Dilapidations Expert Witness

Dilapidations expert witnesses for landlords and tenants

Dilapidations disputes sit at the end of almost every commercial lease — and when a dilapidations claim heads towards proceedings, both sides need evidence that survives the Dilapidations Protocol and CPR Part 35. Our RICS building surveyors and Registered Valuers act as dilapidations expert witnesses for landlords and tenants across England and Wales.

Dilapidations matters the panel's experts give evidence in

• Terminal dilapidations claims — preparing or rebutting schedules of dilapidations and quantified demands at lease end, item by item against the repairing covenant.
• Section 18(1) diminution valuations — the statutory cap that so often decides these cases: damages cannot exceed the reduction in the landlord's reversion, a valuation exercise our Registered Valuers run alongside the building surveying evidence (see our valuation expert witness team).
• Break clause condition disputes — whether compliance conditions attached to a break option were satisfied, where the price of getting it wrong is the lease continuing.
• Interim schedules and repair covenant disputes — mid-term claims, self-help notices and specific performance arguments.
• Supersession arguments — evidence on whether the landlord's actual or intended works make claimed repairs irrelevant.

Why dilapidations evidence needs two disciplines

A dilapidations claim is really two expert questions stacked together: a building surveying question (what disrepair exists and what it costs to remedy) and a valuation question (what that disrepair actually does to the value of the landlord's interest). Claims collapse when one expert strays into the other's territory. Our panel supplies both disciplines, each reporting within their competence and to full CPR Part 35 standard — the same structure the Dilapidations Protocol expects, with its endorsement that schedules and responses be honestly held professional opinions.

Who instructs a dilapidations expert witness?

On the landlord side: institutional investors, property companies and private landlords — usually through their managing agents or solicitors — seeking to recover the cost of reinstating a building a tenant has handed back in disrepair. On the tenant side: corporate occupiers and their advisers facing a quantified demand they suspect is overstated, or planning a break exit where condition compliance is everything. Both sides instruct early for the same reason: in dilapidations, the party whose schedule and figures are better evidenced usually controls the negotiation. Where proceedings are issued, appointment as Single Joint Expert is also accepted.

How the Dilapidations Protocol runs — and where the expert fits

The Protocol gives a dilapidations claim its rhythm: the landlord serves the schedule of dilapidations (generally within 56 days of lease end) and a Quantified Demand setting out the monetary claim; the tenant responds — again ordinarily within 56 days — usually with a surveyor's item-by-item response; the surveyors then meet to narrow the schedule before anyone pleads a case. Each document must be endorsed as the honestly held professional opinion of the surveyor who signs it — the Protocol's way of importing expert discipline before Part 35 formally applies. If the claim settles there, as most do, the expert's work is done cheaply; if not, the same analysis matures into CPR Part 35 evidence for the county court or, in larger claims, the TCC.

What the expert's evidence contains

The building surveying report responds to the schedule item by item — covenant, breach, remedy, cost — with photographic evidence from inspection and, where supersession is argued, analysis of the landlord's actual or intended works. The valuation report addresses section 18(1): the value of the reversion in repair and out of it. Both carry the expert's declaration and statement of truth, and both feed the joint statement process that settles the bulk of these claims. For the condition evidence that prevents disputes in the first place, see schedules of condition at lease start — and our non-contentious dilapidations survey service for schedule preparation outside litigation.

Coverage

Dilapidations instructions are accepted across England and Wales — the London and Leeds expert witness pages cover the two largest commercial markets the panel serves, and the main expert witness services page covers the rest of the country.

Instruction and fees

The panel acts for landlords, tenants and — as Single Joint Expert — for both. Typical reporting is 2–4 weeks from inspection; dilapidations expert reports generally run £5,000–£15,000 depending on the property and schedule size, with screening advice from £500 — fee context in the expert witness cost guide. For non-contentious condition records at lease start, see our commercial building surveys.

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