The default rule on cabling at lease end is straightforward in concept: anything the tenant installed has to come out, and anything the base building provided stays. Data cabling run by the tenant for their fitout is removed back to the riser. Power circuits added during the tenancy are decommissioned and the wiring is pulled. Audiovisual, security and access control cabling installed for the tenant’s systems is taken out, including patch leads, backbone and outlet faceplates.
The reality is messier. Inherited cabling from previous tenants confuses the boundary, base building cabling that was modified by the tenant blurs ownership, undocumented runs make removal scopes hard to price, and the act of pulling cables that were installed years ago through partition cavities and ceiling voids is more disruptive than tenants expect. Getting the cabling scope right before the defit starts is one of the most underrated parts of a Sydney commercial make good.
The Default Rule And Where It Comes From
The lease and the condition report set the rule for the tenancy. Most NSW commercial leases require the tenant to remove all tenant fitout elements at lease expiry and return the premises to base building condition, and cabling installed by the tenant falls inside that obligation. Base building cabling, including the riser cables that bring power and data up the building, the floor distribution boards, the base building lighting circuits and any landlord-installed comms backbone, stays in place because it is part of the building, not the fitout.
The condition report is what tells you which is which. A condition report that documents the tenancy at lease commencement should list the cabling state of the floor at that point: which outlets, which cable trays, which floor boxes were present, and what condition they were in. Anything added after that documented state is tenant cabling and needs to come out at lease end. Anything documented in the condition report stays.
Where the condition report is missing, vague, or older than several lease cycles, the rule has to be reconstructed from physical evidence and from the landlord’s view of what is base building. This is one of the more common reasons cabling scope disputes arise during make good, and it is also the easiest issue to avoid by securing a current condition report at lease commencement.
Where The Line Gets Confused
Three patterns produce the most common cabling boundary disputes. The first is inherited cabling: the tenant moved in to a tenancy that already had data and power cabling from the previous occupant, used it during their lease, and is now expected to remove it on the way out. Whether the inherited cabling is the current tenant’s responsibility depends on the lease language and the condition report at the start of this tenancy. If the condition report documented the cabling as existing at lease commencement, it is generally not the current tenant’s responsibility to remove. If the cabling was undocumented or accepted as part of the tenant’s fitout, the position is weaker.
The second is base building cabling that was modified by the tenant. Tenants who added outlets to a base building data run, extended a base building power circuit to feed a new partition, or tied tenant security cabling into the building’s BMS may have created an obligation to restore those base building elements to their original state. Restoration is a different scope to removal and is sometimes more expensive, because it requires re-terminating, re-testing and re-certifying base building infrastructure.
The third is partial-fitout cabling that mixes base building and tenant elements in the same run. A floor box wired with both base building power and tenant data, or a riser stub that the tenant extended through their partitions, is harder to scope because the removal can affect base building functionality. These mixed runs usually need careful tracing before any wires are pulled, and pulling them blind risks taking out base building services the next tenant needs.
Data Cabling Removal In Practice
Data cabling removal in a typical Sydney commercial office covers four physical layers. The structured cabling backbone running from the comms cabinet to the floor distribution comes out where it is tenant-installed, including the cabinets themselves where they sit inside the tenancy. The horizontal cabling running from floor distribution to outlets is pulled back to the distribution point, which is usually a tenant-installed patch panel and rack.
The outlets and faceplates installed in floor boxes, partitions and walls are removed and the boxes left in a condition that allows the next tenant to reinstate or that meets the base building specification. Cable management infrastructure such as tray, conduit and J-hooks installed by the tenant is removed where access allows; some of this infrastructure is impractical to remove without damaging finishes and is often left in place by negotiation.
Patch leads, switch hardware, network electronics and the comms cabinet contents go with the tenant and do not form part of the removal scope, which is sometimes overlooked when scoping the works. The comms cabinet itself, if it sits inside a dedicated comms room built by the tenant, is removed with the rest of the room.
Power And Electrical Sub-Mains
Power cabling has tighter rules than data because the work touches live electrical infrastructure and requires licensed electrical trades. Tenant-added power circuits running from the floor distribution board through the fitout to outlets, lighting and equipment all come out, and the board itself is reset to its base building configuration with the tenant breakers either removed or relabelled as spare.
