James McAllister James McAllister is a consultant Building Surveyor with extensive commercial dilapidations experience as a core specialism. He has also lectured on the subject extensively for clients, professional property training courses, Universities, Government property advisors and the RICS. Qualifying as a Building Surveyor in 1994, James has a wealth of experience in commercial property throughout the UK and Channel Islands acting for a diverse range of clients in both the public and private sector.  He has specialised in dilapidations as a key service line since 1997 and has personally acted on over 800 dilapidation claims.

James has recently developed a unique type of Dilapidations Assessment to accurately identify balance sheet Provisioning to be used for large corporate occupiers filing accounts under FRS 12 / IAS 37.  This method satisfies HMR&C requirements and the stringent criteria of external auditors in the capacity of a ‘third party valuation’, serving as both a current liability accrual and future-proof liability assessment to lease expiry.

James is a member of the Dilapidations Forum and is an Associate member of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has authored several published articles on Dilapidations. Having maintained an interest in Party Wall matters over the years, James is also a Fellow of the Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors and a member of the Pyramus & Thisbe Club and recently appeared on a BBC Radio 4 programme giving a Surveyor's perspective on the poem 'Mending Wall' by Robert Frost exploring the line 'good fences make good neighbours'.

Summary of dilapidations experience:

• Preparing FRS 12 Dilapidations Assessments on 4 No large warehouses (500,000 sq ft) in Swindon.
• Preparation of Dilapidations Assessments as part of a sale and leaseback deal on an industrial portfolio throughout Ireland.
• Dilapidations Assessments on 45 Industrial estates throughout the UK as part of a pre-acquisition dilapidations due diligence exercise for an international property fund.
• Preparation of a £6.5m Dilapidations Assessment of prestigious office premises in London for a leading hedge fund.
• Preparation and negotiation of Terminal Schedules of Dilapidations on over 20 Grade I office premises in Bloomsbury, London.
• Preparation and negotiation of numerous Terminal Dilapidation claims throughout the UK  for a major High Street bank.
• Exit strategy consultancy for major UK leisure chain on several large premises, including claim defence on a dilapidated Grade II Victorian Ballroom.
• Strategic Dilapidations negotiation and exit management for the UK’s largest chain of estate agents' premises department.
• Preparation and negotiation of Terminal Schedules of Dilapidations for a Local Authority on a multi-tenanted industrial estate in Oxfordshire.
• General involvement in numerous dilapidation claims acting for both Landlords and Tenants.
• Preparation of Repairs Notices on portfolio of properties throughout Wales and the South East.