A make-good clause requires a commercial tenant to return the premises to an agreed condition at the end of the lease, which usually means removing the fit-out, furniture, equipment, signage and all rubbish. Start planning eight to twelve weeks before handover: scope at week twelve, quotes by week eight, strip-out and clearance in the final two to four weeks.
What make good usually includes
Read your lease first, because clauses vary, but a standard commercial make good expects: your fit-out and partitions removed, floor coverings you installed lifted, signage down, cabling removed or made safe, furniture and equipment gone, damage repaired, and the space handed back clean. “Open plan, broom-clean condition” is the phrase that appears in most Victorian leases.
What happens if you leave it late
The lease end date does not move because your clear-out ran long. Tenants who are still removing furniture after expiry typically pay holdover rent at a penalty rate, and landlords can charge the removal and disposal themselves at their contractor’s price, deducted from your bond or security. The most expensive rubbish removal in Melbourne is the removal your landlord arranges for you.
The timeline that avoids all of it
- Twelve weeks out: re-read the make-good clause. Agree scope with the landlord or agent in writing where anything is ambiguous.
- Eight weeks out: get fixed written quotes for the strip out and the clearance. Book the windows.
- Four weeks out: remove what your team can handle internally: files, IT, personal effects, anything leaving with the business.
- Final fortnight: strip out and full clearance, then repairs and cleaning behind them.
- Handover week: walkthrough with the agent, photos of the cleared space, keys back on time.
Strip out and clearance: one booking, not two
The fit-out removal and the rubbish clearance are usually quoted separately by different trades, which creates gaps and blame. Booking them as one scope, with one fixed quote, means one crew is accountable for handing the space back empty.
Facing a make-good deadline?
Send the scope and photos and we will return a fixed written quote for the strip out and clearance the same day, with the program mapped back from your handover date.
