Internal Strip-Outs in Melbourne: A Guide for Commercial Tenants

If you’re a commercial tenant in Melbourne — running an office floor in the CBD, a shop in Chadstone or Highpoint, a restaurant in Richmond or South Yarra, a clinic in Camberwell, or a warehouse in Dandenong — there’s a moment that lands in almost every lease lifecycle. The lease end is approaching. The landlord (or the centre management team) sends a make-good notice. Suddenly the fitout you’ve spent years operating in is no longer a workplace — it’s a liability that has to be removed, lawfully, by a deadline, to a contractually-specified condition, before the bank guarantee or bond is at risk.

That’s an internal strip-out. And for most Melbourne commercial tenants, it’s the single most expensive and time-pressured demolition decision they’ll ever make.

This guide is the plain-English version of how internal strip-outs actually work in Melbourne in 2026 — what they involve, what they cost, how long they take, what regulators expect, and where commercial tenants most commonly lose money. As a fully licensed Melbourne demolition company with Class B (non-friable) asbestos removal capability, we run dozens of these every year — from single-floor office make-goods in the CBD to full-tenancy retail strip-outs in shopping centres to hospitality refits in inner-suburb high streets.

Quick answer: An internal strip-out (also called a commercial soft strip, make-good, or end-of-lease strip-out) is the removal of all non-structural fitout from a commercial tenancy — partitions, joinery, ceilings, floor coverings, services, signage and (where present) non-friable asbestos-containing materials — returning the space to a contractually-defined condition such as “base build,” “warm shell” or “broom-clean.” It’s pure soft strip work — no excavator, no structural demolition. The building’s shell, structure and core services stay with the landlord. In Melbourne in 2026, commercial internal strip-outs typically run $40–$120 per square metre depending on services, asbestos and access, take 2 days to 3 weeks depending on size, and almost always run out of hours in CBD towers, shopping centres and operating premises. Compliance is governed by WorkSafe Victoria, EPA Victoria, your building’s facility management team, and your specific lease clauses under the Retail Leases Act 2003 or your commercial tenancy agreement.

What Is an Internal Strip-Out?

An internal strip-out is the controlled, mostly-manual removal of everything inside a commercial tenancy that doesn’t belong to the landlord’s base build. The structure stays. The skin stays. The core services riser stays. Everything you, the tenant, installed (or inherited) as fitout comes out.

In demolition trade language, it’s a soft strip. In leasing language, it’s most often called a make-good when driven by an end-of-lease obligation. In project-management language, it’s sometimes labelled a fitout demolition or defit when an incoming tenant clears the space before installing a new fitout. The terms describe slightly different commercial situations, but the on-site work is largely the same.

It is not the same as a structural demolition. There’s no excavator. No load-bearing walls coming down. No slab removal. The lift core, the riser, the structural columns, the perimeter beams and the floor slab all stay exactly where they are.

We covered the full soft-strip-vs-hard-demolition distinction in our Soft Strip vs Hard Demolition: Choosing the Right Method guide. If you’re a commercial tenant, you’re almost always in pure soft-strip territory.

The Two Common Scenarios Driving a Commercial Strip-Out

Most Melbourne internal strip-outs fall into one of two paths:

1. End-of-lease make-good (tenant-driven). Your lease is ending. The make-good clause requires you to return the premises to a specified condition — typically base build, warm shell, or whatever was stated in the schedule and disclosure statement at the start of the lease. You engage a demolition contractor, strip the fitout, hand back, and recover your bond or bank guarantee.

2. Incoming-tenant defit (new-tenant-driven). You’re moving into a space that someone else fitted out. The previous occupant has either left a partial fitout in place under a “modified make-good” arrangement, or has handed back a half-stripped tenancy that doesn’t match your brand, layout or services needs. You strip what’s there and start fresh.

A third less-common scenario is a landlord-driven repositioning strip-out — where a building owner is taking back a tenancy and clearing it to reposition the floor for a new use. The mechanics are identical; the commercial pressure is just slightly different.

In all three scenarios, the work is sequenced the same way, the regulators are the same, and the compliance pack at the end is the same.

What Gets Removed in a Commercial Internal Strip-Out

A typical Melbourne commercial internal strip-out clears a tenancy down to either base build (bare concrete slab, exposed structure, capped services) or warm shell (slab-level finishes, ceiling grid, services live to a defined boundary). Your specific lease schedule dictates the exact handback condition, and every quote should be scoped against that document — not against a generic checklist.

