Upload your lease
Drop the PDF into the form. Takes under 30 seconds. Commercial, retail, industrial, office, medical, childcare, mixed use. All NSW sectors covered.
Upload your commercial or retail lease. Our AI checks 40+ clauses against NSW law and current market practice, flags the ones that cost you money, and emails you a plain-English report in three minutes. No card. No legal jargon.
This typically takes 60 to 180 seconds.
No legalese. No filler. Each finding tells you exactly which clause it came from, what it means in plain English, what it costs you per year, and what to do about it. Findings are ranked by dollar impact so you read the expensive ones first.
Lease recovers land tax as a "statutory outgoing." Retail leases under the RLA cannot pass land tax to the tenant — the clause is void.
Action · Cease recovery · Refund ~ $6,800 / year
Tenant's share is calculated using gross floor area. Market practice (and the RLA) uses net lettable area, which is lower.
Action · Re-apportion · Save ~ $4,200 / year
Lease does not commit the landlord to reconcile estimated outgoings to actuals each year. Section 28 RLA gives the landlord 3 months from year-end. Missed deadline voids the right to recover the shortfall.
Action · Diary deadline · Protect ~ $3,200 / year
Yes. No card, no trial, no follow-up call required. We learn what's in the NSW market by reviewing leases at scale, so we don't charge for it.
Three minutes for most leases. Larger or unusually complex leases can take up to five. We email the report as a PDF.
It catches what most generalist solicitors miss because it knows the NSW commercial market specifically. It does not replace legal advice. We recommend you use both.
Only the AI and our automated systems. We do not share it. The PDF is deleted from our storage 90 days after review.
No. If you are a tenant and the property is managed by Blox, the request will be declined. Conflict of interest.
Scanned image PDFs can't be parsed reliably. The PDF must contain selectable text. Most modern leases do; older scanned ones don't.
Three steps. About two minutes from upload to a completed on-screen audit.
Drop the PDF into the form. Takes under 30 seconds. Commercial, retail, industrial, office, medical, childcare, mixed use. All NSW sectors covered.
Every clause is checked for money on the table, NSW Retail Leases Act 1994 compliance, and hidden landlord or tenant exposures. The same checks Blox runs on managed properties.
Your plain-English audit opens on screen within minutes. Click each finding to read the clause reference, what it means, and what to do. Bookmark the link so you can come back to it.
The Blox AI does not scan for keywords. It reads every clause in context, maps it to a legal category, and checks it against NSW law and current market terms.
Your lease PDF is converted to structured text before analysis. Every word, body clauses, schedules, definitions, and handwritten amendments is captured. The AI reads the whole document, not a sample.
Each clause is mapped to one of 40+ legal categories: rent review type, outgoings methodology, option windows, make good scope, assignment rights, bank guarantee terms. The AI knows which NSW Retail Leases Act 1994 sections apply to each category.
Clauses are checked against NSW law and current Western Sydney market terms. Void provisions (s.18 ratchet clauses and s.26 land tax recovery in retail leases) are flagged regardless of how the drafter worded them.
Each issue is translated into plain language with the clause reference, what it means in practice, and a recommended next step. The report ranks findings by financial impact so you know where to focus first.
| AI review (free) | DIY checklist | Solicitor review | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | 2 minutes | 30-60 minutes | 2-5 business days |
| Cost | Free | Free | $800-$2,500+ |
| 40+ clause categories | Yes | No | Yes |
| NSW Retail Leases Act checks | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Void clause detection | Yes | No | Yes |
| Plain-English report on screen | Yes | No | Yes |
| Legal advice | No | No | Yes |
| Best for | First pass, identify issues | Simple self-check only | Disputes, complex matters |
More than 40 clause and compliance checks across every major risk in NSW commercial and retail leases. Each category below is covered in the free AI audit.
CPI compounding methodology, ratchet clauses (void for retail under s.18 of the Retail Leases Act), market review triggers, review timing, valuer dispute provisions.
Tenant proportion calculation (NLA versus GFA), prohibited costs, capital expenditure carve-outs, land tax recovery void status under s.26, statutory deadline under s.28.
