Dilapidations are breaches of covenant to repair a building contained in a lease. Such breaches can take many forms, but a leaking roof or a broken window are two obvious examples. Dilapidations are often wrongly considered by tenants as insignificant in comparison with rent, rates and service charges when they are seeking new premises. However, the liability to repair can have serious financial implications and therefore the tenant must seek advice of a Chartered Surveyor on opportunities to avoid, limit or mitigate dilapidations before entering into a lease, or when a schedule of dilapidations has been served upon him