That said, the scope on most commercial strip-outs in Melbourne includes:

Partitions, Joinery and Internal Walls

Demountable office partitions — full-height and half-height systems, glazed and solid
Plasterboard stud walls built as part of the fitout (not load-bearing structural walls)
Built-in joinery — reception desks, breakout kitchens, meeting-room storage, retail shelving and display units
Workstations and modular furniture — where included in the strip-out scope
Retail shopfittings — display racks, gondolas, point-of-sale counters, fitting rooms
Hospitality joinery — bar fitouts, banquette seating, kitchen pass-throughs, host stations

Ceilings, Floors and Wall Finishes

Suspended ceiling grids and tiles — typically mineral fibre, sometimes metal pan
Bulkheads, ceiling rafts and acoustic features built as part of the fitout
Carpet, vinyl, timber, tile and resin flooring above the slab
Wall linings — plasterboard, panelling, wallpaper, acoustic fabric, feature claddings
Cornices, skirtings, architraves where fitout-specific
Signage, wayfinding, branding and decals — internal and external

Services Removal (Within Tenancy Boundary)

Light fittings, GPOs, switches, data outlets and floor boxes — after lawful electrical isolation
HVAC fitout components — ductwork branches, VAV boxes, grilles, diffusers, dedicated split systems
Hot water units, kitchen plumbing fixtures, basins, taps
Cabling and conduit — power, data, audio-visual, security, telecoms — back to the riser or to the agreed termination point
Fire services modifications — sprinkler heads, EWIS speakers and break-glass devices that were tenancy-installed (always done by licensed fire-services trades)
Security systems, access control hardware and CCTV installed by the tenant

Specialised Trade Equipment (Where Present)

Commercial kitchen equipment — cooktops, fryers, combi ovens, exhaust canopies, grease arrestors (degassed and decommissioned)
Refrigeration plant — walk-in cool rooms, display fridges, beverage units — requiring licensed refrigerant degassing under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act before removal
Medical and dental fitout equipment — chairs, suction lines, gas outlets (decommissioned by the appropriate trade)
Warehouse racking, pallet systems, mezzanines — where part of the tenant’s fitout rather than landlord-supplied
Server rooms and comms cabinets — including UPS units, in-row cooling and dedicated electrical

Hazardous and Regulated Materials

Non-friable asbestos-containing materials — vinyl floor tiles, cement-sheet linings, textured ceiling coatings, fibro infill panels and some older partition cores in 1950s–1980s commercial buildings (more on this below)
Fluorescent ballasts containing PCBs — older T8/T12 fittings in buildings constructed before the mid-1980s often contain polychlorinated biphenyls in the capacitor and are classified as reportable priority waste
Mercury-containing lamps — fluorescent tubes, HID and metal halide fittings — segregated and disposed at licensed facilities
E-waste — server equipment, monitors, AV systems, ICT cabling

What Stays During an Internal Strip-Out

Anything that’s part of the landlord’s base build typically stays. That includes:

The structural slab, columns, beams and core
The lift shaft, lift core and stairs
The building facade and perimeter glazing (unless the lease specifies otherwise)
The primary HVAC plant and chilled-water/condenser-water risers
The fire-services main loop, sprinkler valves and fire-indicator panel
The electrical riser, main switchboard and distribution back to the tenancy MSSB termination point
The communications and data risers up to the tenant patch panel boundary
Any base-build ceilings, floor finishes or fitout elements specifically nominated in the lease schedule as landlord-supplied

The exact line between “tenant fitout” and “landlord base build” is the single most contested item in any make-good. Read your lease schedule before you scope the strip-out. A good demolition contractor will ask for it at the quote stage — and if they don’t, that’s a red flag.

The Regulatory Triangle: WorkSafe, EPA, and Building Management

A commercial internal strip-out in Melbourne sits at the intersection of three sets of rules. Miss any of the three and the project stalls, costs blow out, or your bond is held.

