A schedule of dilapidations is the document that lists the alleged breaches, clause by clause, with the remedy for each. Its name depends on when it is served: interim during the term, terminal at or near the end. The pre action protocol governs how a terminal schedule is served and responded to, and following it is how the parties keep the costs proportionate to the argument.
The interim schedule
Served during the term, usually where the landlord wants the tenant to remedy breaches now rather than wait. It is often accompanied by a notice to repair with a time limit, and the lease will say what the landlord may do if the tenant does not comply.
The terminal schedule
Served at or near the end of the term. Under the protocol the landlord should serve it within a reasonable time, normally within fifty six days of termination, and it should be endorsed by the surveyor who prepared it confirming that it reflects the breaches and the remedies.
The quantified demand and the response
The landlord sets out what is claimed and why. The tenant responds clause by clause, admitting, denying or pricing differently, and raising supersession and the section 18 cap where they apply. That exchange, done properly, settles most claims without proceedings.
Endorsements and honesty
The protocol asks the surveyors on both sides to endorse their documents, confirming that the works are genuinely required or genuinely not. That endorsement is what stops a schedule being a wish list, and it is worth checking a schedule carries one.
Questions people ask about schedule of dilapidations
How long does a landlord have to serve a terminal schedule?
The protocol expects service within a reasonable time and points to fifty six days from the end of the term. Late service is not automatically fatal but it weakens a claim and can affect costs.
What is a Scott schedule?
A table setting out each item, the claimant's case, the defendant's answer and the tribunal's finding, used where a dilapidations claim reaches proceedings. It is a court document rather than something either surveyor prepares first.
Can a tenant do the works instead of paying?
Usually yes, while the lease is still running and access allows. It is the single most effective way of reducing a claim, and it needs to be started early enough to finish before the term ends.