Amount versus exposure, indexation, return timing, unconditional form, replacement on expiry, draw-down process compliance.
Scope definition, schedule of condition reference, disconnection requirements, fair wear and tear treatment, cash settlement options.
Notice window analysis, statutory reminder requirement (s.44 retail), market review at option exercise, escalation clauses, cap structures.
Consent process, change of control, tenant covenant assessment, original tenant continuing liability, bank guarantee transfer rules.
Notice period, genuine proposal test (s.35 retail), tenant compensation rights, fitout writedown calculations, business interruption considerations.
Use restrictions, ancillary use scope, council and DA alignment, exclusivity covenants for centre tenants, change-of-use consent requirements.
Lessor disclosure statement (s.11 retail), prohibited terms, mediation requirement at NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Section 16 minimum five-year term test.
Same upload. The audit identifies the lease type and applies the right compliance framework.
NSW office, industrial, warehouse, medical, childcare, mixed-use.
NSW Retail Leases Act 1994. Adds these statutory checks on top.
Not sure which applies to your lease? Upload it. The review identifies whether the lease falls under the Retail Leases Act and applies the right compliance framework.
Start the auditYes. The audit is free with no obligation. There is no card required and no upsell wall. We offer it as a way to introduce ourselves to NSW landlords, tenants, and advisors who may need a property manager, buyer agent, or sales agent down the line.
About two minutes from upload to a completed audit. The AI reads the lease, runs the clause checks, and drafts findings. The report opens on screen the moment the analysis finishes.
Yes. If the lease is a retail shop lease, the review applies the statutory checks under the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW). This includes the disclosure statement (s.16), prohibited terms, ratchet void status (s.18), land tax recovery void (s.26), outgoings statement deadline (s.28), demolition notice period (s.35), and assignment provisions (ss.39 to 41).
Yes. We do not share or sell uploaded leases. The PDF is used only to generate your audit and is deleted from storage after 90 days.
Office, industrial, warehouse, medical, childcare, mixed-use, and retail leases. Single-tenant and multi-tenant. NSW only.
No. The audit is a commercial intelligence tool. For decisions on contract validity or dispute strategy, take the audit to a qualified property lawyer. The audit is designed to help you identify what to ask them about and to spot money on the table.
A ratchet clause stops rent falling during a market review even if market rents have dropped. For retail leases in NSW, ratchet clauses are void under Section 18 of the Retail Leases Act 1994. For commercial leases they are enforceable. The audit flags every ratchet clause and tells you whether it can actually be enforced against you.
No. Section 26 of the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW) makes any clause requiring a retail tenant to pay or reimburse land tax void and unenforceable. The audit flags outgoings clauses that purport to recover land tax from retail tenants. For non-retail commercial leases, land tax recovery depends on the wording of the lease. See our outgoings calculator for more.
You must exercise the option strictly within the window set in your lease, usually three to six months before expiry. Missing the window generally means the option lapses permanently. For retail leases in NSW, your landlord must remind you of the window under Section 44 of the Retail Leases Act. The audit tells you the exact dates and flags any missing statutory reminder. Use our lease health check if your lease is coming up for renewal.
Make good requires you to restore the premises to a specified condition at the end of the lease, typically removing fitout, reinstating walls and services, and repainting. The scope varies significantly between leases. The audit identifies what your lease requires, whether a schedule of condition exists, how fair wear and tear is treated, and whether there is a cash settlement option.
Outgoings are recoverable building costs passed to tenants in proportion to their area. The proportion should be based on net lettable area (NLA), not gross floor area (GFA). Using GFA understates the tenant's share. The audit checks the methodology, identifies prohibited items, and flags whether the lease allows estimates reconciled annually to actuals. For a detailed calculation, try our outgoings calculator.
Under Section 16 of the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW), a retail shop lease in a shopping centre must have a minimum term of five years including any options. For retail leases outside a shopping centre, there is no statutory minimum term, but the five-year minimum is commonly misapplied by landlords. The audit checks whether your lease meets the statutory minimum if it is a retail shop lease and flags any potential right of termination if the disclosure statement was defective and the term was below five years.
