The Dilapidations Protocol will become part of the Civil Procedure Rules on 1 January 2012.
After almost 10 years of being accepted as best practice within the dilapidations industry, the protocol was approved by the Rule Committee on 14 October following months of liaison between the Property Litigation Association (PLA), the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Civil Justice Council and the Rule Committee.
Jacqui Joyce, chair of the PLA, who has championed the protocol from its induction, said that she was “delighted” that it had finally been formally recognised.
Changes have been made to shorten the protocol as much as possible and to make sure the language consistent with that used in other parts of the rules.
The only substantial change is that there is a new a provision for an endorsement by the tenant or its surveyor to mirror that which has been required to be given by the landlord’s surveyor as to the scope of the required works, the reasonable costs of those works and the taking into account of the landlord’s intentions for the property.
Joyce said that “hopefully, now that the protocol has been formally adopted, it will be followed by all those in the industry and so aid the early exchange of information between parties and early settlement without the need for court proceedings and substantial costs”.
A copy of the updated protocol can be found on the PLA website at www.pla.org.uk
