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Commercial leases · RICS Dilaps Protocol

Dilapidations schedules — built for end-of-lease commercial property

Terminal schedules and interim schedules in one tool. RICS Dilapidations Protocol-aligned, Section 18 capping built in — drafted from your inspection notes in minutes.

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Our approach to Dilapidations

Built for commercial-lease end-of-term work where every clause reference and £ figure may be challenged. Aligned to the RICS Dilapidations Guidance Note (7th edition): clause-referenced breaches, costed remedies, response & counter-cost columns, Section 18 capping, agreed-final-position tracking, section-aware image manager, and Excel export with negotiation formulas.

When a dilapidations claim becomes contested, the schedule becomes a Scott Schedule. New to that format? See our guide: What is a Scott Schedule?

Section 18

Section 18 cap built in

Captures both headline claim and capped claim under Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 s.18(1). Diminution-in-value reasoning recorded alongside. Whichever is lower controls the recoverable amount.

Photo manager

Section-aware image manager

Bulk-import from your camera roll. Drag photos to schedule items, annotate with arrows and labels, mark for inline or appendix. No more renaming files or dragging into Word folders.

Negotiation

Excel export with formulas

Schedule-only Excel for the cost negotiation conversation. Headline total, capped total, percentage variance — live formulas. Both landlord-side and tenant-side surveyors can paste agreed positions back in.

AI · Expert-witness aware

AI drafts the breach & remedy. The £ figure stays yours.

Type rough on-site notes. AI drafts breach descriptions, remedial works, and clause-reference attribution per item. It populates the response & counter-cost columns from your tenant-response notes.

What AI does not do: propose costed remedies, set the Section 18 cap, or apply supersession reasoning. Those carry expert-witness liability and stay surveyor-only. Strict-literal mode means AI never invents materials, measurements, or causes.

Read our full AI compliance position

What's in the schedule

Sections aligned to the RICS Dilapidations Guidance Note (7th edition).

  1. AInspection & instruction detailsSurveyor, instructing party (landlord / tenant), date, weather, methodology, areas not inspected, witness present.
  2. BProperty & lease contextAddress, demise extent, lease start/end dates, FRI vs IRI status, repairing covenants summary, decoration covenant, yielding-up clause.
  3. CSchedule itemsPer item: clause referenced, breach description, remedial works required, costed remedy (£), tenant response, counter-cost (£), agreed final position, photo evidence.
  1. DSection 18 valuationDiminution in value capping per Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 s.18(1). Reversionary value with works vs without works, capped claim figure.
  2. EQuantified demandsHeadline claim, capped claim, breakdown by clause, professional fees claimed, VAT treatment.
  3. FSurveyor's declarationRICS Dilapidations Protocol attestation, signed declaration, qualifications, AI disclosure.

Lease-end dilapidations process

Six stages, typically 6–18 months from notice to settlement.

Stage 1
Pre-termination notice

Landlord serves an interim schedule (often 6–12 months before lease end) listing breaches and required remedy. Gives the tenant time to remediate before yielding up.

Stage 2
Yielding-up inspection

Lease-end inspection (often within 28 days of expiry). The terminal schedule is built — covenants breached, works required, costed.

Stage 3
Quantified demand served

Landlord serves the tenant a quantified demand under the Pre-Action Protocol. Includes the schedule, the headline claim, professional fees, and a Section 18 cap valuation if it would lower the claim.

Stage 4
Tenant response

Tenant's surveyor reviews each item, sets a counter-cost or contests the breach, and may raise diminution arguments. Response columns are populated in the schedule.

Stage 5
Negotiation & agreed schedule

Surveyors negotiate item-by-item to an agreed final position. The schedule becomes the settlement document.

Stage 6
Settlement or proceedings

Most cases settle. Where they don't, the schedule and Section 18 valuation become the substantive evidence in court.

Dilapidations FAQs

What's the difference between an interim and terminal schedule?
An interim schedule is served during the lease (usually 6–12 months before expiry) so the tenant has the chance to remediate before yielding up. A terminal schedule is served at or after lease end — the tenant no longer has access to remediate, so the landlord seeks damages for the breach. Same template handles both via a "schedule type" toggle.
What is the Section 18 cap?
Section 18(1) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1927 caps a dilapidations claim at the diminution in reversionary value of the landlord's interest caused by the breach. If the property is being redeveloped or demolished, the cap can be £0. The schedule captures both the headline claim and the capped claim — whichever is lower controls the recoverable amount.
Does it follow the RICS Dilapidations Protocol?
Yes. The schedule structure is aligned with the RICS Dilapidations Guidance Note (7th edition) — clause-referenced breaches, costed works per item, response columns, Section 18 valuation, and the surveyor's signed declaration that the schedule is fair and reasonable.
Can both landlord and tenant surveyors use this template?
Yes. The instructing-party field at the top determines whose perspective the schedule represents. Landlord-side surveyors build the original schedule; tenant-side surveyors fill the response and counter-cost columns. The same exported document works for either side.
What output formats are produced?
Branded PDF, DOCX, and a schedule-only CSV/Excel for cost negotiation. The Excel export includes formulas for headline total, capped total, and percentage variance — useful in negotiation calls.
Is the AI aligned with the RICS 2026 AI Standard?
Yes. SurveyorSuite is designed around the RICS Professional Standard Responsible use of artificial intelligence in surveying practice (in force from 9 March 2026). The Dilapidations template specifically locks costed-remedy fields and Section 18 capping from AI output — these carry expert-witness liability. The named surveyor signs off under s.4.2. See our full AI position.
What happens to my notes? Are they used to train AI models?
No. Your notes are sent to Anthropic's commercial API for breach & remedy descriptive drafting only. Anthropic explicitly commits in their Commercial Terms that customer inputs and outputs are not used to train their models. 30-day Trust & Safety retention then deleted. Cost figures and S18 valuations are never sent to AI.

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