Under Section 16 of the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW), a retail tenant must receive a completed disclosure statement at least seven days before entering into the lease. If the landlord fails to provide it, or provides a materially defective statement, the tenant may have the right to terminate within six months of entry. The audit checks whether your lease documents refer to a disclosure statement and flags any indication it may have been missing or incomplete at the time of signing.
Net lettable area (NLA) measures the usable floor space a tenant actually occupies, excluding structural walls, common areas, and shared amenities. Gross floor area (GFA) measures the total footprint of the building including those excluded areas. Outgoings proportions should be calculated on NLA. Using GFA understates the tenant's share, meaning the landlord absorbs the shortfall. This is one of the most common recoverable-cost errors in NSW commercial leases. The audit checks whether your outgoings clause specifies NLA or GFA and flags the gap.
Generally yes, subject to the landlord's consent and the assignment provisions in the lease. For retail leases, Section 39 of the Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW) requires the landlord not to unreasonably withhold consent to an assignment. The landlord may require the assignee to meet financial and business-experience tests set in the lease. For commercial leases that are not retail shop leases, assignment rights depend entirely on the lease terms. The audit identifies every assignment clause, consent requirement, bank guarantee top-up condition, and change-of-control trigger in your lease.
A bank guarantee is a financial instrument provided by a tenant's bank guaranteeing payment of the lease obligations up to a nominated amount. It is the landlord's security deposit equivalent. There is no statutory minimum amount for commercial leases in NSW. Common amounts range from three to six months of gross rent. The audit checks the bank guarantee amount relative to total lease exposure, whether the lease requires indexation or top-up after rent increases, and whether the landlord has the right to call on the guarantee without prior notice. See our commercial property management fees page for more on how bank guarantees are managed.
A lawyer-conducted commercial lease review in NSW typically costs $800 to $2,500 depending on the lease length and complexity, with specialist commercial property solicitors sometimes charging more for complex multi-tenancy or long-term leases. Blox Commercial's AI lease review is free. It covers the same 40+ clause categories in about two minutes. The AI review does not replace legal advice for complex matters or disputes, but it identifies which clauses are worth taking to a lawyer so you spend your legal budget on what actually matters. Upload your lease at the top of this page and the audit appears on screen immediately.
Under a gross lease, the tenant pays a single inclusive rent and the landlord covers all outgoings including council rates, water, insurance, and strata levies from that rent. Under a net lease (also called a triple net or NNN lease), the tenant pays a base rent plus their proportionate share of outgoings directly. Most NSW commercial leases are net leases. Most NSW retail shop leases are also net but the Retail Leases Act 1994 restricts which outgoings categories can be recovered. The audit identifies whether your lease is gross or net, what outgoings are recoverable, and whether any prohibited categories are included in the schedule.
Breaking a commercial lease early in NSW generally requires the tenant to pay compensation to the landlord, typically covering unpaid rent until a replacement tenant is found and any landlord costs in re-letting. The exact entitlement depends on the lease's early termination and mitigation clauses. Some leases include a break fee that caps liability at a fixed amount, often three to six months rent. For retail shop leases, the Retail Leases Act 1994 does not override the general law position on early termination except in narrow circumstances such as the landlord's failure to deliver the premises or a defective disclosure statement. The audit flags what your lease says about early termination, any break fee mechanism, and the landlord's obligation to mitigate by re-letting.
The most common lease red flags Blox identifies are: ratchet clauses preventing rent from falling at market review (void in retail leases under s.18 of the Retail Leases Act 1994); outgoings schedules that include land tax (void in retail leases under s.26); GFA instead of NLA used to calculate the outgoings proportion; options with very short exercise windows of 30 days or less; no make-good schedule of condition at lease commencement creating disputes at exit; bank guarantees with no expiry cap meaning the landlord can hold the guarantee indefinitely; and demolition clauses that allow the landlord to terminate with less than six months notice. The free AI review flags each of these automatically in the audit report.
