Commercial make-good contractors in Sydney

General information only, not legal advice. Your lease, and a lawyer if you need one, decide what you must do.

This page is a practical plan for getting a commercial make good done in Sydney, from working out what the landlord actually wants to getting your bond or bank guarantee back. It suits offices, shops, clinics, showrooms and warehouses.

For background on what make good means and the NSW rules behind it, read our Sydney make-good overview. For one type of premises in depth, see office make good in Sydney, warehouse make good in Sydney or commercial strip-out in Sydney.

Stage 1: What exactly does my landlord want back?

Every quote depends on this answer, so settle it first. The NSW Small Business Commission's Retail Tenancy Guide describes make good as returning premises to their original built condition, their condition at the start of the lease, or another condition the lease sets. It adds that clauses typically require an "empty and neutral state", which may be more than how the space looked when you moved in.

Sydney leases often use terms that sound precise but are not. Turn each one into a written list before you ask for quotes:

For retail leases, look for your Lessor's Disclosure Statement too. The NSW Small Business Commission tells landlords to give "clear details" of end-of-lease make-good works, and the guide says the statement should cover which fit-out items stay and which must go.

Also check whether your lease says a quantity surveyor will decide make-good costs if you cannot agree. The NSW guide says this is common in retail leases.

Stage 2: What should I give contractors so their quotes match?

Send the same pack to every contractor, then have each one inspect the site:

• The landlord's written make-good scope from Stage 1
• The relevant lease clauses and any disclosure statement
• Start-of-lease condition report and photos
• Fit-out approvals and drawings
• Floor plan with the area in square metres
• Current photos of every space, ceiling, floor and outdoor area
• Building or centre works rules, inductions and access hours
• The asbestos register (SafeWork NSW says one is needed if the workplace was built before 31 December 2003 or asbestos has been found there)
• Your lease end date and when the site is free

Stage 3: How do Sydney sites change what contractors price?

• Sydney CBD and North Sydney towers: building management usually controls when and how work happens: inductions, after-hours noisy work, goods lift and dock bookings, and reinstatement to the base-building standard. Check each quote allows for after-hours labour and bookings. See our Sydney CBD page.
• Parramatta, Macquarie Park and Chatswood: a mix of office towers and, especially in Macquarie Park, older business-park buildings. Tenants have often added kitchens, comms rooms and extra air-conditioning, and removing and capping those safely can be a large item. Ask for it to be priced separately.
• Alexandria and Mascot: many tenancies combine an office with a warehouse floor, so one quote may need both office and industrial trades.
• Silverwater, Eastern Creek, Wetherill Park and western Sydney: in large warehouses much of the cost usually goes on racking removal, anchor holes, slab repairs, line marking, dock levellers and hardstand cleaning. Ask for each as a separate line.

Stage 4: How do I compare Sydney make-good quotes fairly?

Put the quotes side by side and check each of these before looking at the total:

Big gaps between quotes usually mean different assumptions, not different efficiency. Ask the outliers to re-price the missing items. The cheapest quote is not automatically the best value.

On licences: the NSW Government says you must hold an electrical licence or certificate to do any electrical wiring work, commercial or industrial included. SafeWork NSW says a licence is needed to remove any amount of friable asbestos, or more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos. Some internal works can proceed without formal approval and some cannot, so ask your contractor or a certifier to confirm before work starts.

What does it cost?

We do not publish our own Sydney prices. JLL's Australia Fit-Out Cost Guide 2022/23 gave an average of $456 per square metre for making good an office: removing the tenant's custom fittings, repainting and minor repairs (JLL newsroom, 15 February 2023). Treat it as background only. It is for offices, it is several years old, JLL does not tie it to Sydney, and it is not a quote for your premises. We found no reliable public figure for Sydney warehouse or retail make good. See the make-good cost guide.

What if the landlord asks for cash instead?

The NSW guide notes that tenants "often agree to a payment to the lessor in lieu of" doing the work, and that a tenant who does not make good will "normally be liable to pay the lessor's costs". A properly scoped independent quote shows what the work is realistically worth, which is the starting point for that conversation. Have a lawyer check any settlement. More in our payment in lieu guide.

Stage 5: How do I get signed off and get my security back?

1. Walk the site with your contractor about a week before handover and fix anything obvious.
2. Book a joint inspection with the landlord or managing agent, whoever the lease says can accept the premises.
3. Agree a written defects list and a date to fix it.
4. Get written acceptance of the make good. Take dated photos of every space.
5. Return keys and access cards and record that you did.

For retail leases, a cash bond must be lodged with NSW Fair Trading within 20 business days of the landlord receiving it, and is held in trust by the NSW Government. The NSW guide says a bank guarantee "should" be released within two months of you leaving unless you owe money. For other leases, the lease sets the terms.

If you cannot agree, NCAT says "Mediation is compulsory for most retail lease claims before applying to NCAT", and its retail lease jurisdiction is limited to $750,000 for leases entered into from 1 July 2017 (Source: NCAT, Retail leases, read 28 October 2026). Office and industrial disputes depend on the lease, so get legal advice early.

Stage 6: How can MAKE GREAT help, and how is it paid?

MAKE GREAT is a marketplace. We do not employ tradespeople or do the work.

1. Start a project: address, type of premises, rough size and lease end date. You can skip what you do not know.
2. Optional lease check: upload your lease and our lease check pulls out the make-good, alterations and security clauses and flags what is clear, unclear or missing, which helps with Stage 1. It is preliminary, it is not legal advice, and a person reviews it before it becomes your contractor brief.
3. Matching: we invite up to three independent contractors who work in your part of Sydney and on your type of premises. See how we check contractors. If fewer than three suit your job, we tell you.
4. Comparison: quotes are laid out against the Stage 4 checks, with not-like-for-like items flagged.
5. You choose and 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.

Moving out in Melbourne instead? See commercial make good in Melbourne.