Get Accurate, Complete Picture of Tenant’s Construction

If your lease with a tenant that’s making improvements or doing other construction in its space requires the tenant to give you documents—a certificate of occupancy from your local government, contractor affidavits, or lien waivers—to prove that the work was done properly, you might’ve required the tenant to give you another vital piece of information—drawings of the finished construction work. If you didn’t require “as-built” drawings from a tenant doing construction work, you could be at a disadvantage. You might not know where the tenant has relocated wires, and because of that later accidentally destroy that wiring while making alterations to the space after the tenant moves out.

Avoid costly damage like this by requiring that the tenant give you as-built drawings—that is, blueprints prepared by the tenant’s architect, showing the space after the construction work is finished. They show changes to the space—including new or redirected wiring or pipes behind the walls—to give you an accurate picture of the location of the new improvements as they were actually built.

Besides helping you locate improvements or alterations in the space after the tenant moves out, as-built drawings can be valuable in other situations. If a fire or another disaster damages the space, the drawings will help you and the tenant determine how the space needs to be rebuilt or restored. If a subtenant or assignee moves into the space, the drawings can help you track whether the subtenant or assignee changes or removes any of the improvements. If you want to sell or finance your building, the buyer or lender will probably require you to hand over accurate blueprints of the building, and the as-built drawings should satisfy this requirement for the tenant’s space.

To get as-built drawings, have the lease or work letter require the tenant to give them to you immediately after the construction work is done. Ask the tenant to include a list and description of all work done by the contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers. Ask your attorney about adding this language to your lease or work letter where it discusses which documents the tenant must give you to show that the construction work was done properly:

Model Language

(x) As-built drawings of the Premises, with a list and description of all work performed by the contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers.