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Commercial Property Managers

Commercial Property Managers: directory of firms

Managing a commercial building is an accounting and compliance job wrapped around a maintenance job. The income is not simply rent: it is base rent plus recoverable outgoings, adjusted by review mechanisms, incentives and make-good obligations, and reconciled annually against what was actually spent. Get the reconciliation wrong and you either under-recover for years or hand tenants a legitimate dispute.

Browse commercial property managers by city, and see what to check before you hire.

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Retail tenancies add a statutory layer that office and industrial leases mostly avoid. Each state has retail leases legislation, and Victoria's Retail Leases Act 2003 is administered with an unusual amount of public guidance because the Victorian Small Business Commission sits in the middle of it, mediating disputes and issuing certificates. The Act prescribes what a landlord must disclose, when, and what happens if the timing slips.

Then there is safety. A manager who controls the common areas of a building is usually a person conducting a business or undertaking with management or control of a workplace under the model work health and safety laws, which brings duties of its own and an obligation to coordinate with the other duty holders in the building. That is the part owners tend not to think about until something happens.

Retail, office and industrial are three different jobs

  • Retail: statutory disclosure, turnover rent, trading hours, centre promotion levies and a regulator that mediates disputes.
  • Office: fit-out coordination, make-good negotiation, services contracts, and energy and amenity expectations from tenants.
  • Industrial: hardstand and roof condition, truck access, fire services, and lower management intensity per square metre.
  • Mixed-use: the retail part can bring the whole tenancy under retail leases legislation, so the classification matters.
  • Owners corporation or strata-titled commercial: the manager deals with a body corporate as well as the tenant.

Retail lease disclosure and the fourteen-day rule

Under the Victorian Retail Leases Act 2003 a landlord must give the tenant a disclosure statement and a copy of the proposed lease no later than fourteen days before the lease is entered into. If changes are made to the proposed lease already given, the tenant must be notified of them when the updated lease is handed over, again at least fourteen days before signing. Where the documents arrive late, the lease start date is taken to be fourteen days after they were given.

Separately, the Victorian Small Business Commission's information brochure for tenants must be given with a copy of the proposed lease as soon as lease negotiations begin, and failing to do so is an offence. If the tenant asks for a term shorter than five years, the Commission can issue a five-year waiver certificate recording that the tenant has waived the statutory minimum initial term.

Outgoings, estimates and the annual reconciliation

  • Issue an annual estimate of outgoings before the year begins, because recovery generally depends on having done so.
  • Reconcile actual expenditure against the estimate and adjust, rather than carrying variances forward silently.
  • In Victoria, a landlord may pass on the cost of repairing, maintaining or installing essential safety measures as part of a fit-out only if the lease and the disclosure statement or annual estimate of outgoings say so.
  • Keep land tax, management fees and capital works clearly separated, since what is recoverable differs by state and by lease.
  • Give tenants the supporting invoices when asked; a reconciliation nobody can audit is a reconciliation that gets disputed.

Options, renewals and the security deposit

Victoria's 2020 amendments put a diary obligation on landlords and their managers. A landlord must notify the tenant at least three months before an option to renew lapses, telling them the latest date the lease can be renewed, the rent for the first twelve months of the new term, and that an early rent review and a cooling off period are available. A tenant who exercises the option then has fourteen days to change their mind and not proceed with the next term.

Security deposits were tightened at the same time. Where the tenant has met their obligations, the landlord must return the deposit within thirty days of the lease ending. A manager who treats the deposit as a bargaining chip during make-good negotiations is running a risk that the legislation does not support.

Work health and safety in a building you control

The model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 imposes a duty on a person conducting a business or undertaking that has management or control of a workplace to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the workplace and the means of entering and leaving it are without risks to health and safety. For a managing agent that reaches lobbies, lifts, plant rooms, loading docks, roofs and car parks.

The Act also requires duty holders to consult, cooperate and coordinate with each other where more than one of them has a duty about the same matter. In a multi-tenanted building that means the manager, the owner, the tenants and the contractors are not each running a private safety system. Contractor induction, permit-to-work for roof and plant access, and a single incident reporting path are the practical expression of that duty.

