For medical and allied health practices buying or committing to a property
The Medical Property Buyer Due Diligence Guide is a free guide from Impacta Commercial Advocates for GPs, dentists, specialists and allied health practice owners buying or leasing a clinic. It covers five lenses standard commercial checklists miss: use and compliance, building services capacity, patient flow and privacy, fitout cost risk, and resale and practice value.
Most medical businesses don't fail because of clinical decisions. They lose money, flexibility or control because of property assumptions that quietly turn out to be wrong. This guide helps you test a property against how your practice needs to operate, comply, grow and eventually exit.
Send me the guideOn its way
Check your inbox for the download link (it can take a minute or two). While you wait: if you already have a property in mind, start with the lens below that makes you pause. That's usually where the real question is.
Medical property due diligence checks whether a building can legally and physically support a clinical practice, not just whether it's a sound commercial asset. It adds checks a standard purchase doesn't need: whether your exact clinical use is permitted, whether power and ventilation can handle clinical equipment, whether the layout protects patient privacy and access, and whether a specialised fitout will limit resale.
Medical property decisions sit in the cracks between advisors. Your accountant looks at the numbers. Your lawyer looks at the documents. Your builder looks at feasibility. The selling agent works for the vendor, not you. Very few people step back and ask whether the property supports how your practice needs to operate, comply, grow and eventually exit.
The guide isn't a checklist to rush you forward. It's a set of lenses to slow the right decisions down. Each lens below covers what to look for and why it matters. The full guide adds step-by-step "How to check" instructions, the warning signs that should make you stop, and a list of national and state resources.
01
Not always, even if a clinic has operated there before. What's allowed on paper is often narrower than what's happening in practice, and "medical" is not a single category in planning schemes.
Check that your exact clinical use is explicitly permitted, not implied. If your use relies on interpretation, approvals can be withdrawn, challenged or restricted later, and that risk sits with you, not the vendor.
An existing medical tenant doesn't automatically give the next practice existing use rights, especially if the previous operator never formalised approval or your practice model is different. A change of use can trigger new parking, accessibility, fire or acoustic requirements.
Signage, extended hours, waste management and specialist services can each need separate permits. Conditions don't stop you on day one. They stop you in year three.
Be wary if the main justification you're given is "other clinics operate nearby". Verbal assurance is not enough; verify through council documents, zoning maps and occupancy certificates.
02
What passes inspection often fails during fitout. Fitout is where theoretical capacity meets physical limits.
Assess electrical capacity against your equipment, sterilisation, imaging and IT needs. Upgrading after purchase can mean switchboard replacements, transformer upgrades and downtime.
Check air changes, exhaust pathways and sound separation between consult rooms and neighbouring tenancies. Clinical standards don't care what the building was designed for.
Review ceiling space, slab penetrations and fire services early. Older buildings without a services upgrade, shared air conditioning with no zone isolation, and plans to add imaging or procedure rooms to a former consulting space all need a closer look.
03
Clinical reputation is shaped by layout more than most practices realise. Poor layouts increase complaints, compliance risk and staff fatigue, and the problems compound quietly.
Check consult room sizes, sightlines, staff-only circulation and the separation of clinical and non-clinical zones. Rooms should be sized for function, not just to fit furniture.
Assess entry gradients, door widths, bathroom compliance and dignity of access against AS 1428 (Design for Access and Mobility). Features installed for an office or shop may not suit patients who are frail, in pain or using equipment.
Match the number and size of waiting and consult rooms to realistic patient numbers, not ideal scheduling. Congestion affects patient experience and erodes perceived quality over time.
Selling agents aren't required to assess your clinical or disability access obligations, and they won't. That risk is yours.
04
Most cost overruns aren't caused by poor builders. They're caused by constraints discovered late.
Structural walls, slab limits, ceiling heights and service routes can restrict your layout. A wall described as "probably non-structural" hasn't been confirmed by anyone; get a structural engineer to check before you design around it.
Your fitout can trigger fire upgrades to the whole tenancy or building. One change often leads to many.
Approval is permission to spend, not a cost cap. Get quotes from contractors experienced in your type of practice (GP, dental or allied health).
A developer or landlord contribution usually reflects a standard commercial allowance, not a clinical one. The gap is significant and rarely disclosed.
