Schedule of Condition Reporting
Regulated Surveyors by RICS, CIOB and RPSA
What does the Schedule of Condition Report refer to?
A leasehold property needs a Schedule of Condition to be drawn up. This is an annotated record of the property’s condition at the time that a lease is granted, and it acts as a benchmark for telling whether the property has suffered damage during the lease term. The Schedule of Condition is drawn up in writing and by photography.
In case you are required to carry out some repair or pay for any damage done the property, a Schedule of Dilapidations will be issued by the landlord.
What does a Schedule of Condition Report comprise?
When a lease begins, photographs serve as the best form of evidence of the property’s condition. A photographic schedule of condition provides the most reliable evidence of the property’s condition at the onset of the lease. It highlights the following:
- overall condition of the building
- soundness of the structure (damp or rot)
- materials used in the construction
Is a Schedule of Condition necessary for landlords?
Even though it is mostly for the tenant’s protection, both landlord and tenant get the benefit of having a schedule of condition.
It serves as a record of the property’s condition at the start of the lease, which helps avoid disagreements when the lease comes to an end. Both parties can refer to it in any such future argument. The schedule of condition, in brief terms, also directs the tenant regarding the maintenance of the property.
At the beginning or the end of the lease term, the entire building will be surveyed to assure compliance with the lease by the tenant. If the tenant “opts out” of having a Schedule of Condition and something goes wrong, the tenant could find themselves responsible for quite a number of repairs that the landlord should have taken care of. Conversely, if landlord and tenant both consider the vital yet frequently neglected Schedule of Condition and opt to have one prepared, then both parties are more likely to go through a smooth process. Speak to an RICS Chartered Surveyor for further assistance on preparation of this document.
Is a Schedule of Condition needed by tenants?
If you are a tenant, the team of RICS Chartered Surveyors can look over your landlord’s Schedule of Condition and make sure it’s satisfactory. You should absolutely review this document before you sign it—that’s the lease—so you know what you are responsible for and what the landlord is responsible for.
The expert panel in Manchester can help you by creating a verified and accurate Schedules of Condition Document which will ensure that you are protected from financial loss and are not forced into agreeing to irrelevant terms and conditions.
It is extremely important for tenants to have a schedule of condition as part of their lease. Tenants should insist on it. Such a schedule may limit a tenant’s repair obligations to the set condition of the property at the outset of the lease. This is certainly fair because, in the absence of such a schedule, tenants could be unfairly blamed for repairing problems that predated their tenancy. This seems especially pertinent to the case of a property that is in poor condition when the lease starts. Therefore, such a must have a schedule of condition in order to safeguard his interests.
Party Wall Schedule of Condition
A ‘schedule of condition’ in relation to a party wall is a record of the condition of the adjoining owner’s property at the time of the appointment of the surveyors who will oversee the work on the wall.
The building’s surveyor looks at the walls of the adjoining owner’s building, the floors, and the ceilings. All are examined for signs of damage. These parts are almost always included in the schedule. Typically, the visible external parts of the building envelope are included as well. If the adjoining owner’s building has a garden, it is almost certainly included too if relevant to the works.
The ‘Award’ is the document produced by the Party Wall Surveyors that sets out the work covered by the award. It is a pretty basic document. It states the parties to the award (the Building Owner and the Adjoining Owner), identifies the Adjoining Owner’s property, identifies the Building Owner’s property, and describes the work that is going to be done. The ‘Schedule of Condition’ is appended to the Award. It is a description of the condition of the Adjoining Owner’s property immediately prior to the commencement of the work.
What happens if it is not possible to conduct a Schedule of Condition?
A Schedule of Condition can either be drawn up at the beginning of the lease or before neighbouring construction begins. It is a form of protection for property stakeholders, and creates a benchmark for the condition in case there are any damages in the future. Conversely, construction parties also use Schedules of Condition as protective devices against allegations of having caused harm.
When a condition survey is to be completed, the adjoining property owner is informed and asked if they will allow access to their property so the survey can be conducted. If the adjoining property owner refuses access, there are alternatives that can be pursued.
When an owner denies access, the next step is to correspond with them in order to clarify the situation further. They are contacted again to confirm once more that the owner will be unable to substantiate any damage claims if the claimed damage is located in an area that was not examined as part of a condition survey. This correspondence sometimes serves the dual purpose of informing the owner that they aren’t really in a position to claim damages and of encouraging them to allow access to the team.
You can also draw up a schedule from the public road and/or the property of the Building Owner. This will capture the external parts of the Adjoining Owner’s property. However, it does not extend to the internal parts of their property.
Is it necessary for the Council to carry out a Schedule of Condition?
Many people are curious about whether Statutory Undertakers—such as the gas, water, and electricity companies—need to prepare Schedules of Condition when they dig trenches, lay cables, and otherwise install infrastructure beneath the ground. The short answer is no.
Ordinarily, statutory undertakers are not required to issue a notice under the Party Wall Act (1996) to neighbouring property owners for excavating close to adjacent buildings.
Nevertheless, if specific conditions arise, there is nothing to prevent either the utility (the relevant Statutory Undertaker) or an owner of property nearby from approaching the utility and asking it to agree to a schedule of condition. Both utility and property owner may reasonably see this document as a way to look after their respective interests.
Most of the time, the service undertakers do not own the land that they are digging up. Instead, they have been given the right to place infrastructure on or under the land. That situation does not make them “Owners” as that word is defined by the Party Wall Act, and so it does not trigger the requirement to serve up Notices under the Act to the Adjoining Owners.
Summary
A summary of the key points about why a Schedule of Condition is important would be as follows:
- applies to both residential and commercial real estate.
- avoids unnecessary bills for tenants and unpaid damage for landlords.
- limits disputes by showing the actual condition of the property before and after the lease term.
- requires an experienced surveyor to ensure a high-quality report.
Surveys of Commercial Property
If you’re thinking of acquiring, leasing, subletting, disposing of, or altering commercial premises in Manchester, you would be well advised to locate a surveyor skilled in the nuances of commercial building surveying – should you spot a defect in a commercial building you can use that information to negotiate an asking price for the property that’s considerably lower than what the seller originally wanted, or you can talk your way out of a bad deal altogether.
Our Manchester-based team of RICS-compliant commercial building surveyors is equipped to handle matters throughout Manchester.
Contact
Our team prioritizes client care above all else. We look forward to being in touch with you so you can instruct a surveyor in Manchester, London, Bristol, Birmingham or Cardiff. You can reach out to us easily. Just fill out our form, and we’ll get back to you with a free quote for your survey. All our surveyors are qualified as members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and we are one of the UK’s leading providers of building survey and valuation services:
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The property survey you commission will be carried out by an accredited professional. Your chartered surveyor will be a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), or will belong to some other industry-standard professional body. Rest assured; you will receive highest quality of professional service for your survey.
