Leasing Lifecycle Tool

The Leasing Lifecycle Tool guides you in each step of the leasing process, whether you are a tenant or operations manager, leasing agent, tenant rep, building manager, designer, consultant, owner, or lawyer, providing information on who you should engage, when to engage them, and most importantly, the key expectations and issues to consider with the best industry resources to exceed these expectations.

This tool will shift as best practice improves, and the Better Buildings Partnership is committed to continuing to collaborate and champion this facilitation, in order to move the industry to a more sustainable future.

To use this guide, use the links above to step through the process. With each section, the relative stakeholders are noted, with the data they should provide and the industry resources that are available. As resources are released and data made available, this tool will continue to evolve.

Do you have a resource you have used or a case study from the industry? Let us know

The Better Buildings Partnership's work on best practice leasing focuses on three areas:

1. Facilitation of the leasing process by mapping it and ensuring the early provision of good information and engagement of the right expertise;
2. Negotiation of the best lease for all parties, balancing a level of risk management within the document itself; and,
3. Education of the occupants, designers, agents and facilities managers that interact with the leased space, but do not sign the lease. 

Beyond the usual selection criteria of location, office grade and cost per sq metre, best practice leasing includes considerations of ongoing operational expenditure, any upgrades to be delivered over the life of the lease, brand advantages from aligning with buildings demontrating strong environmental performance, and opportunities to provide innovative working environments that optimise square meterage and reflect modern flexible working styles. A tenant representative is often appointed at this stage to summarise these technical requirements.

More often than not, these requirements are simplified against industry benchmarking grades and ratings relating to building attributes: PCA Grade, Green Star ratings, NABERS performance, and newly mandated Commercial Building Disclosure. It is essential tenants choose a tenant representative that will ensure the best operational outcome for their tenancy and has a holistic knowledge of the cost benefits of greener buildings. Leasing agents, as the representatives for a building owner,  likewise need to realise the impacts of inefficient buildings and actively interrogate the brief to match against their building portfolio.

Following site selection, the Heads of Agreement sets out the core commercial terms and environmental expectations and parameters of the relationship.  Heads of Agreement are normally prepared by the tenant and building owner representatives, before being handed over to the respective legal departments for finalisation.

As well as costs, term and other agreed incentives, a best practice Heads of Agreement should set out the level of expected building performance, reporting requirements, method and frequency of communication between the parties, and dispute resolution process.   Legal departments are charged to de-risk contracts, but best practice leasing requires a reasonable retention of space for evolving collaboration between owner and tenants. This intention should be clearly articulated to the lawyers finalising the contract.

Without effective management, a building designed for a 4.5 Star NABERS Energy rating can operate at as little as a 1.5 Star rating's efficiency, which doubles energy consumption and operating costs. Proactive management and benchmarks and tracking toward improvement can ensure a building and its tenancies are on track to continue improving their performance, as noted in studies like the Warren Centre's Low-Energy High-Rise report. Benchmarks and the metrics to measure performance, coupled with communication and action plans are essential basics to reducing operating costs through active management of the tenancy.