The short answer
A make good in South Melbourne is the end-of-lease work your lease requires, most often in a mid-rise office building, a showroom or a shop near the market. The usual scope is removing your fit-out, reinstating base-building ceilings, lighting and floors, and repairing damage. Building management rules and any planned redevelopment of the site can affect what the landlord asks for.
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Key takeaways
- 01Your lease clause decides the scope. Start with the clause, the condition report and any fit-out approvals.
- 02Multi-tenant office buildings have rules on lifts, loading, noise and after-hours work that shape the programme.
- 03Ceilings, lighting, air-conditioning and fire services are often base-building items that only approved trades can touch.
- 04If the landlord plans to redevelop, ask whether they still want the works done or would prefer an agreed payment.
- 05Get written sign-off from the right person, usually the landlord or its managing agent.
South Melbourne sits just south of the CBD and Southbank. It is in the City of Port Phillip. Its business tenancies fall into three groups: mid-rise office buildings along roads such as Kings Way, Clarendon Street and Albert Road; showrooms and office-warehouses in the streets between; and shops, cafes and food businesses around Clarendon Street and the South Melbourne Market. Part of the suburb also falls inside the Montague precinct of the Fishermans Bend renewal area, where older industrial sites are being redeveloped.
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 an office make good in South Melbourne involve?
Most office leases ask the tenant to remove their fit-out and return the space to "base building" or to the condition at the start of the lease. The exact wording matters. A typical South Melbourne office scope looks like this:
| Area | What is often required | Who usually does it |
|---|---|---|
| Partitions, glass offices, joinery, kitchens | Remove, patch and paint | Strip-out contractor |
| Ceiling grid and tiles | Reinstate to the base-building layout, replace damaged tiles | Ceiling contractor |
| Lighting and power | Remove added circuits and make safe, reinstate base-building lighting | Licensed electrician (sometimes the building's nominated electrician) |
| Air-conditioning | Reinstate ducts and outlets moved for your fit-out | Often the base-building mechanical contractor |
| Fire services | Return sprinklers, detectors and exit signs to the base-building layout | Fire services contractor approved by the building |
| Floors | Remove or replace carpet, repair the slab under it | Flooring contractor |
| Signage and cleaning | Remove signs, repair fixings, final clean | Contractor and cleaner |
For a step-by-step version, see the office make-good page and the Melbourne office make-good page.
Why do building rules matter so much?
In a shared office building you are not the only tenant. Building management usually controls goods lift bookings, loading dock times, noisy work hours and which trades can touch base-building systems. These rules shape the programme and the price. A quote that assumes daytime work and free lift access may not hold up.
Before you ask for quotes, get:
- the building's fit-out or contractor rules
- the list of base-building or approved trades
- any after-hours or noise restrictions
- the asbestos register for the building
Under Victoria's OHS Regulations 2017 (regs 240 and 241), the asbestos register must be reviewed before refurbishment or demolition work. Older buildings may contain asbestos, so ask for the register early.
Victoria's building permit exemption for internal alterations to commercial buildings does not cover work that affects an essential safety measure, such as fire services (Building Regulations 2018, Schedule 3 item 4). If your make good moves sprinklers or detectors, ask a registered building surveyor whether a permit is needed.
What if the building is going to be redeveloped?
South Melbourne, and Montague in particular, has older buildings that may be redeveloped. If your landlord plans to demolish or substantially rebuild, a full make good may add little value to them. That does not end your obligation, which comes from the lease. Whether a planned redevelopment changes what the landlord can claim is a legal question for your lease and your facts, so get legal advice.
In practice, tenants in this position often negotiate: a reduced scope, leaving the fit-out in place, or a payment in lieu. See payment in lieu of make good. Before you negotiate, get an independent quote for the full scope so you know what the works would really cost.
How much does an office make good cost?
Honest public data is thin. The best-known figure is JLL's national average of $456 per square metre for make good, from its 2022/23 fit-out cost guide (Source: JLL newsroom, February 2023). That figure is several years old, is a single national average, and is not specific to South Melbourne or to your building. Treat it as a rough guide only. The make-good cost guide explains what drives the price up or down. The only reliable figure for your premises is a quote against a written scope.
What about showrooms and shops?
Showrooms often have feature lighting, display walls, polished or coated floors and signage. Ask whether your lease requires those floors to be returned to bare concrete or simply left clean and undamaged.
Shops and food businesses near the market may be on retail leases. In Victoria, the Retail Leases Act 2003 applies to premises used wholly or predominantly for retail sales or retail services, with exclusions (s 4). For a retail lease, a security deposit must be returned within 30 days after the lease ends if you have met all your obligations (s 24). Disputes generally go to Small Business Commission mediation before VCAT can hear them (ss 86 and 87).
How MAKE GREAT helps South Melbourne tenants
- Get my make-good quotes. We turn your details into a written brief and invite up to three vetted independent contractors who cover South Melbourne. If fewer than three are available, we tell you. Each quotes the same scope, so you can compare them.
- Analyse my lease. Our lease check pulls out the make-good, alterations and cleaning clauses with page references. It is preliminary, not legal advice, and a person reviews unclear clauses.
You choose the contractor and contract with them directly. 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. Nearby: Port Melbourne, Richmond and the Melbourne make-good hub.
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Frequently asked questions
What does an office make good in South Melbourne usually include?
Commonly, removing partitions, joinery, kitchens, data cabling and signage, then reinstating the ceiling grid and tiles, lighting layout and floor coverings to what the lease describes. Some leases also require full repainting. Your clause and the start-of-lease condition report decide the final list.
Can my own electrician or air-conditioning contractor do the make-good work?
Not always. Many office buildings require base-building trades, or trades the landlord approves, for work on air-conditioning, fire services and the building's electrical system. Check your lease and the building rules before you accept a quote that includes those items.
My landlord is going to redevelop the building. Do I still have to make good?
Possibly. The obligation comes from your lease, so a redevelopment plan does not cancel it on its own. Many landlords in that situation prefer a negotiated outcome, such as a reduced scope or a payment. Get legal advice before you agree to anything, and get any agreement in writing.
How much does an office make good cost?
Public data is thin. JLL's 2022/23 fit-out guide gave a national average of $456 per square metre for make good, but that figure is several years old and not specific to South Melbourne. The only reliable number for your premises is a quote against a written scope.
Where do I go if I have a dispute with my landlord about make good?
For a retail lease in Victoria, disputes go to the Victorian Small Business Commission for mediation before VCAT can hear them in most cases. The Commission also handles some other commercial disputes. A lawyer can tell you which path applies to your lease.
Do I need to clean the office as part of the make good?
Usually yes. Most leases expect the premises to be left clean and free of rubbish, and some specify a professional clean or carpet steam clean. Check the wording and book cleaning after the trades have finished.
Sources
Primary sources we checked when writing this page. Laws and guidance change, so check the current version.
- 1.Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic), Version 027 (opens in a new tab)
- 2.Victorian Small Business Commission, FAQs (opens in a new tab)
- 3.Victorian Small Business Commission, Retail leasing rights and responsibilities (Feb 2025) (opens in a new tab)
- 4.Building Regulations 2018 (Vic), reg 23 and Schedule 3 (opens in a new tab)
- 5.Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic), asbestos (opens in a new tab)
- 6.JLL, Sydney overtakes Tokyo as most expensive for office fit-outs (Feb 2023) (opens in a new tab)
- 7.City of Port Phillip (opens in a new tab)