Warehouse make good in Melbourne

A warehouse make good is the work you do at the end of an industrial lease to put the site back in the condition your lease requires. In Melbourne that usually means a tilt-panel or steel-framed warehouse in the western or south-eastern industrial belts, with pallet racking bolted to the slab, painted line marking, an office pod or mezzanine, and electrical work added for your operation.

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

What does a warehouse make good involve?

There is no single standard. Victorian law does not define "make good"; it is a promise in your lease. Most warehouse make-good clauses fall into one of three shapes:

1. Clean and repair. Leave the site clean and fix damage beyond fair wear and tear.
2. Remove your works. Take out everything you installed (racking, office pods, signage, extra power) and repair what removal leaves behind.
3. Reinstate to a stated condition. Return the site to its condition at the start of the lease, or to "base building", as described in the lease or a condition report.

Read the clause itself, then look for a schedule of condition, photos or a condition report from the start of the lease. That document is often what decides an argument about whether a stained floor or a dented roller door is "fair wear and tear" or your cost to fix.

What items usually make up a warehouse make-good scope?

The table below lists the items that come up most often on industrial sites. Not every item will apply to you.

Why racking and floors drive most of the work

On a typical distribution site, racking is the largest installed item and the one that leaves the most damage when it comes out. Every upright sits on a baseplate anchored into the slab. Removing hundreds of anchors leaves hundreds of holes, and forklift traffic along the aisles wears the slab in a pattern that lines up with the racking. If your lease asks for the floor to match its original condition, the floor can become the single biggest part of the scope.

How is a make good different in Melbourne's western and south-eastern precincts?

The rules are the same across Victoria, but the buildings are not.

Western suburbs: Truganina, Derrimut, Laverton North, Altona North, Ravenhall

The west includes many large, newer logistics buildings with big slabs, high roofs and tall selective or narrow-aisle racking. On sites like these, expect a heavier racking and floor scope, more high-bay lighting, and sprinkler layouts that may have been changed for in-rack protection. Councils include Wyndham (most of Truganina), Brimbank (Derrimut), Hobsons Bay (Altona North) and Melton (Ravenhall), but in Victoria a building permit comes from a registered building surveyor, not automatically from council.

South-east: Dandenong South, Keysborough, Braeside, Lyndhurst, Carrum Downs

The south-east has a mix of manufacturing, trade and storage sites across the City of Greater Dandenong (Dandenong South, Keysborough), the City of Kingston (Braeside), the cities of Casey and Greater Dandenong (Lyndhurst, which is split between them) and Frankston City (Carrum Downs). Here you are more likely to find older buildings, added production power, overhead cranes, workshops, wash bays and offices built inside the warehouse over several tenancies. That makes the starting condition harder to prove and asbestos more likely to matter.

North: Campbellfield, Tullamarine, Somerton

The northern belt around Hume has a similar mix of older and newer stock. The same checks apply: find the starting condition, list what you added, and check the asbestos register before anything is cut or removed.

Which Victorian rules can apply to a warehouse make good?

Is my warehouse lease covered by the Retail Leases Act?

Usually not. The Retail Leases Act 2003 applies to premises used wholly or mainly for retail sale or hire of goods or retail services (s 4(1)). A storage or distribution warehouse normally falls outside it, so protections such as the 30-day return of a security deposit in s 24 generally do not apply. Your lease and general law govern instead. A trade counter or showroom on site can complicate this, so check with a lawyer.

Do I need a building permit?

Possibly. Under the Building Act 1993, "building work" includes demolition and removal (s 3(1)), and building work needs a permit unless an exemption applies (s 16). The Building Regulations 2018 exempt some alterations to commercial and industrial buildings, but not work that changes floor area, removes load-bearing elements or affects an essential safety measure such as fire services (reg 23, Sch 3 item 4). Removing a mezzanine or altering sprinklers can fall outside that exemption. Ask a registered building surveyor before work starts.

What about asbestos?

Before refurbishment or demolition work, whoever manages or controls the workplace must review the asbestos register and update it if it is not good enough for the planned work (OHS Regulations 2017, regs 240–241). Asbestos likely to be disturbed must be identified and removed so far as reasonably practicable (reg 244). Removing any friable asbestos, or more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos (or more than one hour of removal work in seven days), needs a licensed removalist (regs 246, 250, 264). This matters most in older buildings.

Who can do the electrical work?

Only a licensed electrician, working for a registered electrical contractor (Electricity Safety Act 1998, ss 30, 38). Some electrical installation work (called prescribed work) must also be inspected by a licensed electrical inspector, who issues a certificate of inspection (s 45). Ask your electrician whether yours needs one. Keep those certificates for your handover pack.

What if I made changes without consent?

Be careful. In Tabcorp v Bowen [2009] HCA 8, a tenant made major alterations without the landlord's consent, and the High Court allowed the landlord to recover the cost of putting things back, not just the drop in the property's value. Find any consents you were given, and the conditions attached to them.

How much does a warehouse make good cost in Melbourne?

We do not publish a dollar range for warehouse make goods, because we could not find a reliable, current public source for one. Our research of Australian cost guides found published make-good rates only for offices, and none for industrial or warehouse work (Source: MAKE GREAT cost-source research, October 2026). Rates for demolishing a whole warehouse are a different job and should not be used.

What we can tell you is what moves the price:

• How much racking there is, and how many anchors come out.
• The finish your lease expects on the floor. Filled holes are one thing; a slab that matches its original condition is another.
• Mezzanines, office pods and structures, especially if a permit is needed.
• Electrical and fire services changes that must be reversed by licensed trades.
• Asbestos, if the building has it and your works will disturb it.
• Access and timing. Work squeezed into the last week of the lease costs more than work planned early.

The only reliable number is a quote against a clear scope. That is why the scope comes first.

What is the right order to do a warehouse make good?

• 6–12 months out: find your lease, make-good clause, consents and starting condition report.
• 4–6 months out: walk the site with the landlord or agent and agree the scope in writing.
• 3–4 months out: check the asbestos register and whether any work needs a permit.
• 3 months out: get comparable quotes from contractors working to the same scope.
• Move-out: clear stock first, then racking, then floors, services and the final clean.
• Before the lease ends: joint final inspection, written sign-off, and keep certificates and photos.
• After: follow up the return of your bank guarantee or bond.

If you finish late, you may be holding over on the lease. Check your lease for what that costs.

What if the landlord and I disagree about the make good?

Start by putting your position in writing with photos and your condition report. If you get a list of works or a cash figure you think is too high, an independent scope and quote gives you something concrete to negotiate with. The Victorian Small Business Commission also helps with general commercial disputes, not only retail ones. For anything with real money at stake, get legal advice.

How MAKE GREAT helps with a Melbourne warehouse make good

MAKE GREAT is a marketplace. We are not a builder and we do not do the work. We help you:

• Understand your lease. Our lease check reads your lease and flags the make-good terms. Its output is preliminary, and a person on our team reviews it before it is used for your project. It is not legal advice.
• Turn that into a clear scope, so every contractor quotes on the same job.
• Compare quotes from independent commercial contractors who service Melbourne's industrial areas, and choose who you contract with.

How we are paid: Free for tenants. If you hire a contractor through us, they pay us a referral fee. Nobody can pay to rank higher. MAKE GREAT is a technology marketplace, not a contractor, and you contract directly with the contractor. Read how our referral fee works.

Get my make-good quotes or analyse my lease. See also our Melbourne make-good page, our warehouse make-good overview (racking, line marking and sprinklers in more depth), Melbourne commercial strip-out, end-of-lease cleaning and the Sydney warehouse make-good guide if you also have sites in New South Wales.