1. WorkSafe Victoria — How the Work Is Done

WorkSafe Victoria regulates the work itself under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004, the OHS Regulations 2017, and the WorkSafe Compliance Code: Demolition (Edition 2, 2019). For a commercial strip-out, the practical requirements include:

A Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) specific to your site, the actual materials being removed, and the actual control measures. Strip-out work is High Risk Construction Work (HRCW) the moment it involves working near energised services, at height, or with asbestos.
Construction induction (white card) for every worker on site, plus a site-specific induction delivered before the first shift.
Licensed asbestos removal for any non-friable asbestos work over 10 square metres — a Class B licence for non-friable (bonded) material, or Class A for friable. We hold Class B.
WorkSafe notification 5 days before licensed asbestos removal commences for non-friable work, with the WorkSafe reference number lodged before the crew arrives on site.
An independent asbestos clearance certificate issued by a licensed assessor (not the removalist) before any further works happen in the affected zone.

The full framework is detailed in our WorkSafe Victoria Demolition Requirements: Plain English Guide.

2. EPA Victoria — Where the Waste Goes

EPA Victoria regulates the waste, transport and disposal under the Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Environment Protection Regulations 2021. For a commercial strip-out, that translates into:

The General Environmental Duty (GED) applies — you (and your contractor) must take reasonably practicable steps to eliminate or reduce harm from pollution and waste.
Every waste stream has to be classified correctly: general industrial waste (clean concrete, brick, plasterboard, steel), priority waste (treated timber, painted materials), and reportable priority waste (asbestos, contaminated soil, PCB-containing ballasts, certain chemical residues).
Reportable priority waste must be tracked through EPA Waste Tracker — the producer, transporter and receiver all have to log every movement. The producer (you, or your contractor on your behalf) stays legally responsible until the waste reaches a lawfully authorised destination.
Waste levy applies to landfilled material. From 1 July 2025, the metropolitan rate is $167.90 per tonne, with another rise scheduled. For a typical 500–800 m² office strip-out generating 12–25 tonnes of mixed waste, that’s a meaningful line item in itself.
Refrigerant gases from any HVAC or refrigeration plant must be recovered by a licensed refrigerant handler before equipment is dismantled — and the refrigerant tracked appropriately.
Fluorescent ballasts with PCBs and mercury-containing lamps are reportable priority waste streams in their own right, requiring segregated handling and tracked disposal.

We covered the full picture in our EPA Victoria Construction and Demolition Waste Rules 2026 guide.

3. Building Management — Who Lets You In and What You Can Do Once You’re There

The third set of rules is the one that catches first-time commercial tenants off guard: the facility management team controls almost everything about how and when you actually work.

That typically includes:

Certificate of Currency (COI) — your demolition contractor’s public liability insurance, lodged with building management at least a week before site setup. Most CBD towers require $20M minimum public liability; some require $50M.
Contractor induction — site-specific induction administered by building management, often via an online portal (Rapid Induct, Inductionsuite, or similar). Every worker must complete it before access is granted.
Loading dock and goods-lift bookings — typically in time-slotted blocks, often only available 6:00 PM–6:00 AM weeknights and weekends. Big strip-outs need multiple booked slots over consecutive nights.
After-hours work permits and noise dispensations — separate paperwork, often with 48–72 hour lead times.
Protection of base build, common areas and adjacent tenancies — corridor matting, lift-cabin protection, dust hoardings, negative-pressure barriers around the work zone where required.
Fire-services isolation — when smoke detectors are isolated for dust-generating work, the building’s fire panel goes on test mode under a permit-to-work system. Every site has its own procedure.
Reinstatement standards — many buildings specify exactly how services are to be capped, labelled and handed back. Capping a chilled-water tee with the wrong fitting can fail a make-good inspection.

This is why commercial strip-outs require contractors who speak the building management language — and why a quote from a residential demolition contractor who’s never run a Melbourne CBD tower job is rarely a real quote.

Asbestos in Melbourne Commercial Buildings — What’s Likely Hiding

Commercial buildings constructed in Melbourne between the late 1940s and the late 1980s commonly contain non-friable asbestos-containing materials (ACM) in places that aren’t obvious until the strip-out exposes them. The Victorian asbestos ban for new use didn’t fully come into force until 31 December 2003 — meaning any building installed before then can have ACM present.

