Mezzanine, office pod and cool room removal at lease end

Mezzanines, office pods, cool rooms and freezer rooms are some of the biggest things a warehouse tenant adds. Taking them out at lease end is a construction job, not a clean-up. It can need a permit, licensed trades, refrigerant recovery and repairs to the slab and walls. This page explains what is involved and what to check first.

General information only, not legal advice. What you must do depends on the wording of your own lease. If the amount at stake is large or the landlord's demands look wrong, talk to a property lawyer.

Do I have to remove the structure at all?

Start with the documents:

1. The make-good clause, and any clause about alterations or tenant works.
2. The landlord's consent for the mezzanine, office pod or cool room. It may say whether it must come out at the end.
3. The move-in condition report or photos. The Victorian Small Business Commission recommends agreeing a condition report at the start of a lease and keeping copies. It shows what was there before you.
4. Any landlord make-good notice or schedule. Compare it line by line with the clause.

The NSW Small Business Commission describes make good as returning premises to the condition they were first built, the condition at the start of the lease, "or some other condition as specified in the lease". If a structure was already there when you moved in, it may not be yours to remove.

Can I leave it for the next tenant?

Sometimes. A mezzanine adds storage, an office pod can save an incoming tenant a fit-out, and a food or cold-chain business may want a working cool room. Ask the landlord before you pay to remove anything.

If the answer is yes, get it in writing. List what stays, its condition, and the services connected to it, with dated photos, so it cannot be raised as a make-good claim later.

Does removing a mezzanine or cool room need a permit?

It can, and you should find out before any work starts.

Victoria. "Building work" under the Building Act 1993 (s 3) includes demolition, and building work generally needs a permit (s 16). Schedule 3 of the Building Regulations 2018 exempts some alterations to commercial and industrial buildings from needing a permit, but that exemption does not cover work that changes floor area, removes load-bearing elements or affects an essential safety measure. Removing a mezzanine changes floor area. Sprinklers are a common essential safety measure. A building surveyor can confirm whether your job needs a permit.

NSW. Some internal commercial and industrial alterations may be exempt or complying development under the state planning codes, but the conditions are specific. Ask a registered certifier or your council before relying on that.

Permits take time. Raise this early: our warehouse make-good checklist puts the permit question 6 to 9 months before the lease ends.

Which services need to be disconnected first?

Structures often have services running through or under them. They must be disconnected properly before demolition starts.

In Victoria, a person must not carry out prescribed electrical work unless they hold the right licence (Electricity Safety Act 1998, s 38). The NSW Government says you must hold an electrical licence or certificate to do any electrical wiring work in NSW. Ask for licence numbers on the quotes and keep any certificates for your handover file.

The building's fire systems are normally the landlord's, so the landlord or their fire services contractor will usually want to approve or carry out any sprinkler work. Ask for written confirmation that the system was left working.

How is refrigerant recovered from a cool room or freezer room?

Before a cool room or freezer room is taken apart, the refrigerant in its system must be recovered. The Australian Refrigeration Council (ARCtick) runs the national refrigerant handling licence scheme for the Australian Government, and a licence is needed for work such as taking refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment out of service.

What to ask:

• Is the technician licensed, and what is the licence number?
• Will they recover the refrigerant before anything is cut or disconnected?
• What happens to the compressors, condensers and other equipment: reuse, sale or disposal?

The same applies to split systems in office pods.

What happens to insulated panels?

Cool rooms, freezer rooms and some office pods are built from insulated panels. At removal they are unbolted or cut apart and taken off site for reuse, recycling or disposal.

Ask each quote to say how the panels will be dealt with and to provide disposal records. If the panels are in good condition, ask whether the landlord or another business might want them.

Check the original consent and drawings to see whether anything was built into or onto the slab under a cool room or freezer room, and ask the contractor how the floor will be left.

Mould can turn up in cool rooms. If you find it, an occupational hygienist can assess it.

Is there asbestos to check for?

Older industrial buildings, and older fit-outs inside them, can contain asbestos. Before refurbishment or demolition work, the person who manages or controls the workplace must check the asbestos register and update it if it is not adequate for the work (Victoria, OHS Regulations 2017, regs 240 and 241). SafeWork NSW says an asbestos register is required for workplaces built before 31 December 2003, or where asbestos has been found.

In both states, removing any friable asbestos needs a licensed removalist, and so does removing more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos (in Victoria, also any job taking more than one hour in a 7-day period). You cannot tell asbestos by looking. Ask the landlord for the register before contractors quote, and give it to every one of them. See asbestos and hazardous materials at make good.

How are fixing points and the building repaired?

Once a structure is gone, it leaves marks:

• Anchor and base plate holes in the slab, filled with repair mortar. See warehouse floor restoration for methods and colour matching.
• Fixings in walls, columns and portal frames, removed and patched, and repainted where the lease requires.
• Penetrations through walls or the roof for refrigeration lines, flues or drains, sealed.
• Slab cuts or pits for drains or freezer floors, infilled if the lease requires the slab to be reinstated.

Check the move-in photos so you only repair what you changed.

What should I ask in a quote?

Get two or three itemised quotes against the same scope, from contractors who have inspected the site. Ask each one to show:

• who answers the permit question and who applies for any permit;
• service disconnections by trade, with licence numbers;
• refrigerant recovery as a separate line;
• demolition, panel disposal and waste;
• repairs to the slab, walls and penetrations;
• the program, exclusions, provisional sums and GST.

How much does it cost?

We do not publish a price. When we searched in October 2026, we found no free, published Australian source for industrial make-good rates.

What drives the cost:

• Size and construction of the mezzanine, pod or room.
• Permits, and any engineering or surveyor input.
• Services connected to the structure, including sprinklers.
• Refrigerant recovery and equipment removal.
• Asbestos, if the register or a survey finds it.
• Repairs the lease requires once the structure is gone.

Melbourne and Sydney industrial areas

See warehouse make good in Melbourne, including Dandenong, Truganina and Laverton, and warehouse make good in Sydney, including Eastern Creek, Silverwater and Alexandria. Racking coming out too? See racking removal. For the whole job, start with warehouse make good.

How MAKE GREAT helps with mezzanine and cool room removal

1. Tell us about the site. Upload the lease, the landlord's consent for the structure, any landlord notice, a floor plan and photos.
2. Lease check. Our lease check reads the make-good clause and drafts a preliminary list of likely works. It is a starting point only: a person at MAKE GREAT reviews it, and a contractor must confirm the scope on site.
3. We send a structured brief to independent industrial contractors we have checked (ABN, insurance, and licences for trades that need them; see how we vet contractors) in your area.
4. Compare itemised quotes side by side against the same scope, and choose who you want. You contract directly with the contractor.

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. You are never obliged to accept a quote.

Ready to start? Use Check my lease, free to upload your lease and the landlord's make-good list.