What is a Schedule of Condition?
Schedules of condition are often appended to a lease to record the condition of a property prior to lease commencement, with the intention of the schedule to limit the tenant’s repairing liability. Nobody wants to inherit the responsibility for damage caused by somebody else.
Why it’s important to use a Chartered Building Surveyor
A schedule of condition is often seen as a relatively simple document, and many tenants simply choose to take a handful of photographs to try and prove what the premises were like prior to lease commencement. If the schedule of condition is not referenced in the lease, then the handful of photographs are in effect, worthless. Also, even if the photographs are referenced in the lease, by the time the lease comes to an end, the photographs are often grainy and poorly copied, and sometimes are difficult to interpret. A text based schedule as well as photographs is the best way to record the condition.
How the defects are recorded is also important as generalisations can potentially strengthen the position of one party at the expense of the other. Schedules of condition often oblige the tenant to keep the property in no worse state than the schedule evidences, however it is impossible to maintain some defects in a slightly deteriorated state, and the simple passage of time will cause the defect to worsen and potentially fall into the tenant’s repairing liabilities.
Why use DW Building Consultancy?
I understand the methodology of preparing thorough schedules of condition, but I also have the market awareness and commercial expertise, so I understand how these need to be referenced within the lease and can advise which items may perhaps need to be dealt with earlier, rather than simply recording in a schedule.