Office Rental Maintenance: Who is Responsible for What

2/5/2021 (Permalink)

Educate yourself on the responsibilities of you versus your landlord.

Office rental maintenance relies on an agreement between the tenant and the landlord. Although these agreements can differ from one to another, they often follow many of the same basic principles. As a general rule of thumb, the tenant is responsible for keeping the office in good shape and the landlord is responsible for the structural aspects of the building.

The responsibilities of the tenant are focused on many of the cosmetic aspects of the rental space. This includes the cleaning and repairs of items such as the carpet, wall coverings (such as paint or wallpaper), lighting, and bathroom and kitchen fixtures. As the tenant, your responsibility is to fix any of these aspects of your rental office if you cause damage to them.

The landlord of the rental aspect is in charge of the structural integrity of the rental office. Some structural aspects are the shell of the building, the foundation, windows, roofing, electrical system, heating system, and ventilation system of the building. These responsibilities many landlords do not want to put in the hands of their tenants because they want to assure that they are maintained and repaired properly. 

There needs to be a good balance between tenant and landlord responsibilities. For example, a tenant of the office space may not want to invest much money or effort into fixing the electrical system of the building because they are only renting the space and do not have any commitment to staying in the office space forever. Cutting corners on repairs of major systems of the building can be unsafe. On the other hand, if a lightbulb burns out, the tenant will be much more willing to repair it because it is a simple and inexpensive problem to fix.

Responsibility in rental office maintenance is something that needs to be addressed when signing a lease. Both parties must agree on the terms of the lease. If you need to address any repairs, make sure you contact a professional. SERVPRO of Canton is always ready to help whenever you are in need of a repair.