The lease is the most important construction document you will sign, and most tenants sign it before a builder has seen the space. A good fitout partner can walk a tenancy with you and spot problems in an hour that would otherwise surface months later as variations. Here are the nine checks we run.
1. Is your use allowed on this land?
Check the zone and overlays with a planning property report. Some uses need a planning permit, and a permit application can take months. Car parking requirements under Clause 52.06 can also be triggered by a more intensive use. Make the lease conditional on any planning permit you need.
2. What is the building classification?
The building's current class under the National Construction Code, shown on its occupancy permit, tells you whether your use fits. Moving a clinic into a shop, a gym into an office, or a café into a warehouse is often a change of use, which normally needs a building permit and upgrades before you can occupy.
3. What fire services and exits are there?
Look at sprinkler coverage, smoke detection, exit locations, travel distances and fire-rated construction. A layout that needs extra exits or sprinkler work will cost more and needs coordination with the building's fire contractor. Ask the landlord for the essential safety measures list and the latest annual report.
4. Is the space accessible?
New work that needs approval triggers the Premises Standards for the new area and the path of travel from the principal entrance. A step at the front door or a narrow entry corridor can become your problem once you apply for a permit. Clarify who pays for any upgrades before you sign.
5. Is there asbestos?
Workplaces in Victoria must identify asbestos and keep an asbestos register. Ask for it. If the building dates from before the end of 2003, when asbestos was banned nationally, and your fitout will disturb walls, ceilings or floors, you need to know what is there. Removal can affect cost and programme.
6. Do the services support your fitout?
- Electrical capacity for your equipment, especially kitchens and clinics
- Water, drainage and a grease trap connection for food businesses
- A route for kitchen exhaust or plant
- Air conditioning capacity and zoning
- Data and communications entry
7. Who does what: landlord works or tenant works?
Get the handover condition in writing. Common terms are "cold shell" (bare structure with base services only), "warm shell" (with some base services and finishes), or "as is". Agree what the landlord delivers, when, and to what standard, and attach it to the lease.
8. What does make good mean in this lease?
The make good clause decides what you must remove or reinstate when you leave. It could be as little as removing your signage, or as much as returning the space to cold shell with services capped and ceilings reinstated. Photograph and document the condition at handover. That record becomes your best protection years later.
For retail leases, the landlord must give you a disclosure statement at least 14 days before you enter the lease. Read it alongside the lease itself.
9. How long will approvals take?
Rent-free periods are usually negotiated to cover the fitout. If your fitout needs a planning permit, a change of use, landlord design approval and a building permit, those approvals can take longer than construction. Make sure your fitout period reflects reality.
How AxisPro helps
We offer pre-lease site walks for commercial tenants. We review the space against your brief, flag the approval triggers and construction risks, and help you understand what to negotiate before you commit. It is a small investment that often pays for itself in avoided variations.