse is easier, and cheaper, when you start early. Landlords of industrial units usually claim for the same handful of items, and most can be dealt with before the lease end if you know what to look for. This checklist runs from 12 months out to the day you hand back the keys. For the full picture of what you may owe, see our warehouse dilapidations service.
6 to 12 months before the end
- Read the lease. Find the repair, alteration, reinstatement and yielding-up clauses, and any licences for alterations.
- Check your break or expiry date and notice requirements. Missing a notice date can commit you to more rent.
- List what you have added: racking, mezzanines, partitions, offices, dock equipment, extra lighting and floor coatings.
- Get a survey with photographs and a priced list of works, to see what a landlord is likely to claim.
- Find your starting condition, such as a schedule of condition or start-of-lease photographs.
3 to 6 months before
- Plan the stock move. Racking can’t come out until the unit is empty, so tie your relocation to the works programme.
- Get fixed-scope quotes for racking and mezzanine removal, floor repairs, doors and docks, and any roof or cladding repairs.
- Agree the scope with the landlord or their surveyor so works are accepted before they are done.
- Check the services. Heating, lighting, sprinklers, fire alarm and electrical installations may need testing certificates.
In the final month
- Remove racking and fixings and make good the floor.
- Repair damage to doors, dock levellers, cladding, yard surfacing and floor cracks.
- Clear the unit of stock, waste and abandoned items, using a licensed waste carrier and keeping transfer notes.
- Deep clean the unit, offices and welfare areas.
- Re-mark or remove floor and yard markings, signage and fencing as the lease requires.
- Take dated photographs of every area.
On handover
- Hand over all keys, fobs and access cards and record meter readings.
- Get written confirmation of the handback date and condition, or a list of what the landlord says remains.
- Keep the paperwork: certificates, waste notes, photographs and the signed sign-off sheet.
If you receive a schedule of dilapidations
Don’t pay it as drafted. A landlord’s schedule is a claim, and items may be disproportionate, already covered by works you did, or outside what the lease requires. Read what to do when you receive a schedule and compare it with a contractor’s price.
Need help with the unit?
London Dilaps surveys, prices and carries out warehouse lease-exit works across London and the South East. Send us your lease and we will scope it. For pricing, see our warehouse dilapidations cost guide.