For commercial tenants, the materials we routinely encounter in Melbourne strip-outs include:

Vinyl floor tiles and the bitumen-based adhesives beneath them — especially in 1960s–1980s office towers and shopping centres
Cement-sheet wall and ceiling linings — common in older retail, hospitality and industrial fitouts
Textured “vermiculite” or “popcorn” ceiling coatings — frequently asbestos-laden through the 1960s and 1970s
Fibro infill panels in lift-shaft enclosures, fire-rated cupboards and stairwell linings
Asbestos backing on switchboards and electrical equipment in older industrial premises
Asbestos rope, gaskets and seals on commercial-kitchen equipment and old boilers
Asbestos pipe lagging in plant rooms and back-of-house service risers
Some older partition cores — particularly in 1960s–1970s “demountable” office systems

Non-friable (bonded) ACM is the standard finding in commercial soft strips. Where bonded material is mechanically damaged, fire-damaged or water-damaged, it can become friable — which escalates the job to a Class A licensed removalist and roughly 2–4× the per-square-metre cost.

We covered the building-age picture in our Asbestos in Melbourne Homes: How to Identify Before Demolition and Asbestos in 1950s–1980s Melbourne Homes guides. Commercial buildings of the same era show very similar patterns, with industrial-scale quantities.

Practical implications for commercial tenants:

Insist on a hazardous materials survey before signing off on a strip-out scope. The asbestos register the building manager holds is a starting point, not a complete picture. Many tenancies have ACM under later fitout layers that the register never captured.
Itemise asbestos removal separately on the quote. A Class B square-metre rate, a WorkSafe notification line, and an independent clearance certificate line should all be visible.
Sequence asbestos removal first. Non-friable ACM comes out under controlled conditions, gets an independent clearance certificate, and then the rest of the strip-out proceeds. Trying to do both at once is how bonded ACM becomes friable.
Don’t bury an asbestos finding. If the survey identifies ACM, the obligation to manage it lawfully sits with the duty-holder — and that includes the commercial tenant under the OHS Regulations 2017.

You can also cross-check your contractor against the Licensed Asbestos Removal Victoria: How to Verify Your Contractor guide before they walk in the door.

Out-of-Hours Scheduling: Why Melbourne Commercial Strip-Outs Run Nights

Almost every commercial internal strip-out in central Melbourne runs after-hours — typically 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM weeknights, or weekend windows. The reasons are practical and unavoidable:

Operating tenants and trading hours — strip-outs in shopping centres like Chadstone, Highpoint, Northland, Eastland, Doncaster Westfield, Werribee Plaza, Fountain Gate and Emporium can’t happen during retail hours. Centre management mandates after-hours work, often only on specified nights of the week.
Lift and dock access — CBD towers in Collins Street, Bourke Street, Queen Street, Spring Street, Spencer Street, William Street, King Street, Lonsdale Street, Little Collins, Flinders Street, Southbank and Docklands restrict goods-lift use during business hours. Strip-out trade movements happen overnight.
Noise and vibration restrictions — most Melbourne CBD and inner-city councils restrict construction noise to defined hours, with stricter limits in City of Melbourne, City of Yarra, City of Stonnington, City of Port Phillip and City of Boroondara local laws.
Adjacent occupied tenancies — even when your floor is empty, the floors above and below typically aren’t. After-hours work isolates dust, noise and lift conflicts from operating businesses.

The cost trade-off is real. After-hours strip-out labour rates run roughly 30–60% higher than daytime rates, and the productivity is lower because dock and lift access is rationed in time-slotted blocks. But for most CBD and shopping-centre tenancies, daytime work simply isn’t an option.

Where after-hours scheduling isn’t required — typically suburban standalone retail, industrial warehouses in Dandenong, Laverton, Tullamarine, Campbellfield, Hallam and Truganina, and ground-floor street-front tenancies in suburban high streets — daytime work runs at standard rates and is usually significantly cheaper.

Realistic Timelines for Melbourne Commercial Strip-Outs

Every project is scoped against its specific lease handback condition, services complexity and asbestos quantity. With that caveat, the typical durations we run in Melbourne look like this:

Tenancy Type	Typical Size	Strip-Out Duration	Notes
Small CBD office	up to 200 m²	2–4 nights	After-hours, single dock booking, light asbestos exposure
Mid-size office floor	300–800 m²	5–10 nights	After-hours, multiple dock bookings, services-heavy
Full floor commercial	800–1,500 m²	2–3 weeks	After-hours, complex services, building-management coordination
Retail tenancy (shopping centre)	100–500 m²	3–7 nights	After-hours mandatory, centre induction, signage and joinery focus
Hospitality fitout (cafe, bar, restaurant)	100–400 m²	1–2 weeks	Kitchen degassing, grease-arrestor compliance, signage
Medical/dental clinic	150–400 m²	1–2 weeks	Medical-gas decommissioning, specialised waste streams
Industrial warehouse fitout	500–2,000 m²	1–3 weeks	Daytime work usually possible, racking, mezzanines, plant
Multi-level commercial floor + services	1,500 m²+	3–8 weeks	Stage-gated by floor, lift and dock rationing critical

These durations are the on-site strip-out only. The full project lifecycle — quote, scope confirmation, building-management paperwork, WorkSafe notification (where asbestos is involved), strip-out, asbestos clearance, final inspection, documentation handover — typically adds 2–4 weeks at the front end and 3–7 days at the back end.