Where the tenant installed a sub-board to support a comms room, kitchen or sector-specific load, the sub-board is removed along with the cabling that fed it. The riser tap-off feeding the floor’s electrical capacity stays in place because it is base building, but anything downstream of the floor distribution that was added during the tenancy is fair game for removal.
Lighting circuits added by the tenant, including the wiring to ceiling-mounted fittings, switching, dimming controls and any tenant lighting management system, all need to come out. Base building lighting circuits, particularly emergency lighting, exit signage and any building-wide control systems, stay in place and the tenant’s removal scope must not disturb them. Pulling the wrong wire here is a common cause of post-defit electrical defects.
AV, Security And BMS Cabling
Audiovisual cabling installed for the tenant’s systems comes out completely, including HDMI, display feeds, control wiring, and any custom AV looms run for boardrooms, training rooms and meeting rooms. AV equipment goes with the tenant. Where the tenant installed display mounts in walls and ceilings, the mounts are typically removed and the substrate patched.
Security cabling is the same: tenant-installed CCTV, access control readers, alarm devices and the cabling that connects them all come out. Outlets and conduit installed for security systems are removed where reasonable and capped or patched. Tenant-installed security cabinets and head-end equipment go with the tenant.
Building management system tie-ins are the more sensitive category. Where the tenant connected lighting, HVAC zoning or metering to the building’s BMS through the fitout, the disconnection and the restoration of any base building setpoints needs to be done carefully and ideally with the building manager involved. Improper disconnection can leave the BMS reading stale data or unable to control the floor, which the next tenant inherits as a hidden defect.
Cost Drivers And The Pitfalls That Catch Tenants Out
Cabling removal cost in a typical Sydney commercial office sits in the order of fifteen to forty dollars per square metre as a rough indicator, with significant variation based on cable density, access difficulty and the volume of mixed-use runs that need tracing before removal. A floor with a high density of data outlets, a heavy AV fitout and a sector-specific load such as medical or financial trading equipment can run substantially higher.
The single biggest cost driver is access. Cabling that was pulled into ceiling voids twenty years ago through tile sections that have since been built over, or that runs under floor finishes that need to be lifted, costs more to remove than cabling installed in accessible cable trays. The original install method matters years later when the cable comes out, and tenants who prioritised neat concealment during the fitout sometimes pay for it during the defit.
The most common pitfall is removing base building cabling under the assumption it was tenant-installed. This is the issue Sydney defit specialists raise most often: a tenant pulls a backbone run that turns out to be the building’s data riser to the floor above, or strips out a power circuit that was actually feeding the base building’s emergency lighting. Restoration of accidentally removed base building infrastructure is expensive, the next tenant or the landlord notices it quickly, and the cost lands back with the outgoing tenant.
A close second is the assumption that the lease “doesn’t really mean it” about cabling removal. Lease language requiring removal of all tenant cables means what it says. Tenants who leave cabling in place to save defit cost frequently find the landlord runs a remediation contractor at the tenant’s expense and bills back the work plus a margin and an inspection fee. The economics rarely favour leaving cables in.
Documentation That Protects You At Handover
The handover documentation that protects the outgoing tenant on cabling has three components. The first is a record of what was removed, ideally with a layout drawing marked up to show which runs came out and which stayed. This document is what you produce if the landlord later asserts that base building cabling was disturbed or that tenant cabling was left behind.
The second is electrical certification for any decommissioning work that touched the floor’s electrical distribution. The licensed electrician who completed the work issues a certificate that the floor is left in safe and compliant condition, and the certificate is filed with the make good handover pack. Without it, the landlord can require re-inspection and re-certification before signing off.
The third is a clear scope agreement signed off before the work begins. A defit contractor working from an agreed cabling scope, with the boundary between tenant and base building cabling drawn explicitly, delivers a predictable result. A contractor working from “remove all tenant cables” without that scope produces ambiguous results that the landlord can challenge at inspection.
If you are scoping the cabling-removal portion of a Sydney commercial defit and make good and want to draw the tenant-versus-base-building line clearly before the work begins, we can walk the floor with you, read the lease and condition report, and price the removal scope honestly so there are no surprises at handover.
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