Shop fitout removal is the last job on your list when a lease ends, and it’s usually the one that decides whether you get your bond back without a fight. If you’re staring down a make good clause with the keys due back in a few weeks, the wording of that clause matters less than you’d think. What matters is whether an entry condition report exists. Where one does, most disputes never get off the ground. Where one doesn’t, resist the urge to start pulling shopfittings off the wall. Photograph everything first, from the shopfront to the storeroom, and document what you’re standing in right now.
The make-good obligation, what your lease actually requires
Most make good clauses ask for one thing: hand the premises back the way you found them, not the way you’re leaving them. That usually means the shopfront strip-out, the joinery, the signage, the coffee machine plumbing your fitout contractor added in year one. It rarely means repainting walls that were already tired when you moved in, unless your lease says otherwise.
Read the clause properly before you touch a screwdriver. Some leases specify “base building condition”, which can mean stripping back to a bare shell, concrete floor and all. Others just want “fair wear and tear” excluded, which is a much lighter ask. There’s a real difference in the shop fitout removal job those two versions describe, and it’s usually a few thousand dollars either way.
Watch for a demolition clause too. If the landlord is planning to redevelop the building, these clauses let them end your tenancy early regardless of your make good obligations, and they’ve become more common in retail leases written since 2020. If yours has one, your notice period and your make good scope both need a second look, ideally before you book a single skip.
None of this replaces legal advice on your specific lease. It just tells you what to check first.
The physical handback sequence, asbestos check to final inspection
Before anyone touches a wall, get the asbestos question answered. Fitouts in older strips along Chapel Street or Bridge Road often sit inside buildings with asbestos in the original sheeting, and disturbing it during a strip-out without the right precautions is treated seriously under Victorian demolition and refurbishment rules. If your building’s date or trade history makes this plausible, get it checked before you book a single skip.
Once that’s clear, the sequence runs roughly like this:
- Photograph and document the space as it stands, every wall, floor and service point, before anything is removed.
- Disconnect and cap services (power, data, gas, water) through a licensed trade, not the removal crew.
- Strip fixtures and joinery: counters, shelving, signage, anything bolted or screwed in.
- Lift floor coverings and remove ceiling elements if your lease scope requires it.
- Clear the resulting rubbish and make good any surface damage from removal.
- Book a walk-through with the landlord or agent before you hand back keys, not after.
Shop fitout removal is the last step in that list, not the first, and that ordering matters. Skip it to save time and you’ll be pulling carpet tiles back up after the landlord’s inspector flags something you’d already covered over.
What it costs, and how the waste levy changes the maths
Shop fitout removal isn’t priced like a domestic clean-out. You’re paying for volume, labour, and disposal, and disposal is where the numbers move on you. Victoria’s landfill levy has climbed steadily and now sits well above what most retailers remember from their last fitout, which means a skip that cost a certain figure two lease terms ago costs noticeably more today. Waste levy rates vary by state and keep rising, so a quote based on an old job or a mate’s experience in another state won’t hold.
The practical lever is sorting. Timber shelving, plasterboard, carpet tiles and clean metal can often be diverted rather than binned as general waste, and diversion is usually charged at a lower rate than landfill. A fitout with mixed rubbish thrown into one skip pays landfill pricing on everything in it, including the stuff that didn’t need to. Ask your removalist upfront how they sort and what gets diverted; it’s a fair question and a good one to put in writing alongside your quote.
Budget for the levy, not against it. It’s a fixed cost of the exit, and pretending otherwise just moves the surprise to the final invoice.
When landlord and tenant disagree, and how to avoid it
Here’s the thing most retailers don’t hear until it’s too late: the biggest predictor of a smooth handback isn’t what your lease says about make good, it’s whether an entry condition report exists. Where a proper report was done at the start of the tenancy, most disputes never happen, because there’s nothing to argue about. Both sides can point to the same document.
If you don’t have one, don’t wait for the landlord to raise it. Walk the space now, photograph every wall, floor and fixture, and date-stamp the lot. Note anything that was already worn or damaged when you moved in. This costs you an afternoon and gives you real leverage if a dispute lands later, whether that’s a negotiation with the landlord directly or a referral to your state’s small business commissioner.
The order matters too. Treat the make good obligations in your lease as the checklist, and the physical shop fitout removal as the last step in ticking it off, not the first. Ripping out fixtures before you’ve documented condition and confirmed what the lease actually requires is how retailers end up paying to redo work, or arguing over damage nobody can prove predates the strip-out.
Closing / key takeaways
Get the paperwork sorted before the crew turns up. A shop fitout removal goes fastest and cheapest when the sequence is right: check your make good obligations, photograph everything as it stands now, and only then start pulling out fixtures. If there’s no entry condition report to work from, that photo record is your protection. Rushing the strip-out to hand keys back on time usually costs more in disputes than it saves in days. Sort the condition question first, and the physical job is genuinely straightforward. If you’d rather we handled the clearance end of it, give us a call and we’ll quote it properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Shop fitout removal covers everything you added to the tenancy that wasn’t there on day one: shelving, counters, joinery, signage, flooring overlays, partition walls, lighting, cabling and any fixed displays. It’s more than clearing out stock and furniture. Most leases require you to strip these fixtures back to base building condition unless your agreement says otherwise, so check your make good clause before you start pulling anything down. If you’re unsure what counts as “yours” versus part of the original tenancy, your entry condition report (if one exists) is the fastest way to settle it.
Book four to six weeks out if you can, especially for a full strip-out with skips and multiple loads. Landlords and agents often want the handback done and inspected before the lease end date, not on it, so working backwards from that date gives you room for a follow-up visit if something’s missed. Narrow shopfronts around Chapel Street or Church Street in Prahran and similar strips often need smaller vehicle access or after-hours work, which needs booking ahead too. Last-minute bookings are still possible, but you lose the buffer for anything unexpected.
Yes, and this is where most disputes happen. Without an entry condition report, the landlord’s baseline for “original condition” is harder for you to challenge and easier for them to define generously. Your best move is to photograph the space thoroughly before any strip-out starts, note existing wear, and keep dated records. If a dispute does arise, the Victorian Small Business Commission offers free mediation before it needs to go further. Acting early, before demolition, gives you the strongest position.
Where possible, sell, donate or reuse before you skip anything. Shelving, joinery and fittings in decent nick often have value to another retailer, a reuse group, or a local charity, and diverting them from landfill is usually cheaper than paying disposal fees on top of removal. It also fits neatly into a demolition-clause negotiation if you’re trying to reduce what needs full strip-out. If you’re working to a tight handback date, sort what’s worth keeping first, then let the team take the rest in one go.