We covered the full demolition-project lifecycle in our From Quote to Cleared Site: Realistic Demolition Timeline Melbourne guide.

What a Melbourne Commercial Strip-Out Actually Costs in 2026

Pricing for commercial internal strip-outs in Melbourne is normally quoted on a per-square-metre basis against the tenancy NLA (net lettable area) or GLA (gross leasable area) specified in the lease. As a 2026 reference range:

Strip-Out Type	Typical Rate (per m²)	Drivers of Variation
Simple office (open-plan, minimal services)	$40–$70	Low partition density, modern services, no asbestos
Standard office (mixed open-plan/cellular)	$60–$95	Moderate joinery, AV/data fitout, some bulkheads
Services-heavy office (cellular, AV-rich)	$85–$130	High partition count, dense services, raised flooring
Retail tenancy (shopping centre)	$70–$140	After-hours mandatory, centre fees, shopfront removal
Hospitality (cafe/restaurant)	$90–$180	Kitchen plant, refrigeration, grease arrestor, signage
Medical/dental clinic	$100–$180	Specialised decommissioning, sterilisation considerations
Industrial warehouse fitout	$30–$70	Daytime work, racking, simpler services
Heritage commercial (e.g. Flinders Lane, Collins Street terraces)	$120–$220+	Salvage protocols, base-build protection, slow methodology

Asbestos removal is normally a separate itemised line — typically $45–$120 per square metre of ACM, plus a $300–$800 WorkSafe notification fee equivalent administrative line, plus the independent clearance certificate (commonly $600–$1,500). The asbestos quantity, not the floor area, drives this line.

Other variables that move the number:

After-hours premium (often a 30–60% labour uplift)
Dock and lift access constraints (more constraint = longer durations = higher cost)
Building-management contractor fees (some buildings charge sign-on, induction or supervision fees)
Distance from the loading dock to the tenancy (level 35 is more expensive to clear than level 2)
Reinstatement specification (capping fittings, labelling, paint patching — sometimes specified to base-build standard)
Documentation pack complexity (some landlords require photo-evidence of every cap, every removal, every disposal)

The cheapest quote is rarely the truest quote. A make-good that comes back with variations or fails its handback inspection costs far more than the original strip-out, and bond release delays can run into months.

The Documentation Pack: Your Make-Good Evidence

At handover, a properly run commercial strip-out should hand you a documentation pack that the landlord’s building surveyor, facility manager and lawyer can all reconcile against your lease schedule. The right pack — kept for at least 5 years (and we recommend 7) — typically includes:

The hazardous materials survey and asbestos register (and the updated register post-removal)
The Safe Work Method Statement (SWMS) for the works
The WorkSafe Victoria notification confirmation and reference number (where asbestos was removed)
The asbestos clearance certificate issued by an independent licensed assessor
EPA Waste Tracker records for every reportable priority waste movement
Weighbridge dockets and disposal receipts for every waste load, including the disposal facility name
Refrigerant recovery certificates from licensed refrigerant handlers (where HVAC or refrigeration plant was decommissioned)
PCB ballast and mercury lamp disposal records (where present)
Electrical isolation and capping certificates from the licensed electrician
Plumbing capping certificates for any plumbing terminations
Fire-services isolation and reinstatement permit records
Building-management sign-off on protection, reinstatement and final clean
The contractor’s Certificate of Currency for public liability insurance
Before, during and after photographs of every services termination point and reinstated area

This is the pack that satisfies the make-good clause. A landlord can’t reasonably withhold the bond when this pack lands on their lawyer’s desk with the lease schedule reconciled item-by-item.

Common Mistakes Commercial Tenants Make

After hundreds of Melbourne commercial strip-outs, the same handful of mistakes keep appearing. They’re all expensive, and they’re all avoidable.

