Commercial clearance for offices, shops and units

Waste from a commercial activity is business waste, and the business that produces it remains responsible for it until it is handed to someone authorised to take it. In practice that means checking that the clearance company is a registered waste carrier, and completing a waste transfer note for each load of non-hazardous waste that leaves the premises, or an invoice with the same information.

Both your business and the carrier keep a copy of the transfer note for two years and show it to the council or the Environment Agency if asked. For a clearance done over several visits, a season ticket can cover repeated transfers of the same waste by the same carrier. Hazardous waste, such as fluorescent tubes, some chemicals and batteries, needs its own paperwork. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own versions of these rules and their own regulators.

Source: gov.uk

Filing cabinets, archive boxes and old desks often contain personal data about staff and customers. Under data protection law, your business remains responsible for keeping that data secure until it is destroyed. Paper records should go to secure shredding, with a certificate of destruction. Do not let them go into general waste.

Computers, laptops, phones, servers, printers and copiers with hard drives hold data too. They should be wiped to a recognised standard or the storage physically destroyed, again with a certificate listing serial numbers. Many clearance firms subcontract this to an IT recycling specialist; ask who that is and what certificate you will receive.

• an inventory of rooms, floors and equipment to be cleared
• furniture for resale or reuse, and any credit given
• secure shredding of paper records, with a certificate
• data wiping or destruction of IT equipment, with serial numbers
• recycling route for electrical equipment
• waste transfer notes, or a season ticket and schedule
• working hours, lift bookings and loading bay access
• the condition the space is left in for the landlord

Owners and landlords of non-domestic premises have a legal duty to manage asbestos, which usually means an asbestos register or management survey for the building. Ask the landlord or building manager for it before any clearance that goes beyond loose furniture and equipment.

Removing partitions, raised floors, suspended ceilings, carpet tiles or fixed shelving is strip-out work, not clearance. In older buildings it can disturb asbestos in ceiling tiles, floor tiles, boxing and insulation. Before that kind of work, a refurbishment survey by a competent surveyor is normally needed. A clearance firm that offers to rip out ceilings without asking about asbestos is taking a risk with its staff and with your liability.

Commercial leases usually require the tenant to give the premises back in a certain state at the end of the term. That can mean removing everything the tenant brought in, taking out partitions and cabling the tenant installed, and making good. If the premises are not handed back as the lease requires, the landlord may claim the cost of doing the work, often called a dilapidations claim.

Read the lease or ask your surveyor what has to go and what can stay before instructing the clearance. Landlords sometimes want to keep carpets, blinds or kitchen fittings for the next tenant. Agree that in writing, then give the clearance firm a precise list.

Office furniture in good condition has a resale and reuse market. Desks, chairs, storage and meeting tables can go to dealers, charities or social enterprises instead of landfill. Some clearance firms credit the value against their price. Reuse is also the first step of the waste hierarchy that businesses are expected to follow. Upholstered chairs have their own disposal requirements when thrown away, so ask how the firm handles them.

Multi-tenant buildings have rules about lifts, loading bays and working hours, and some only allow clearance work in the evening or at weekends. Book the goods lift and loading bay with building management and give the clearance firm the contact name. Retail units in shopping centres often have their own delivery windows and insurance requirements for contractors.

Leave enough time between clearance and handback for a final clean, meter readings and a joint inspection with the landlord.

Describe the premises, the contents and your deadline. We confirm your phone and email, then offer the request anonymously to clearance companies in the area. A single business can buy it and pays Offrano for it; you pay nothing. Before that business sees your contact details, we email you its name, address and phone number. Offrano checks that buyers are registered businesses and nothing more, so ask for the waste carrier registration, the data destruction arrangements and the insurance certificates before you sign.