05
Even owner-occupiers need an exit lens. In a medical practice, the business and the property are closely linked, and the wrong property is harder to sell.
Assess whether the property adds to or limits goodwill and future income. Get valuation advice from a valuer who knows medical property, not generic retail or office.
Fitouts and layouts that suit only one practitioner or model narrow your buyer pool. Adaptable space sells better.
Check that zoning, services and neighbouring tenancies allow more practitioners or services. Growth limits cap value long before you plan to exit.
The full guide includes step-by-step "How to check" instructions for every item, a "Stop and check" list for each lens, and links to national standards and state planning portals.
Get the full guideThe five lenses apply anywhere in Australia, but planning rules, land use definitions and approval processes are set by each state and local council. Start by searching the property address on your state's planning portal, such as Planning Victoria or the NSW Planning Portal, then confirm the use class and your intended hours with the local council planner.
Building, fire safety and accessibility requirements come from the National Construction Code and are administered by state building regulators, such as the Victorian Building Authority. Impacta Commercial Advocates works with medical and allied health practices on property decisions nationally.
This guide is written for practice owners and boards making a property decision: GPs, dentists, specialists, physiotherapists, psychologists and other allied health providers. It suits practices buying their first premises, relocating, expanding into a second site, or buying the building they already lease.
It's useful at every stage: while you're researching, when you're actively looking, or when you have a specific property in mind and need to know what to check before you commit.
Buying a non-medical commercial property? Read the Commercial Property Due Diligence Checklist.
Get the free guideFounder and Principal, Impacta Commercial Advocates
Vicki Likoudis is the Founder and Principal of Impacta Commercial Advocates, a Melbourne-based commercial property advocacy firm working nationally. For over a decade she has advised business owners, medical and allied health providers, non-profits and boards through commercial property decisions. Impacta Commercial Advocates acts only for its clients, never for selling agents or developers.
Before founding the firm, Vicki built and exited three businesses of her own and served four years as the voluntary President of a Melbourne industry association representing more than 750 businesses. Impacta Commercial Advocates was formerly known as True North Buyers Advocates.
No. "Medical" isn't a single category in planning schemes, and your exact clinical use must be permitted under the zoning, not just implied. Check the planning scheme's land use definitions, any overlays and permitted hours through your state planning portal and local council before you commit.
Often, yes. An existing medical tenant doesn't automatically give the next practice existing use rights, particularly if the previous operator never formalised approval or your practice model, hours or staffing are different. Ask the vendor for the current approvals and confirm the use class with council.
Check five things: that your clinical use is permitted, that power and ventilation can support your equipment, that the layout supports patient flow, privacy and accessibility, what the fitout will really cost including fire upgrades, and whether the property will help or limit the value of your practice when you sell.
Accessibility for buildings is set by the National Construction Code, which references AS 1428 (Design for Access and Mobility) for things like door widths, ramps and accessible bathrooms. Check these before you buy, as retrofitting is rarely simple and non-compliance carries legal and reputational risk.
Most overruns come from constraints discovered late, not poor builders: load-bearing walls, limited ceiling space for services, power upgrades, and fire upgrades triggered by the fitout. Getting a structural engineer and an experienced medical fitout contractor to review the building before you commit is the best protection.
Usually not. A contribution typically reflects a standard commercial fitout allowance, not a clinical one, and the gap can be significant. Ask what the figure is based on and get a medical fitout quote before you agree to terms.
In many cases a self-managed super fund can buy commercial property that the business then leases, but strict rules apply. Get advice from your accountant or financial adviser first. Read more in Buying Commercial Property Through an SMSF: What to Know.
In a medical practice, the business and the property are closely linked. A property that's hard to adapt, can't accommodate more practitioners, or suits only one model of care narrows your pool of future buyers. Get valuation advice from a valuer experienced in medical property.
The right property supports how your practice operates, complies, grows and eventually exits. The wrong one quietly costs you money, flexibility and control for years.
You don't need to rush the next step. You just need to make sure it's informed.
Last reviewed September 2026 by Vicki Likoudis, Founder and Principal, Impacta Commercial Advocates. This guide is general information only and isn't legal, financial, planning or building advice.