Mistake 1: Reading the make-good clause for the first time at the end of the lease

The make-good clause is in your lease schedule from day one. Read it then, plan against it, and revisit it 6–9 months before lease expiry. The clause defines exactly what condition the premises must be returned in — “base build,” “warm shell,” “broom-clean,” “carpet-ready,” or some bespoke standard. Each one is a different scope. Each one is a different cost. The tenants who hit handback panic invariably read the clause for the first time three weeks before keys-back.

Mistake 2: Using the lowest-quoted contractor without checking commercial experience

A residential demolition contractor running their first CBD tower job isn’t a commercial strip-out contractor. The dock-and-lift logistics, the after-hours scheduling, the building-management induction requirements, the refrigerant degassing, the PCB ballast handling, the e-waste pathway — all of these are routine on commercial work and unfamiliar on residential. Asking for two or three recent comparable-tenancy references in your suburb is the simplest verification.

Mistake 3: Skipping the hazardous materials survey

The building’s asbestos register doesn’t always capture what’s hidden under later fitout layers. A pre-strip survey is cheap (commonly $1,000–$3,000 for a typical commercial tenancy) and prevents the catastrophic mid-job discovery scenario where bonded asbestos gets mechanically damaged because no one knew it was behind the wall.

Mistake 4: Lumping asbestos into the general “demolition” line

A quote with “demolition including any asbestos” as a single line, without a Class B licence number, without a WorkSafe notification line, and without a clearance certificate budgeted, is hiding something. A compliant quote separately itemises asbestos by square metre, names the assessor, and names the disposal facility.

Mistake 5: Forgetting about reinstatement

A strip-out isn’t finished when the last partition leaves the lift. The capping of services, the patching of slab penetrations, the reinstatement of base-build ceiling tiles where damaged, the touch-up paint to the base-build standard — these are part of the make-good, and skipping them is the most common reason bond releases get delayed.

Mistake 6: Underestimating refrigerant and PCB compliance

Walk-in cool rooms, beverage fridges, display units and split-system HVAC all contain refrigerant gases that have to be recovered by a licensed handler before equipment is dismantled. Older fluorescent fittings contain PCBs in the ballast capacitors. Treating these as “rubbish” rather than as regulated waste streams is a duty breach under both EPA and Commonwealth law.

Mistake 7: Not coordinating with the incoming tenant’s fitout programme

If a new tenant is moving in straight after your strip-out, your handback condition affects their fitout startup. A make-good that finishes a week late delays a builder, which delays a tenancy commencement, which can trigger lease variation claims. Coordinating dates with the incoming party — through the agent or directly — almost always reduces friction.

Mistake 8: Ignoring the after-hours premium until the quote arrives

If your tenancy is in a CBD tower, a shopping centre or any building with operating neighbours, assume after-hours work when you’re budgeting. Discovering the premium at quote stage when you’ve already provisioned for a daytime rate sets the project up for under-funding.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a “make-good,” a “strip-out” and a “defit”?

They overlap heavily. Make-good is the lease-driven obligation to return the premises to a contractually-specified condition at end of lease. Strip-out is the demolition-trade term for the same work, regardless of who’s commissioning it. Defit is sometimes used by project managers to describe an incoming-tenant clear-out before a new fitout is installed. The on-site work is largely the same — the difference is who’s paying and against what scope document.

Do I need a building permit for a commercial internal strip-out?

Usually not for soft-strip-only work that doesn’t touch structural elements. Removing partitions, joinery, finishes and services within your tenancy generally doesn’t trigger a building permit under the Building Act 1993 and Building Regulations 2018. Building permits become necessary when structural elements are altered — load-bearing walls, fire-rated separations, structural slab penetrations or significant services modifications affecting fire and life safety. Your building surveyor or demolition contractor can confirm based on the actual scope. We covered this in our Building Permits vs Demolition Permits Melbourne guide.

Does my commercial strip-out need a Section 29A consent?

No — Section 29A consent under the Building Act 1993 applies only to demolition of buildings and parts of buildings, not to fitout strip-outs that don’t touch the structure. Section 29A is the council consent triggered by structural demolition. A pure internal strip-out within a commercial tenancy generally sits below that threshold.

How long before lease end should I engage a strip-out contractor?

At least 8–12 weeks before keys-back for small office and retail tenancies, and 14–20 weeks for larger or services-heavy spaces. That timeline allows for the hazardous materials survey, the WorkSafe notification window for any asbestos work, the building-management induction process, the after-hours dock bookings, the on-site strip-out itself, the asbestos clearance certificate, and the final reinstatement and inspection. Tenants who engage 3 weeks out almost always end up paying premium rates and risking bond delays.

