Usually they appear on the landlord's schedule of dilapidations. Depending on your lease, you may need to remove the markings you added, repair or recoat a worn floor, and reinstate the car park or yard layout you took on. Doing that work before you hand back is often simpler than negotiating a cash settlement afterwards.
Last reviewed: November 2026. This is not legal advice. What you owe is set by the wording of your lease and any licence for alterations, and a dilapidations claim needs a building surveyor and, where it is disputed, a solicitor. But the floor and external surfaces come up on almost every industrial and logistics handback, and most of what keeps the cost under control is practical: knowing what you are obliged to do, deciding early, and having a record of the condition you returned.
What is a schedule of dilapidations?
It is a list, normally prepared by the landlord's surveyor towards or at the end of the lease, of the work the landlord considers you are obliged to carry out under the lease's repairing, decorating and reinstatement covenants, often with a cost against each item. It can be served in the final months of the lease (an interim schedule) or after it ends (a terminal schedule), and in England and Wales the way claims are made and answered is guided by the Pre-Action Protocol for Claims for Damages in relation to the Physical State of Commercial Property at Termination of a Tenancy, known as the Dilapidations Protocol.
The point for anyone managing the floor is that every item on that list either becomes work you carry out before you leave or becomes part of a sum you negotiate. Floors, yards and car parks tend to be large, visible items, so they are worth understanding early.
Which floor and marking items usually appear?
The detail varies with the lease and the building, but the same items come up again and again on warehouse, factory and yard handbacks.
- Tenant-specific floor markings, such as racking layouts, pick-face and location markings, 5S colour coding and walkways, that suited your operation but would not suit the next occupier.
- Worn, damaged or patchy floor coatings, particularly along forklift routes, at dock levellers and in turning areas, where the coating has been worn through to bare concrete.
- Damage left behind once racking and machinery are removed, such as anchor bolt holes, impact damage and stained or contaminated areas.
- Car park and yard markings that have faded, been changed to suit your business, or include reserved bays carrying your company name.
- Ghost lines left by previous alterations, where old markings were painted over rather than properly removed.
Not every item on a schedule is necessarily owed. Whether something is genuinely your liability depends on the covenants in your lease, the condition of the premises when you took them on and any agreed record of that condition, and that is where your own surveyor's advice comes in.
Do you have to remove markings you added?
Often, but not always. Many leases require the tenant to remove alterations and reinstate the premises at the end of the term, and a landlord re-letting a warehouse will generally prefer a clean, neutral floor that a new occupier can lay out for their own operation. Some landlords, on the other hand, are content to keep a sensible walkway and traffic layout, particularly in yards and car parks, because it adds to the building's appeal to the next tenant.
It is worth asking the landlord's surveyor directly rather than assuming either way. Removing markings that the landlord would have been happy to keep is wasted cost, and leaving markings that the lease requires you to remove simply moves the cost onto the schedule.
How are markings removed without leaving a mess?
Removal has to suit the surface and what will happen to it next. On a coated warehouse floor, markings are usually removed as part of preparing the floor for a fresh coat, so the two jobs are best planned together. On bare concrete, tarmac or a yard surface, markings can be removed mechanically by grinding, shot blasting or hydroblasting, each of which takes the marking off with a different effect on the surface underneath.
What matters for a handback is the finish. A removal that leaves an obvious scar or a ghost of the old layout can end up on the schedule as a defect in its own right, which is why painting over old markings in a similar colour to the floor is rarely a good answer. We have covered the methods in more detail in can line markings be removed without damaging the surface and what are ghost lines and how do you remove them.
Should you do the work or agree a settlement?
That is a commercial decision, and there is no single right answer. Carrying out the work yourself before the lease ends means you control the specification, the contractor and the cost, and it removes those items from the negotiation. Agreeing a financial settlement instead avoids disruption in your final weeks on site, but the sum will usually be based on the landlord's surveyor's pricing, and you have less say over what that pricing assumes.
In England and Wales, damages for breach of a repairing covenant are also capped by statute at the reduction in the value of the landlord's interest, which can matter where the landlord intends to refurbish or redevelop anyway. That is a question for your surveyor and legal adviser rather than your contractor, but it is a good reason to take advice before committing to either route.
When should floor work be planned?
Later than most people expect, but earlier than most people book it. Floor work can only be done properly once racking, machinery and stock are out, and it needs to be finished before the keys go back, so it often lands in a short window at the very end of the lease alongside strip-out, cleaning and other trades.
- Get an indication of what the floor and external surfaces will need while you are still in occupation, so the work can be priced and agreed with the landlord's surveyor.
- Plan removal, repair and coating to follow racking and machinery strip-out directly, with the coating's cure time built into the programme rather than squeezed at the end.
- Keep car park and yard remarking until after other trades and vehicles have finished on site, so fresh markings are not damaged on the way out.
Coating systems need time to cure before they take traffic, and that time depends on the product and the temperature, so a programme that assumes the floor can be walked on the same day it is coated is likely to slip.
What evidence should you keep?
The strongest position at the end of a lease is one where you can show what condition the floor and external areas were in when you took them on, what you did to them during the lease, and what you handed back. A schedule of condition agreed at the start of the lease is the most valuable document of all, if one exists.
For the handback itself, keep dated photographs of every area before and after the work, a record of the materials and colours used, and confirmation of what was agreed with the landlord's surveyor. That makes it far easier to close the floor items on the schedule, and far harder for them to reappear later as a disputed claim.
How C&R can help.
C&R removes old markings, prepares and recoats warehouse and industrial floors, and remarks car parks and yards nationwide, so the floor and external surface items on a schedule of dilapidations can be dealt with by one team. We can survey the site while you are still in occupation, price the work against the schedule, and programme it around your strip-out, including out of hours and overnight where the timetable is tight. Every job comes with before and after photographs, giving you a dated record of the condition you handed back.
Frequently asked questions.
Do I have to remove my floor markings when my lease ends?
It depends on your lease. Many leases require tenants to remove alterations and reinstate the premises, and floor markings are often included. Check with the landlord's surveyor, as some landlords are happy to keep a sensible layout.
Can I just paint over old markings before I leave?
It is rarely a good idea. Overpainting tends to wear through or leave ghost lines, which can themselves be listed as a defect. Proper removal or a fresh coating is usually the better route.
Is it cheaper to do the work or pay the landlord?
It varies. Doing the work gives you control of the specification and the cost, while a settlement avoids disruption. Take advice from your own surveyor before deciding.
When should I book floor work before a handback?
Get it priced while you are still in occupation, and programme the work to follow racking and machinery removal, with enough time for coatings to cure before the keys go back.
What should I keep as evidence?
Dated before and after photographs, a record of the materials used, and any agreement reached with the landlord's surveyor, plus the schedule of condition from the start of the lease if there is one.
