Make Good Richmond: Offices, Shops and Warehouse Conversions

The short answer

A make good in Richmond means doing the end-of-lease work your lease requires before you hand back the premises. In Richmond that is often an office in a converted brick warehouse or a shop or venue on Swan Street, Bridge Road, Church Street or Victoria Street. Older buildings, heritage controls and tight street access shape how the work is planned.

Last reviewed 28 October 2026

Key takeaways

01Your lease sets the make-good scope. Richmond's older buildings do not change that, but they change how the work is done.
02Many Richmond offices are in older converted warehouses, so check the asbestos register before any strip-out starts.
03Hospitality and food tenancies usually have extra items: exhaust hoods, grease traps, cool rooms and gas.
04Skip bins, cranes or trucks on a narrow Richmond street usually need a City of Yarra permit, so book early.
05Get the landlord's sign-off in writing before you hand back the keys.

Richmond is one of Melbourne's busiest inner-city business suburbs, and its tenancies are unusual. Many offices sit in converted brick factories and warehouses, especially around Cremorne and the streets off Swan Street. Shops, cafes and restaurants line Bridge Road, Swan Street, Church Street and Victoria Street. Both kinds of tenancy bring their own make-good problems.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Your lease decides what you must do. For advice on your obligations, speak to a lawyer or the Victorian Small Business Commission.

What does a make good in Richmond usually involve?

The lease decides the scope. No Victorian law defines "make good". It is a contract term, so two tenants in the same building can have very different obligations. Typical Richmond items are:

Tenancy type	Common make-good items
Office in a converted warehouse	Remove partitions, glass offices, joinery, kitchenettes and data cabling; patch and repaint; restore exposed brick, timber or concrete finishes; remove signage
Office in a newer building	Remove fit-out back to base building; reinstate ceiling tiles and lighting; replace or clean carpet; make added power safe
Shop on a retail strip	Remove shopfit, counters, display joinery and signage; patch walls; reinstate the shopfront if it was changed
Cafe, bar or restaurant	All of the above, plus exhaust hood and ductwork, grease trap, cool room, gas fit-off and kitchen floor and wall finishes

If you are not sure which items apply, start with the office make-good checklist and what make good means.

Why do converted warehouse offices make it harder?

Converted buildings often have finishes that a new tenant liked and a landlord now wants back. Your lease may say "return to the condition at the start of the lease", and in a converted warehouse that could mean polished timber floors, exposed brick or bare concrete. Glue, screws and fixings in those surfaces are harder to repair cleanly than plasterboard or carpet.

Three things to check early:

The condition report. The Victorian Small Business Commission recommends that landlords and tenants agree a condition report at the start of a lease. If you have one, it is your best evidence of what the space looked like. If you do not, look for photos, emails and the original fit-out drawings.
Asbestos. Older buildings may contain asbestos in places a strip-out disturbs. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic), regs 240 and 241, the asbestos register must be reviewed before refurbishment or demolition work. Removing any friable asbestos, or more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos (or more than an hour of removal work in 7 days), needs a licensed removalist (regs 246, 250, 264 and 265).
Heritage. Many Richmond streets have heritage controls. Victoria's building permit exemption for internal alterations to commercial buildings does not apply to a building on the Victorian Heritage Register, or to work that affects structure or an essential safety measure (Building Regulations 2018, Schedule 3 item 4). A planning permit can still be needed where a heritage overlay applies. Ask a registered building surveyor or the City of Yarra.

What extra work does a Richmond cafe or restaurant usually need?

Hospitality tenancies cost more to hand back because more was built in. Expect the contractor to look at:

Kitchen exhaust. Removing the hood, fan and ductwork, then sealing the roof or wall penetration so the building stays weatherproof.
Grease trap. Whether it stays or goes depends on your lease and the landlord. Ask your water retailer's trade waste team whether your trade waste agreement needs to be ended.
Gas and electrical. Gas must be capped by a licensed or registered gasfitter, because altering gas pipes is gasfitting work (Plumbing Regulations 2018 (Vic), reg 19). In Victoria, electrical installation work must be done by a licensed electrician and inspected by a licensed electrical inspector (Electricity Safety Act 1998, ss 38 and 45).
Cool rooms and floor finishes. Cool room panels, coved vinyl and tiled walls often need removal and repair underneath.

