Stage one: the landlord's schedule of dilapidations
The Protocol expects the landlord's surveyor to prepare an itemised schedule of dilapidations setting out, item by item, the alleged breaches of covenant, the works required to remedy each breach and the cost of those works. The schedule must be endorsed by the surveyor confirming, in their opinion, that the works are reasonable and that the costs are a fair representation of the landlord's likely loss.
Schedules are typically served at, or shortly after, lease expiry, most commonly as a terminal schedule. A schedule served well after expiry, particularly where the landlord has already re-let or refurbished, weakens the claim materially.
Stage two: the Quantified Demand
The Quantified Demand is the formal claim document. It sets out the total sum the landlord seeks to recover, attaches the schedule, and quantifies any consequential losses, for example loss of rent and rates during the period of works, professional fees and VAT where recoverable.
The Quantified Demand should be served as soon as the landlord is in a position to particularise its claim. Late service, or a Quantified Demand that diverges materially from the schedule, gives the tenant's surveyor immediate procedural grounds to challenge, and a specialist Quantified Demand review is the standard tenant-side response.
Stage three: the tenant's response (within 56 days)
The Protocol expects a substantive response from the tenant within a reasonable period, taken in practice to mean 56 days from service of the Quantified Demand. The response is itself an itemised document, addressing each schedule item in turn and setting out the tenant's position: admitted, denied, or admitted in part with an alternative cost. Specialist tenant-side advice at this stage typically pays for itself many times over.
The response should also engage with:
- Section 18 cap. The statutory ceiling on damages, set by the diminution in the value of the reversion.
- Supersession. Items rendered valueless by the landlord's intended works to the property.
- Pre-existing condition. Items that were already in disrepair at lease grant and therefore fall outside the tenant's repairing covenant.
Where the Schedule of Condition fits
A Schedule of Condition agreed at lease grant, and properly annexed to the lease, is the single most effective piece of defensive evidence at Protocol response stage. It sets the evidential baseline against which the landlord's schedule is measured.
The tenant's surveyor uses the Schedule of Condition to:
- Rebut items in the landlord's schedule that pre-existed the lease, with dated, cross-referenced photographic evidence.
- Cap the tenant's repairing obligation at the documented condition at lease grant, rather than at an idealised reinstatement standard.
- Distinguish fair wear and tear from genuine breach, where the lease language permits.
Stage four: Scott schedule and negotiation
Following the tenant's response, the parties' surveyors typically compile a Scott schedule, an item-by-item negotiation document recording each side's position on cost and recoverability. Most terminal claims settle at this stage. The Protocol expects the parties to meet, in person or remotely, on a without-prejudice basis to narrow the issues before any consideration of court proceedings.
Stage five: ADR before proceedings
The Protocol places a clear expectation on both parties to consider Alternative Dispute Resolution, mediation, expert determination or PACT (Professional Arbitration on Court Terms), before issuing proceedings. Failure to engage reasonably with ADR can attract adverse costs orders if the matter ultimately reaches court. Our guide to resolving dilapidations disputes covers Section 18 valuation evidence, Scott schedule tactics and the practical routes to settlement. In practice, the great majority of dilapidations claims are resolved through surveyor negotiation and never see the inside of a courtroom.