Retail make good: what it involves and how to get it signed off

General information, not legal advice. Your lease decides what you have to do. If you are in a dispute or unsure what a clause means, talk to a lawyer or your state Small Business Commission.

What is a retail make good?

A retail make good is the work a shop tenant does at the end of a lease to hand the premises back in the condition the lease requires. No Victorian or NSW law sets one standard: it comes from the make-good clause in your lease.

Most retail make-good clauses ask for one of three things:

• Return to original condition – the state the shop was in when your lease started. Move-in photos or a condition report matter here.
• Return to base building or shell – everything you added comes out, back to bare walls, slab and capped services, even if the shop was fitted out when you moved in.
• A condition spelled out in the lease – for example "remove all signage, repaint in the centre's standard colour and leave the floor clean and level".

The NSW Small Business Commission says make-good clauses typically require the premises back "in an empty and neutral state". VSBC says a Victorian retail tenant typically removes its fit-out and repairs damage above fair wear and tear.

If you are new to this, start with our plain-English guide What is make good?.

What usually has to come out of a shop?

A typical retail scope covers:

A good scope ties each line of work to a lease clause, so you do not pay for work the lease does not ask for.

How is a shopping centre make good different from a strip shop?

A strip shop usually deals with one landlord or agent. A shopping centre adds centre management, which runs the building for the landlord. Leases often require you to follow the centre's rules, which shape both cost and timing.

Things centre management commonly controls:

• Work hours. Noisy or dusty work, and deliveries through the mall, are often limited to before or after trading hours. That means night or early-morning shifts, which cost more.
• Access and loading docks. Waste and materials usually have to move through a booked loading dock and service corridors, not the mall.
• Contractor induction and paperwork. Centres commonly ask for each contractor's certificate of currency for insurance, safe work method statements (SWMS) and a site induction before anyone starts.
• Fire and building services. Sprinkler, smoke detection and fire alarm isolations are usually arranged through the centre and its own fire contractor. Hot work such as cutting or welding often needs a centre permit.
• Hoarding and nominated trades. Many centres require hoarding across the shopfront, and some insist on their own contractors for base-building services.

In Victorian shopping centres, where a tenant pays for changes to services such as sprinklers, exhausts or air-conditioning ducts for its fit-out, the work must be done by people the landlord engages or approves, at a maximum cost agreed in writing first (Retail Leases Act 2003 s 30). That rule is about fit-out, but it is worth asking which services work the centre will insist on doing itself, and getting its price in writing.

Do this first: ask centre management in writing for their vacating or make-good requirements, work-hour rules, contractor induction pack and the name of the person who will sign off.

What extra work does a cafe, restaurant or food outlet need?

Food and beverage tenancies usually have the most involved retail make goods because of their services. Expect some or all of these:

Grease arrestor (grease trap)

Many food outlets have a grease arrestor connected to the sewer under a trade waste arrangement with the local water business. At the end of the lease your clause may require you to remove it, or to leave it pumped out, clean and working. Removal or disconnection is plumbing work for a licensed plumber. If your trade waste discharge stops, check with your water business what it needs from you.

Kitchen exhaust hood and ductwork

The canopy, filters, ductwork and roof fan are often tenant fit-out. Removal can mean roof access, sealing penetrations and, in a centre, the centre's mechanical contractor. If the landlord wants it left for the next food tenant, get that in writing.

Gas, plumbing and floor wastes

A licensed gasfitter disconnects gas appliances and caps the supply. Sinks, floor wastes and in-slab plumbing may need capping and the slab patched.

Cool rooms and freezer rooms

Insulated panels, refrigeration units and condensers on the roof or plant deck usually need removal, with the refrigerant recovered by a technician who holds a refrigerant handling licence. The Australian Refrigeration Council says decommissioning refrigeration equipment is work that needs this licence.

Do I need licensed trades for a retail make good?

For several parts of the job, yes:

• Electrical work. In Victoria, prescribed electrical work must be done by a licensed electrical worker, and a business that contracts to do it must be a registered electrical contractor (Electricity Safety Act 1998, ss 30–38). In NSW, the government says you need an electrical licence or certificate for any electrical wiring work, residential, commercial or industrial.
• Asbestos. Older shopping centres and strip shops may contain asbestos in wall linings, floor tiles or adhesives. In Victoria, the person who manages or controls the workplace must review the asbestos register before refurbishment or demolition work, and asbestos likely to be disturbed must be identified and removed so far as reasonably practicable (OHS Regulations 2017, regs 240–244). Any friable asbestos, or more than 10 m² of non-friable asbestos, must be removed by a licensed removalist in both Victoria and NSW. In Victoria, unlicensed removal of a smaller area is also capped at one hour of work in any seven days (reg 250).
• Plumbing, gas and refrigeration. Use licensed tradespeople for each.