Can I do part of the strip-out myself to save money?

Generally no for commercial tenancies, and rarely a saving even where it’s technically possible. Commercial strip-outs trigger the same WorkSafe, EPA and building-management compliance pathway regardless of who’s doing the work. Without the right licensed trades, public liability insurance and building-induction status, you’d be a duty-holder in your own right with no realistic path to compliance. Any DIY effort that disturbs bonded asbestos escalates the asbestos line item, frequently by 2–4×. The very small saving on labour is almost always lost on rework, compliance gaps, and bond risk.

What is “base build” and how do I know what condition counts?

Base build is the condition the landlord originally delivered the tenancy in before any tenant fitout. Typically that means: bare concrete slab (or carpet-ready slab depending on the building), exposed structural ceiling or grid-and-tile ceiling, perimeter walls painted or plastered, base-build lighting in place, services capped at defined termination points, fire-services and HVAC live to base-build standard. The exact “base build” condition is defined in your lease schedule (usually as a drawing or photographic appendix). If it isn’t defined, the parties commonly fall back on industry guidelines like the Property Council of Australia “Make Good Guideline” — though landlords and tenants frequently disagree on interpretation.

Will my bond or bank guarantee be at risk if the strip-out isn’t perfect?

Yes, if the make-good clause isn’t satisfied. Under most Melbourne commercial leases, the landlord can call on the bank guarantee or hold the cash bond against costs incurred bringing the premises back to the contractually-specified condition. The Victorian Small Business Commission mediates many of these disputes under the Retail Leases Act 2003 — but mediation takes months, and during those months your guarantee is still being held. The right documentation pack at handback is the single most effective protection.

Is asbestos common in Melbourne commercial buildings?

Very common in buildings built before the end of 2003 — and routinely encountered in our commercial strip-outs in CBD towers, suburban office blocks, shopping-centre tenancies, hospitality fitouts and industrial premises. Vinyl floor tiles, cement-sheet linings, textured ceiling coatings, fibro infill panels and pipe lagging are the most common materials. Newer buildings (post-2004 construction) are typically asbestos-free, though tenants who later installed second-hand materials or older partition systems occasionally introduce ACM into otherwise-clean buildings.

What happens if asbestos is discovered partway through the strip-out?

Work stops in the affected zone, a competent person assesses the material, and licensed removal is sequenced before further work proceeds. A reputable contractor’s quote includes a clear variation process for “additional ACM discovered” — typically at the same per-square-metre rate as the scoped asbestos, plus the variation administration. Contractors who tell you “it’ll be fine, we’ll just clean it up” are not running compliant projects, and the duty-holder exposure falls on you as the tenant as well as on them.

Who owns the salvaged materials from a commercial strip-out?

By default, the tenant — unless the lease specifies otherwise. Demountable partition systems, joinery, AV equipment, kitchen equipment and signage usually belong to the tenant and can be sold, donated, or sent to recycling. Landlord-supplied base-build fittings stay with the landlord. Where there’s ambiguity (often around HVAC modifications, security systems installed during the term, or tenant-paid-for upgrades to base-build elements), it’s worth confirming in writing before the contractor starts.

Can the same contractor do the strip-out and the new fitout?

Some can, most don’t. Strip-out (demolition trade) and fitout (carpentry, joinery, services, finishes) are different disciplines, different trade qualifications, different insurance categories. Some larger commercial contractors run both divisions. Demolition specialists like us focus on the strip-out, sequence the asbestos and waste compliance properly, and hand a clean, documented tenancy to whichever builder you’ve engaged for the new fitout.

What about COVID-era or earlier “modified make-good” arrangements?

Some commercial leases — particularly retail leases negotiated during the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme period and after — include modified make-good provisions allowing the tenant to leave certain fitout elements in place, often in exchange for a cash payment, a reduced reinstatement scope, or a deal with the incoming tenant. These arrangements vary case-by-case and should be documented in a separate side deed before relying on them. Read the deed, not the lease, when scoping the strip-out.

Is internal strip-out work GST-claimable?

Generally yes, for GST-registered tenants — strip-out and make-good costs are normally treated as deductible business expenses in the year incurred, and the GST is normally claimable. Confirm with your accountant; the position differs for capital works versus expense items, and for tenancies treated under different lease accounting frameworks.

