Commercial move-out planning worksheet: work back from your handover date
A commercial move-out has several dates and dependencies: the lease deadline, landlord requirements, building access, removal, restoration and inspection. Use this worksheet to assign dates and responsibilities before agreeing a programme.
How to use this worksheet
The office reinstatement checklist lists what to gather. This worksheet does something different: it puts the steps in the order they depend on each other, so you can see which date has to be fixed before the next one can be. Every date column is blank on purpose. The dates come from your lease, your landlord and your contractors' own proposals, and this guide gives no durations of its own.
Start at the bottom. Write the four dates in the table below first, then fill each phase from the end of the sheet back to the start. If a step has no date yet because it waits on someone else's reply, write who you are waiting on instead.
| Date | What it is | Where it comes from | Your date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lease end | The last day of the term | The lease | ____ |
| Works complete | The day by which the unit must already be in the required condition | The landlord's written requirement. JTC, for example, states that reinstatement works must be completed before the lease expiry date | ____ |
| Final handover inspection | The check of completed works and any rectification items | Agree with the landlord. JTC’s inspection around six months before expiry is an earlier scope-setting inspection, not this final check. | ____ |
| Key return | The agreed appointment for returning keys; confirm any remaining lease obligations | The landlord or managing agent. HDB asks tenants to make an appointment to return the keys | ____ |
JTC: Returning your premises upon lease expiry
HDB: Terminate Tenancy of HDB Shop or Office
Phase 1: lease and landlord requirements
Confirm the required handover condition before relying on a firm scope and programme. Preliminary estimates may carry assumptions while landlord replies or site checks remain outstanding. The lease clause guide explains what to clarify.
| Step | Depends on | Who confirms | Your date | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.1 Find the reinstatement clause and any side letters | The lease file | You, or your legal adviser | ____ | [ ] |
| 1.2 Note the lease end date and any notice period | 1.1 | The lease | ____ | [ ] |
| 1.3 Ask in writing for the required handover condition and which items may stay | 1.1 | Landlord or managing agent | ____ | [ ] |
| 1.4 Ask for the handover checklist, inspection process, fees and any nominated contractors | 1.3 | Landlord or building management | ____ | [ ] |
| 1.5 Ask when the joint inspection can be booked and how keys are returned | 1.3 | Landlord or managing agent | ____ | [ ] |
Reinstatement clause in your lease
Phase 2: scope and inventory
Once the landlord has replied, record what is in the unit against that reply. The same photographs and lists go to every contractor, so the quotations can be compared on one scope. See the quotation checklist for how to compare them.
| Step | Depends on | Who confirms | Your date | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 Walk the unit and photograph every room and the ceiling | 1.3 | You | ____ | [ ] |
| 2.2 List loose items with rough quantities and sizes | 2.1 | You | ____ | [ ] |
| 2.3 List fixed items and mark each remove, restore or keep | 1.3, 2.1 | You, with the landlord for items that may stay | ____ | [ ] |
| 2.4 Separate items you do not own and arrange their return | 2.2 | You, and the equipment lessor | ____ | [ ] |
| 2.5 Mark documents and devices that hold personal or confidential data | 2.2 | You, or your data protection officer | ____ | [ ] |
| 2.6 Send the same pack to each contractor and collect written scopes | 2.3, 2.4 | Contractors; you compare | ____ | [ ] |
| 2.7 Appoint a contractor and confirm scope and exclusions in writing | 2.6 | You | ____ | [ ] |
Office clearance versus reinstatement
Phase 3: building arrangements
Building rules decide when work can start and how items leave the unit. Ask for them early, because they shape the quotation, then submit the contractor's details once one is appointed.
A published tenant guide for Heartbeat@Bedok illustrates that a building can require advance notice, lift bookings, worker details, protection and a deposit. Its March 2018 edition is an example, not the current rule for your building. Obtain applicable instructions and notice periods from your managing agent.
Removing partitions can also raise fire-safety questions. SCDF's page on minor addition and alteration works says plans are lodged by a registered architect or professional engineer and that the tenant needs the consent of the building owner or management corporation. Whether any lodgement applies to taking out partitions in your unit is a question for the landlord and a Qualified Person.
| Step | Depends on | Who confirms | Your date | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 Ask building management for its fit-out and reinstatement rules: working hours, noisy-work hours, lift booking, loading, common-area protection, waste route, deposits and fees | 1.3 | Building management | ____ | [ ] |
| 3.2 Ask the landlord and a Qualified Person whether any fire-safety or other authority step applies to the removal | 2.3 | Landlord, Qualified Person | ____ | [ ] |
| 3.3 Submit contractor details, work schedule and any permit or insurance forms the building asks for | 2.7, 3.1 | Contractor and building management | ____ | [ ] |
| 3.4 Book the goods lift and loading bay for the removal days | 3.3 | Building management | ____ | [ ] |
| 3.5 Arrange protection for common routes if the building asks for it | 3.1 | Contractor | ____ | [ ] |
| 3.6 Ask whether power and other services must stay on until the final inspection | 1.4 | Landlord, building management | ____ | [ ] |
Commercial renovation approvals: who checks what
Phase 4: removal and restoration
Agree the sequence with the contractor: some tasks may overlap where access and safety allow. Resolve ownership and data handling before items leave. Identify which strip-out work must finish before surfaces can be restored. These dependencies are planning prompts, not a mandatory sequence for every unit.