Check each quote names who holds the licence for each trade. See how we vet contractors for what we check and what we do not.

What does a retail make good cost?

There is no reliable public rate for retail make good in Melbourne or Sydney. The only published retail figure we found is from a South Australian quote marketplace: strip-out of an existing shop fit-out at $80–$250 per m², and make good at lease end at $15,000–$100,000 per tenancy (The Quote Yard, Shopfitting services SA, 20 Sep 2026, described by the source as indicative estimates). The source does not explain its method and the figures are for South Australia, so treat them as a rough order of magnitude only.

The biggest cost drivers are how far back the lease requires you to go, after-hours work and access rules in a centre, food and beverage services, and any asbestos found. See our make good cost guide. A reliable number needs a site inspection and a written quote.

What does the law say about retail make good in Victoria and NSW?

Neither state's retail leases Act sets a make-good standard. The lease does.

Victoria (Retail Leases Act 2003)

• The Act covers premises used mainly for retail, but excludes, among others, leases with occupancy costs above $1,000,000 a year excluding GST, listed-company tenants, and leases shorter than one year unless renewals keep you there for a year or more (ss 4, 12; Regulations reg 6).
• The landlord's disclosure statement asks the tenant: "Are you required to make good the premises at the end of the lease?" Check your copy; it shows what you were told at the start.
• The landlord must maintain the structure and the plant and fixtures it provided, but not things you are entitled or required to remove at the end of the lease (s 52).
• A security deposit must be returned within 30 days after the lease ends if you have performed all your obligations (s 24).
• Disputes go to VSBC mediation first; VCAT can generally hear them only once VSBC certifies mediation has failed or is unlikely to work (ss 86–87). VSBC lists mediation fees of $300 per party for a half day and $600 per party for a full day, including GST.

NSW (Retail Leases Act 1994)

• The NSW Small Business Commission's guide says the disclosure statement should cover who pays fit-out costs and which fit-out items can stay or must go.
• If you do not carry out the make good, you will normally be liable for the lessor's costs. The guide notes tenants often agree to a payment in place of doing the work. See payment in lieu of make good.
• Retail leases often include a clause under which a quantity surveyor makes a binding decision on make-good costs if the parties disagree.
• The lessor should release a bank guarantee within two months of you leaving, unless you owe money.
• NCAT says mediation is compulsory for most retail lease claims before you can apply to the tribunal.

Offices and warehouses are usually outside these Acts and are governed by the lease and general law. See office make good and warehouse make good. For more on each state, see make good in Victoria and make good in NSW.

How do I plan a retail make good, step by step?

1. About twelve months out: gather your lease, variations, disclosure statement and move-in condition report or photos.
2. Read the clauses on make good, alterations, fit-out, signage and redecoration. Note the exact standard required.
3. Ask centre management or the agent in writing for vacating requirements, work-hour rules and the sign-off contact.
4. Ask what can stay. A next tenant may want your exhaust, cool room or shopfront. Get any agreement in writing.
5. Get a clear scope tied to the lease, then comparable quotes.
6. Finish inside your lease term. Working past the end date can mean paying to hold over.
7. Inspect with the landlord or centre, fix their list, and get written sign-off before returning keys. Then follow up your bond or bank guarantee.

Our lease exit timeline sets out these steps month by month.

How MAKE GREAT helps with a retail make good

• Analyse my lease. Our lease check pulls out the make-good, alterations and signage clauses with page and clause references. It is preliminary and not legal advice, and unclear or high-risk findings go to a person for review.
• Get my make-good quotes. Tell us about the tenancy, the centre's rules and your deadline. We prepare a structured brief and invite up to three contractors from our approved list who cover retail work in your area. If fewer than three are eligible, we tell you.
• Compare like for like. Quotes sit side by side with inclusions, exclusions, after-hours allowances and licence and insurance status.

You choose the contractor and contract with them directly. MAKE GREAT is a marketplace, not a builder or contractor, and does not give legal advice.

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 any quote, and you can ask any contractor how they price their work.