Get a Compliant Melbourne Commercial Strip-Out Quote

We’re a fully licensed Melbourne demolition company with Class B (non-friable) asbestos removal capability — meaning your commercial internal strip-out, your asbestos removal, your EPA Waste Tracker compliance, your refrigerant degassing coordination, your building-management paperwork and your make-good documentation pack are all delivered under one insured roof, across every Melbourne commercial precinct and regional Victorian centre.

We run commercial strip-outs across:

Melbourne CBD and inner: Collins Street, Bourke Street, Spring Street, Queen Street, Spencer Street, King Street, Flinders Lane, Little Collins, Docklands, Southbank, South Wharf
Inner-east commercial: Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Hawthorn, Camberwell, Kew, Glen Iris, South Yarra, Toorak, Prahran, Windsor
Shopping centres and retail precincts: Chadstone, Highpoint, Northland, Eastland, Doncaster Westfield, Knox City, Westfield Fountain Gate, Westfield Plenty Valley, The Glen, Forest Hill Chase, Stud Park, Pacific Werribee, Bayside Shopping Centre Frankston, Emporium, QV, Melbourne Central, Bourke Street Mall
High-street retail strips: Bridge Road, Smith Street, Brunswick Street, Lygon Street, Chapel Street, Toorak Road, Glenferrie Road, High Street Armadale, Acland Street, Fitzroy Street, Church Street Brighton
Industrial and warehouse precincts: Dandenong, Hallam, Tullamarine, Campbellfield, Laverton, Truganina, Altona, Braeside, Moorabbin, Clayton, Notting Hill, Mulgrave, Scoresby, Bayswater, Kilsyth
Suburban office precincts: Box Hill, Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Burwood East, Hawthorn East, Cheltenham, Mentone, Moonee Ponds, Essendon, Heidelberg
Regional Victoria: Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, Yarra Ranges, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula

Whether it’s an end-of-lease office make-good in a Collins Street tower, a retail fitout strip-out in Chadstone or Highpoint, a restaurant or cafe defit in Richmond or South Yarra, a medical clinic strip-out in Camberwell or Glen Waverley, or a warehouse fitout removal in Dandenong or Laverton — we scope every line against your lease schedule, sequence the asbestos and waste compliance properly, run after-hours where the building demands it, and hand back a documentation pack that your bank guarantee can ride on.

Call us today for a free site inspection and a fixed-price commercial strip-out quote — with asbestos removal, refrigerant degassing, EPA waste tracking, building-management coordination and the full make-good documentation pack properly itemised, and every WorkSafe Victoria, EPA Victoria and lease requirement covered from quote to handback.

Disclaimer: This guide summarises internal strip-out methodology and compliance obligations for commercial tenancies in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria as of May 2026 in plain English. It is not legal, leasing, planning, structural or compliance advice. Lease terms vary, regulator requirements change regularly, and your specific make-good obligation is governed by your individual lease document. Always read your current lease schedule, check the current Building Act 1993, Building Regulations 2018, OHS Act 2004, OHS Regulations 2017, WorkSafe Victoria Compliance Code: Demolition, Environment Protection Act 2017, Environment Protection Regulations 2021, and Retail Leases Act 2003 (where applicable), or consult a qualified commercial lease lawyer, building surveyor, licensed demolition contractor or OHS professional, before relying on this information for a specific project.

Sources & Further Reading

Building Act 1993 (Vic) and Building Regulations 2018 (Vic)
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic), Part 4.4
Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic)
Environment Protection Regulations 2021 (Vic), Schedules 1 and 5
Retail Leases Act 2003 (Vic)
WorkSafe Victoria — Compliance Code: Demolition (Edition 2, 2019)
WorkSafe Victoria — Compliance Code: Removing Asbestos in Workplaces
WorkSafe Victoria — Public list of licensed asbestos removalists
EPA Victoria — Civil Construction, Building and Demolition Guide (publication 1834)
EPA Victoria — Asbestos Waste: epa.vic.gov.au/asbestos-waste
EPA Victoria — Waste Tracker (for reportable priority waste)
EPA Victoria — Waste Levy and quarterly waste levy statements
Victorian Small Business Commission — Retail Leases guidance: vsbc.vic.gov.au
Property Council of Australia — Make Good Guideline
Asbestos.vic.gov.au — Packaging, Transport and Disposal of Asbestos