If your lease is a retail lease, the Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic) may also apply. It covers premises used wholly or predominantly for retail sales or retail services, with exclusions (s 4). The retail make-good page explains more.

How do access and parking affect a Richmond job?

Many Richmond streets are narrow and busy, with tram lines on Swan Street, Bridge Road, Church Street and Victoria Street. That affects the job:

Skip bins, trucks or a crane on the road or footpath usually need a council permit. Check with the City of Yarra early.
Upper-floor tenancies without a goods lift mean more labour for carrying out waste.
Noisy work near homes may need to be kept to set hours. Ask your landlord and building manager for any building rules.

Ask each contractor to say in their quote how they will handle access, waste and permits, so you can compare like for like.

When should I start planning?

Start as soon as you know you are leaving. A small office or shop may take only days of work, but agreeing the scope with the landlord, getting quotes, arranging asbestos checks and booking permits all take longer. If the work runs past your lease end date, check what your lease says about holding over. Our Melbourne office make-good page and Melbourne strip-out page cover the steps in more detail.

Can I negotiate the scope or pay instead?

Often you can try. Many landlords plan to refit before re-letting, so they may prefer cash or may let some items stay. That is a negotiation, not a right. Get any agreement in writing, including what stays, who owns it and that the landlord accepts it as meeting your obligation.

How MAKE GREAT helps Richmond tenants

Get my make-good quotes. Tell us the address, the type of tenancy and when your lease ends. We prepare a written brief and invite up to three vetted independent contractors who cover Richmond. If fewer than three are available, we tell you.
Analyse my lease. Our lease check reads your lease and lists what it appears to require, what is unclear and what the documents do not establish, with page references. It is preliminary, not legal advice, and a person reviews unclear clauses.

You choose the contractor and contract with them directly. MAKE GREAT is not a contractor. Free for tenants. If you hire a contractor through us, they pay us a referral fee. Nobody can pay to rank higher. We do not promise that you will save money.

Get my make-good quotes or analyse my lease. For nearby areas see South Melbourne and the Melbourne make-good hub.

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General information only, not legal advice. Get advice from a property lawyer about your own lease.

Frequently asked questions

What does a make good usually involve for a Richmond office?

It depends on your lease. Common items are removing partitions, joinery, kitchenettes, data cabling and signage, patching and repainting walls, and repairing or replacing floor coverings. In converted warehouse offices the lease may also cover exposed brickwork, timber floors and polished concrete, so read the clause and the start-of-lease condition report closely.

Is my Richmond shop or restaurant lease a retail lease?

It may be. In Victoria the Retail Leases Act 2003 covers premises used wholly or predominantly to sell or hire goods by retail or to provide retail services, with some exclusions such as occupancy costs above $1 million a year excluding GST (Retail Leases Act 2003, s 4; Retail Leases Regulations 2023, reg 6). A lawyer can confirm whether your lease is covered.

Do I need a permit to put a skip bin on the street in Richmond?

Usually, yes. Councils generally require a permit to place a skip bin or occupy part of a road or footpath. Contact the City of Yarra early, because permits can take time and parking in Richmond is tight. Your contractor may arrange it as part of the job, so ask about it when you request quotes.

Does a heritage building in Richmond need a permit for a strip-out?

It might. In Victoria, internal alterations to a commercial building are exempt from a building permit only if they do not affect structure, safety or an essential safety measure, and the building is not on the Victorian Heritage Register. A planning permit can also be needed, for example under a heritage overlay. Ask a registered building surveyor or the City of Yarra before work starts.

Who checks for asbestos before a strip-out in an older Richmond building?

Under Victoria's OHS Regulations 2017, the person who manages or controls the workplace must review the asbestos register before refurbishment or demolition work and update it if needed. In a tenancy that responsibility can be shared, so ask your landlord for the register before you get quotes.

Can I pay my landlord instead of doing the make good?

Sometimes, if the landlord agrees. It is a negotiation, not a right. An independent quote for the same scope gives you a figure to compare against the landlord's request.

Sources

Primary sources we checked when writing this page. Laws and guidance change, so check the current version.