Commercial Property - Who's responsibility?

Is the pruning of branches on a commercial property as part of maintenance of the property because they are a hazard, is this the landlord's responsibility or the tenant's? I've read our lease and can't see anything about that in it.

 

@money - Depends totally on your lease - what has your PM advised?

What form of lease is it (agent's standard form, Law Society template or properly drafted lease?

 

Further to @Scott No Mates questions, is it a single tenant property? Also, what is explicitly stated in the clause(s) relating to the space being leased?

 

The lease was specially drafted by a solicitor that we instructed to make a lease for us. The PM seems to think it's our responsibility as they have said the tenant has asked us to do it.

It's a single tenanted property (a daycare centre.

 

Unless it was a solicitor that specializes and or is well versed in drafting commercial leases they may have missed the garden/grounds maintenance

A sole tenant on a commercial property would normally be responsible for the general maintenance (unless it is in a multi occupancy lot/body corporate) things like the air conditioning, water bills, rates and on very large long leases even the land tax is included as a cost to the tenant.
Commercial is at the other end of the spectrum compared to residential, a commercial tenant can often do a full makeover at their own cost with the only condition being that they leave it as at the start of the lease

My commercial/retail tenants recently did an entire refit, and it looks great, it will increase my return when/if they ever leave

"Do NOT" take your property managers assumption that because they asked "you must be liable"

Read the lease yourself, even if it doesn't state it specifically, you could say that it is assumed as general basic maintenance (if that is in the lease)
Good luck

 

I have just read a couple of mine, surprisingly, the lease is silent on landscaping (note to self to do something about that next time round).

There's provision for lessor maintenance, fire systems, capital works, loading of slabs etc but nothing on the external of the premises.

You can flick a coin, tell the tenant that they control the premises in its entirety, you have provided a direction and it would be a breach not to follow the direction as it will cause a safety issue (and you could be seen to be mitigating it by directing the tenant to fix it) or you can take it on the chin, it's your tree and you need to do something about it.

 

Another question, is lino considered part of the "floor" or a "floor covering"? “Floors” are structural, but “floor coverings” are like carpet, which is part of tenant’s fitout when they bought the business from the previous business owner. Can the tenant claim that lino is considered "floor" and ask us to replace it under fair wear and tear?

 

• Depends what was offered in the original agreement to lease - was it a bare floor that the tenant provided their own floor coverings or did the HOTs/acceptance/fitout contribution/incentive include the lessor paying for these?
• Did the purchaser (current tenant) buy the fitout & the business.
• Is the fitout financed by the tenant?

 

Not a bare floor, the floor coverings were already there from the previous business owner, therefore no it wasn't financed by the current tenant either. The old business owner was let out of their lease and we signed a new lease with the current tenant.

How can I determine if the current tenant bought the fitout and the business? Do I need to ask to see their business contract showing what's in it?

 

You can't. Did you buy the property with the tenant in place or did you find the tenant?

Sounds like you'll have to argue that it's part of the fitout (are there any fitout plans?)

 

Sounds like you might have to wear it on the chin unless you dig out the Development Approval from council which may have the plans. If you say that this was part of the fitout by the previous tenant, then you may be asked to back it up, if you can't prove it then it's yours.

 

This is just generally speaking, since I know nearly nothing of the lease, but if a lease is completely silent on an issue, then really its up to the party that wants something to be done to wear it or fix it. Because the other party wouldn't have any legal obligation to do anything.

Anyway, the other problem is in a lot of leases I've seen, something like the OP's issue might be construed as coming under some other maintenance or safety related clause.

Legal advice might need to be sought for a proper answer.

 

Along with some feedback of the outcome to provide a guide for others in the future