Disputes, and the step before a tribunal

  • In Victoria the Small Business Commission mediates retail tenancy disputes, and mediation is normally attempted before a tribunal application.
  • Common flashpoints are outgoings recovery, repairs and maintenance responsibility, and the return of the security deposit.
  • Section 146 of the Property Law Act 1958 governs the notice a landlord must give before terminating a lease other than for non-payment of rent.
  • Goods left on leased premises are dealt with under Part 4.2 of the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012.
  • Document everything contemporaneously; the party with the better record usually leaves mediation happier.

How commercial management is priced

  • A percentage of gross or net income is the common base, with the percentage falling as the asset gets larger.
  • Leasing and renewal fees are usually separate and charged against the new lease.
  • Project or capital works supervision is normally a percentage of the works cost.
  • Facilities management, cleaning and security contracts may be held by the manager or contracted directly by the owner.
  • Ask whether any rebates or commissions are received from service contractors and require them to be disclosed.

Commercial Property Managers: frequently asked questions

When must a landlord give a retail tenant a disclosure statement?

In Victoria, no later than fourteen days before the lease is entered into, together with a copy of the proposed lease. If the proposed lease changes after it was first given, the tenant must be told of the changes when the updated lease is provided, again at least fourteen days ahead. If the documents are given later than that, the lease start date is taken to be fourteen days after they were given.

How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit?

Under the changes made by Victoria's Retail Leases Amendment Act 2020, a landlord must give the deposit back within thirty days of the lease ending, provided the tenant has met their obligations. Disagreements about make-good are dealt with separately rather than by withholding the deposit indefinitely.

Can a landlord recover essential safety measure costs from tenants?

In Victoria a landlord can pass on the cost of repairing and maintaining essential safety measures, or installing them as part of a fit-out, but only if the lease and either the disclosure statement or the annual estimate of outgoings say so. If the documents are silent, the cost stays with the landlord, which is why the outgoings clauses and the estimate need to match each other.

Does the building manager have work health and safety duties?

Generally yes. The model Work Health and Safety Act 2011 places a duty on a person conducting a business or undertaking with management or control of a workplace to ensure so far as is reasonably practicable that the workplace and its entry and exit are without risks. The Act also requires duty holders who share a duty to consult, cooperate and coordinate with one another.

What is a five-year waiver certificate?

Victorian retail leases carry a statutory minimum initial term. Where a tenant wants a shorter term, the Victorian Small Business Commission can issue a certificate recording that the tenant has waived the right to an initial term, including options, of five years. It is the tenant who requests it, and it is issued before the shorter lease is entered into.

Sources

  1. Victorian Small Business Commission — Retail Leases Act 2003
  2. Federal Register of Legislation — Work Health and Safety Act 2011

Written by the LokalMatch editorial team. Last reviewed 22 September 2026. How we write and check our guides

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What affects the fees commercial property managers charge

Fees depend on the work involved and how the professional bills. We only publish fee ranges when they’re backed by real LokalMatch data or reliable sources. Until then, here’s what usually changes the fee:

  • Scope and complexity of the work
  • How the professional bills: hourly, flat fee or retainer
  • Experience and seniority of the person doing the work
  • Deadlines and how urgent the work is
  • Third-party costs such as filing, registration or government fees

How to compare commercial property managers before you hire

  • Check that they are licensed or registered for this work where you live, on the regulator’s public register.
  • Look for experience with matters like yours, and ask who will actually handle your file.
  • Ask how they charge before any work starts, and get the terms in writing.
  • Compare two or three professionals before you decide.
  • Be wary of anyone who guarantees a particular outcome.

Questions to ask commercial property managers before you hire

  • Are you licensed or registered for this work, and with which body?
  • Have you handled matters like mine before?
  • Who will do the work, and who will I deal with day to day?
  • How do you charge: hourly, a flat fee or a retainer?
  • What is included in your fee, and what costs extra?
  • Will you confirm the scope and fees in a written engagement letter?
  • Do you carry professional liability insurance?

Licences and registration

This kind of work is often limited to licensed or registered professionals, and the rules depend on where you are. Ask which body they’re registered with, and check their status on that body’s public register before you hire.

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