Commercial Defit: Category, Scope and Cost Differences
Commercial defit covers offices, retail and industrial tenancies alike, but the scope and cost differ by property type. Here is how to tell them apart.
Commercial defit is the umbrella term for removing a tenant's fit-out from any non-residential premises, office, retail or industrial, at the end of a lease. The core job is the same everywhere: strip out what the tenant installed, reinstate the base condition. What changes by property type is the scope, the materials involved, and the price.
Office vs retail vs industrial defit
| Property type | Typical scope | Cost driver |
|---|---|---|
| Office | Partitions, ceiling grid, carpet, cabling, workstations | Access (lift floors), asbestos in older buildings |
| Retail | Shopfitting, joinery, signage, flooring, services back to base | Fast turnaround between tenants, shopping centre access hours |
| Industrial / warehouse | Racking, mezzanine, plant, floor coatings | Structural elements, larger footprints, plant removal |
Why terminology gets confused
Make good, defit and strip out get used almost interchangeably in the industry, and that is a real source of confusion when comparing quotes. Make good is the lease obligation itself. Defit is the whole project, from lease review through to handover. Strip out is specifically the demolition and removal stage inside that project. A contractor quoting 'defit' should include reinstatement; a quote for 'strip out' alone often does not.
Office defit step by step · Office strip out cost
What it typically costs
Commercial strip out and removal work is generally priced per square metre and scales with the amount of material being removed and how it needs to be disposed of. See our cost benchmarks page for a full, sourced breakdown by scope, and our commercial strip out guide for cost differences by property type.
Make good and defit cost benchmarks · Commercial strip out by property type
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a defit and a make good?
Make good is what your lease requires you to do. Defit is the project that delivers it: the removal, disposal and reinstatement work carried out by a contractor.
Does a commercial defit cost more for retail than office space?
It can, mainly because retail strip outs often run to tighter shopping centre access windows and involve more specialised shopfitting and signage removal, which adds labour time compared with a straightforward open-plan office.
Ready to get started?
Tell us about your make good, defit or strip out and we will pass your details to a provider covering your area.
Sources: Master Strip Outs, Strip Out Cost Sydney Price Guide 2025