What actually affects the fee
Three factors drive the fee: the size of the demise, the building type, and the access required. A single-storey high-street unit is materially different to a multi-storey office, an industrial warehouse with external yards, or a listed building with high-level finishes. The fee scales accordingly, but always as a fixed price, not an open meter.
Why a fixed fee, not an estimate
An estimate exposes the client to "scope creep", the photographer was on site longer than expected, the report took longer to draft, the schedule was more detailed than anticipated. A fixed fee places that risk with the surveyor, where it belongs. Every CBC quotation is a fixed price for a defined scope.
What the fee includes
A CBC fixed fee covers the site inspection by an experienced specialist surveyor, the dated photographic record, the written element-by-element schedule, the lease-ready format, and one round of solicitor review comments. There are no separate charges for travel throughout the UK, no per-photograph fees, and no additional draft fee.
What the fee does not cover
The Schedule of Condition fee does not cover specialist consultancy outside the schedule itself, for example structural engineering input, asbestos surveys, or measured surveys. Where these are required they are scoped and quoted separately and remain optional.
The fee in context, vs dilapidations exposure
A Schedule of Condition fee at lease grant is consistently a small fraction of the dilapidations exposure it neutralises at lease end. Where a tenant on a five- or ten-year FRI lease can face a dilapidations claim measured in tens of thousands, the schedule fee is the most cost-effective protective document in the entire transaction.