The AI reliably identifies common lease risks: ratchet clauses, void outgoings provisions, short option windows, missing make-good schedules, and bank guarantee exposure gaps. Accuracy is high for standard NSW commercial leases because the drafting follows established patterns. Where accuracy drops: heavily negotiated bespoke clauses, handwritten amendments, and multi-document leases where schedules contradict the body. For a standard office, industrial, or retail lease, the AI catch rate across 40+ clause categories is high enough to be a meaningful first pass. For complex or disputed matters, use the AI report to brief a solicitor efficiently.
No. The AI identifies clause risks, flags void provisions, and surfaces issues worth investigating. It cannot give legal advice, advise on rights in a specific dispute, negotiate on your behalf, or make judgement calls about risk tolerance. The free AI review answers one specific question: which clauses in this lease are worth taking to a solicitor? It narrows your legal spend to what actually matters. Use it as a first pass, not a substitute for legal advice on high-stakes decisions.
The Blox lease review uses a large language model trained on extensive legal and commercial text. Your lease PDF is converted to full text, then sent to the AI with NSW-specific instructions covering the Retail Leases Act 1994 provisions, current Western Sydney market terms, and the clause categories Blox checks on every managed property. The model does not retain your lease between sessions. Your document is deleted from storage after 90 days.
After you upload, the PDF is converted to text page by page. Schedules, definitions, and tables are all included. The extracted text is passed to the AI with instructions to identify and analyse specific clause types across 40+ categories. The AI reads the full document, not just key sections, so it catches issues buried in schedules and definitions that a keyword scan would miss. A typical 30-page commercial lease takes about 90 seconds to analyse.
A NSW commercial lease review examines every clause against current market practice and applicable legislation. The two questions it answers: is this lease legally compliant, and is it commercially fair?
Retail shop leases attract statutory requirements that do not apply to general commercial leases. The Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW) governs any lease where the tenant carries on a retail business. A retail lease review checks:
For leases outside the Retail Leases Act, including office, industrial, warehouse, and childcare properties, the review applies the common law position and NSW Conveyancing Act 1919 requirements.
Landlords look for: gaps in outgoings recovery, soft bank guarantee amounts, ambiguous make-good scope, and assignment controls that could allow an underqualified tenant to take over.
Tenants look for: inflated rent review mechanisms, unfair ratchet clauses, excessive make-good obligations, land tax exposure, and options drafted so the exercise window is easy to miss.
The Blox AI lease review checks all 40+ clauses from both perspectives. You select your role when you upload and the findings are framed accordingly.
Upload your lease for a free NSW commercial or retail lease review. Three minutes. No card required.
Use this checklist before signing, renewing, or negotiating any NSW commercial or retail lease. The free AI audit checks all 40 points automatically.
The free AI review checks all 40 points in two minutes. Upload your lease now.
The Retail Leases Act 1994 (NSW) overrides anything in your written lease that conflicts with it. Clauses that breach the Act are void even if both parties signed them.
The Act applies to leases of retail shop premises in NSW. A retail shop is any premises used predominantly for the carrying on of a retail business listed in Schedule 1 of the Act. The most common categories include food and beverage, clothing and footwear, electronics, hairdressing, health and beauty, and professional services where members of the public attend the premises.
The Act does not cover premises with a floor area exceeding 1,000 square metres, premises used wholly or predominantly as a service station, or leases between the Crown and a lessee.
Many retail leases are signed with clauses that conflict with the Act. Some landlords include them in error, some in hope. Either way, a void clause has no legal effect even if the tenant paid under it for years.
When you upload a retail lease, the AI identifies whether the Retail Leases Act 1994 applies based on the premises type and use. It then checks every clause against the statutory requirements and flags conflicts, void provisions, and potential termination or recovery rights.
The AI flags clauses that are void, clauses that contradict the Act but cannot be contractually overridden, and obligations the Act imposes on the landlord that may not be reflected in the written lease.
Upload your retail lease for a free NSW Retail Leases Act compliance check.
This intelligence is generated by AI and is provided as general guidance only. It is not legal or financial advice. Always confirm specific clauses with a qualified solicitor before acting.