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Guide · Document structure

What does a Schedule of Dilapidations include?

A Schedule of Dilapidations served under the RICS Pre-Action Protocol is a structured document: alleged breaches of the lease covenants, particularised item by item, with the proposed remedy and cost of works. It is served alongside a Quantified Demand setting out the total damages claimed.

Author
CBC Surveyors
Updated
Updated 2025
Reading time
7 min read

Overview

The Schedule of Dilapidations is the central evidential document in a terminal claim. Its structure is prescribed by the Pre-Action Protocol and follows a consistent format. Below: each element, what it covers, and how it is responded to.

1. Preamble: the lease, the parties, the demise

The schedule opens with the lease particulars, the parties, the demise as defined in the lease, the date of inspection and the surveyor's qualifications. This frames the scope of the claim.

2. Alleged breaches, item by item

The body of the schedule lists each alleged breach of the lease covenants. Conventionally each item is structured: the covenant breached, the location, the alleged disrepair, the proposed remedial work, and the cost. The Pre-Action Protocol expects each item to be sufficiently particularised that the tenant can respond to it directly.

3. Covenant types covered

A typical terminal schedule covers four types of covenant breach.

4. Surveyor's endorsement

Under the Pre-Action Protocol, the schedule is endorsed by the landlord's surveyor confirming that the works claimed are reasonably required to remedy the alleged breaches and that the costs are reasonable. This endorsement is fundamental to the schedule's evidential weight.

5. The Quantified Demand

Served alongside the schedule, the Quantified Demand sets out the total damages claimed, including the cost of works, loss of rent during any reinstatement period, fees and any other heads of loss. The Quantified Demand is the figure the tenant responds to, but it is not, in most cases, the figure that ultimately settles.

Key takeaways

What to remember

  • 01Structure is prescribed by the RICS Pre-Action Protocol for Dilapidations Claims.
  • 02Each alleged breach is particularised: covenant, location, defect, remedy, cost.
  • 03Repair, decoration, reinstatement and statutory covenants are all addressed.
  • 04The landlord's surveyor must endorse the schedule under the Protocol.
  • 05The Quantified Demand totals the cost of works plus other heads of loss.
Common questions

Frequently asked

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