What is a Schedule of Condition?

Schedules of Condition are generally, and most commonly, used for three main purposes:

1. to accompany a new commercial lease;
2. to accompany to a Party Wall Award; and
3. to accompany a Licence for Alterations.

In all three instances, the Schedule of Condition is used to provide a snapshot or a point in time assessment of the condition of a property.  A schedule of condition is a reference document to be referred back to at some point in the future to prove damage or the condition of property in respect of a lease, often in respect of dilapidations claims or repairing covenants. 

Having undertaken many a Dilapidations Claim, Party Wall matter or Licence for Alterations, we have witnessed both ends of the scale in terms of quality of Schedule of Condition documents.  At the poorer end of the Schedule of Condition scale, the document will be badly described, badly orientated and not have any referencing photographs. Some surveyors now use applications for Schedule of Condition surveys which are often inadequate and either provide just photographs with light annotations or just text reports without any photographs. 

A good Schedule of Condition should include full and lengthy descriptions of both the item in question and its condition and this should be clearly linked to a referencing photograph. 

As a Schedules of Condition is normally referred back to in times of contention or litigation, it is absolutely vital that they stand the test of time and can be picked up by someone whom is fundamentally lay to the original construct of the document and be able to clearly see the intention of the surveyor. 

RES is available to undertake Schedules of Condition for all such purposes and we send out examples of the Schedule of Condition document and CVs of the surveyors with every quotation.  Please do not hesitate to get in touch with RES Property Surveyors if you require a Schedule of Condition.