Why FRI leases make this essential
An FRI lease places the full burden of repair and insurance on the tenant. The repairing covenant typically requires the tenant to "keep the property in good and substantial repair" and to "yield up" in the same condition. Without a baseline, that obligation is open-ended.
What the schedule protects against
The schedule protects against being held liable for: pre-existing defects, fair wear that pre-dated the lease, structural issues that were already present, and decorative deterioration that the tenant did not cause.
What to instruct, and when
Instruct an experienced specialist surveyor specialising in Schedule of Condition work, before the lease is executed. The schedule should be referenced in the lease itself by way of an amendment to the repairing covenant, your solicitor will draft the appropriate wording.
Common tenant mistakes
Treating the schedule as a procedural formality, accepting a generic lightly-photographed schedule, instructing a non-specialist building surveyor, or worst of all, completing the lease without a schedule and only instructing one when the dilapidations claim arrives.