| Step | Depends on | Who confirms | Your date | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1 Return leased equipment and move out items you are keeping | 2.4 | You | ____ | [ ] |
| 4.2 Erase data from devices and destroy documents before disposal | 2.5 | You, your IT provider | ____ | [ ] |
| 4.3 Remove loose furniture and arrange disposal | 4.1, 3.4 | Contractor or disposal provider | ____ | [ ] |
| 4.4 Dismantle and remove the fixed items marked remove | 4.3, 3.3 | Contractor | ____ | [ ] |
| 4.5 Clear debris by the route the building allows | 4.4 | Contractor | ____ | [ ] |
| 4.6 Restore surfaces and services to the landlord's list, including items the building's nominated contractor handles | 4.4, 1.4 | Contractor, landlord's nominated contractor | ____ | [ ] |
| 4.7 Clean the unit and photograph every area | 4.6 | Contractor | ____ | [ ] |
Phase 5: inspection, make-good and key return
Agree a final inspection date and allow for rectification. This final check is separate from early scope-setting inspections such as JTC’s inspection around six months before expiry. Ask when works, inspection and key return must each occur.
Some landlords tie the return of a deposit to documents as well as to the unit. The Heartbeat@Bedok guide, for example, says the fit-out deposit is returned when as-built drawings are submitted and defects noted at the handover inspection are rectified. Ask your own landlord whether any document is needed before the deposit is released.
| Step | Depends on | Who confirms | Your date | Done |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 Check the unit yourself against the landlord's list, using photographs | 4.7 | You, with the contractor | ____ | [ ] |
| 5.2 Tell the landlord the works are complete and request the joint inspection | 5.1, 1.5 | You | ____ | [ ] |
| 5.3 Attend the joint inspection and record every item raised | 5.2 | Landlord, managing agent | ____ | [ ] |
| 5.4 Agree who rectifies each item and by when | 5.3 | Contractor, landlord | ____ | [ ] |
| 5.5 Get re-inspection or written confirmation that the items are closed | 5.4 | Landlord, managing agent | ____ | [ ] |
| 5.6 Return the keys and get written acknowledgement | 5.5, 1.5 | Landlord, managing agent | ____ | [ ] |
| 5.7 Ask what is needed for the deposit to be released | 5.6 | Landlord | ____ | [ ] |
Send the sheet to Omni Contractors
You do not need every date filled in to start a conversation. Send the handover requirements you have, the completed lists from phase 2, the building's rules from phase 3 and the four dates at the top, and say which cells are still waiting on a reply. Omni Contractors publishes commercial renovation, office reinstatement and shop reinstatement, with hacking and disposal for the strip-out. The team can review what you send and discuss a site check and a quotation. A new office fit-out is a separate scope with its own sheet, so keep the two apart. Send the details through WhatsApp or the contact page.
Sources
Public sources used in this guide, read on 16 October 2026. They are examples of what landlords and authorities publish. For any particular unit the lease and the landlord's written requirements govern.
JTC: Returning your premises upon lease expiry. HDB: Terminate Tenancy of HDB Shop or Office. Heartbeat@Bedok Tenant Fit-out Guide, version 0.4, March 2018. SCDF: Minor Addition and Alteration Works.
What order should a commercial move-out be planned in?
Work back from the handover date. Confirm the lease and landlord requirements first, then the scope and inventory, then the building's arrangements, then removal and restoration, and finally the inspection, make-good and key return. Each phase depends on the one before it, which is how the worksheet is arranged.
Which date is the handover date?
There are usually four: lease end, works complete, joint inspection and key return. JTC states that reinstatement works must be completed before the lease expiry date, and HDB asks tenants to make an appointment to return keys. Ask your landlord for the dates that apply to your lease and write them at the top of the sheet.
How long does each step take?
This guide gives no durations because they depend on the unit, the landlord and the building. Ask the landlord when an inspection can be booked, ask the building for its notice requirements, and ask each contractor for its own sequence and dates after the scope has been assessed.
Does the building need to approve the work before it starts?
Many buildings publish rules for contractors, such as notice of the work schedule, lift booking and deposits, but they differ from building to building. Ask building management for the rules that apply to your works, and ask the landlord and a Qualified Person whether any authority step applies.
Should my new office be on the same worksheet?
No. The new office has different requirements, dates and building rules. Use a separate sheet for it, and keep the old unit's handover requirements apart from the new unit's renovation brief.
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We quote on the actual scope. These help us get it right the first time:
- Floor plan or unit size
- Photos of each room and the ceiling
- Lease reinstatement clause or handover checklist
- Handover or move in date
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