Chartered building surveyors such as those at Bradley-Mason LLP continually expand their knowledge of the most recent government legislation and industry standards, which allows us to help landlords and tenants to remain safe & compliant during occupancy of a commercial property. Certain legislative changes affect the way in which we do our jobs, while others affect your responsibilities and roles as a commercial landlord or tenant. One such piece of legislation is the Dilapidations Protocol, first implemented in January 2012. But what actually is the Dilapidations Protocol, and what does it mean for you? We’ve compiled this short guide to help you find out…
What is the Dilapidations Protocol?
The Dilapidations Protocol is a piece of legislation passed by the Property Litigation Association in January 2012, which has been endorsed by RICS and is now considered to be industry best-practice. The Protocol had been germinating since 2000, however, and has only recently been put into practice. Addressing a commonly cited problem within the industry, the Property Litigation Association identified the need for a process to prevent landlords from making exaggerated dilapidations claims at the end of a lease agreement, leading to the first draft of the Dilapidations Protocol as early as 2002. This first edition of the Protocol was endorsed by RICS at the time, although various amendments suggested by the government worked to put the Dilapidations Protocol on hold for some time. Finally, however, the Protocol was passed, and it is now in effect today.
Why was the Dilapidations Protocol implemented?
There are a number of reasons why the Dilapidations Protocol came about in the first place. For a long time, commercial tenants had been more or less at the mercy of landlords, some of whom took the opportunity to make exorbitant, exaggerated claims at the culmination of a lease agreement. Disreputable landlords would ask for dilapidations settlements far in advance of any losses actually related to repair, maintenance or renovation of a property, and in many cases tenants would have little choice but to meet these demands. Unfortunately, some landlords had realised that their commercial tenants would rather avoid litigation and settle matters out of court without the assistance of a firm such as Bradley-Mason LLP. Often, these tenants had little proof with which to defend themselves against exaggerated claims.
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