Office Standard Method of Measurement
The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) Standard Method of Measurement is used to measure space in office buildings. The process of determining the Rentable Area for each tenant space, as stated by BOMA, consists of several steps:
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Determine, for record keeping, the overall Gross Building Area. BOMA defines "Gross Building Area" as the total constructed area of a building.
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Ascertain the Gross Measured Area of each floor of the building, applying concepts of finished surface and dominant portion. BOMA defines "Gross Measured Area" as the total area of a building enclosed by the dominant portion excluding parking areas and loading docks (or portions of same) outside the building line. BOMA defines "finished surfaces" as a wall, ceiling or floor surface, including glass, as prepared for tenant use, excluding the thickness of any special surfacing materials such as panelling, furring strips and/or carpet.
BOMA describes "dominant portion" as the portion of the inside finished surface of the permanent outer building wall which is 50% or more of the vertical floor-to-ceiling dimension, at the given point being measured as one moves horizontally along the wall.
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Establish the Floor Rentable Area for each floor by deducting from each Floor Gross Measured Area the area of its Major Vertical Penetrations. BOMA defines "Major Vertical Penetrations" as stairs, elevator shafts, flues, pipe shafts, vertical ducts, and the like, and their enclosing walls.
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Measure the Usable Area of office areas, store areas, and Building Common Areas on each floor to determine each Floor Usable Area. Usable Areas are measured from the finished surface of the office side of corridors to the centre line of adjoining tenant spaces.
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Determine the Floor Common Area of every floor by subtracting from each Floor Rentable Area, its Floor Usable Area.
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The Floor Common Area is allocated to each Usable Area on that floor by applying that Floor R/U Ratio. The result is the Basic Rentable Area. BOMA describes the "Floor R/U Ratio"as the conversion factor that, when applied to Usable Area, gives the Basic Rentable Area of the office area, store area, or Building Common Area.
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The Building Common Area is allocated to each Basic Rentable Area by applying the Building R/U Ratio. The result is the Rentable Area.
The publication of the 1996 BOMA Standard has allowed the allocation of Building Common Area to all tenant spaces (Step #7). BOMA defines "Building Common Area" as the areas of the building that provide services to building tenants but which are not included in the office area or store area of any specific tenant. We have seen an increase of up to 8% in a building’s Rentable Area using the 1996 edition of the BOMA Standard.
Frequently Asked Questions:
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A: Atrium space above the main lobby floor does not constitute Rentable Area. It is empty space and is treated, in effect, as a Major Vertical Penetration. The base of the atrium, however (i.e. the finished floor) is measured.
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A: The term "enclosing walls" refers to those walls required by building code, and not to the architectural or decorative treatments of those walls. The floor of a stair tower and the pits of the elevator shaft, when found inside the enclosing walls, are part of the Major Vertical Penetration. However, if an area is not within the enclosing walls (such as a storage room under the stair tower), the area is part of the Rentable Area.
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A: No. Walls enclosing the major vertical penetration, which are required by building codes, are part of the penetration. Additional walls outside these enclosing walls are not considered part of the penetration and are not deducted from Rentable Area.
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A: If the area of refuge is not isolated from the stairwell, then it is part of the Major Vertical Penetration and is deducted as such. If the area of refuge is isolated from the stairwell with its own set of doors, then it is part of Floor Rentable Area and is distributed to each Office Area through the application of the R/U Ratio.
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A: Yes, if it is not already part of a Floor Common Area.
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A: Corridors by their nature typically provide the only access to an office or store, even when the corridor is required primarily for fire egress. Page 16 of the Standard states that "where alcoves, recessed entrances or similar deviation from the corridor line are present Usable Area shall be computed as if the deviation were not present."
You should first determine whether the Suite entrance could be positioned to incorporate the area in question without obstructing other occupants, fire egress, or other building services, before deciding that the area belongs to the Usable Area of an office or store. Remember that no area can be accounted for more than once. If an area belongs to the Usable Area of an office or store, it must be excluded from Floor Common Area, Building Common Area, or the Usable Area of any other office or store.
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A: Areas that are used for storage, whether above or below grade, are measured just like an Office (or Store in the cases of street frontage), because these spaces could house tenants’ personnel, furniture, files or supplies. If the space is a common storage area available for use by all tenants at no additional charge, then it would be calculated under Building Common Area. If it is for the express use of a given tenant, the storage space would have both a Usable and Rentable measurement.
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A: "Fully enclosed" refers to an enclosed space where environmental conditions are maintained by a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system. So there must be a roof in order for the courtyard to be fully enclosed.
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A: No; the Standard does not allow the same space to be measured twice.
The intent of the Standard is for Building Common Area to be part of the Floor Usable Area. Building Common Area needs to take part of the Floor Common Area allocation on the floor(s) on which the Building Common Area is located. Building Common Area, just like Store Area and Office Area, benefits from the circulation corridors and other Floor Common Areas. This allocation is necessary in order to fairly distribute the Floor Common Area to the users. If the allocation was not made, occupants on floors with Building Common Area would receive an unfair higher allocation of Floor Common Area.
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A: No; these areas represent rent-paying tenants; so while they do provide a service to the entire building (indeed to any paying customer), they are Store Area rather than Building Common Area. However, if these areas were a building amenity that all tenants could use as part of their lease, then they would be considered Building Common Area instead.
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A: Although the Standard does not deal specifically with building complexes, it would be a reasonable adaptation to consider the entire project as one building and to allocate the common corridors and building mechanical area as allowed through Building Common Area.
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A: The BOMA Standard defines Usable Area as space that tenants can actually occupy and use and may allocate to house personnel and furniture. Thus, if an elevator lobby is under the tenant’s control and could be put to use (as a reception area, for instance), it is Usable Area. However, if the tenant cannot use that space because of fire code or other restrictions, it is not Usable Area. Restrooms are not considered Usable Area under the Standard, although they are part of Rentable Area.
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A: Yes and yes. The Standard states specifically that "vertical penetrations built for the private use of a tenant occupying Office Areas on more than one floor" are counted as Rentable. The stairway would also be part of the Usable Area of the tenant.
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A: Tenant expansion and new tenant activity may indeed affect the Floor R/U Ratio and/or Building R/U Ratio. If tenant expansion or new tenant activity occurs in part or all of an existing Store Area or Office Area, the ratios remain unchanged. However, if tenant expansion or new tenant activity incorporates what had been Floor Common Area or Building Common Area into the newly created Store or Office Area, or creates additional Floor Common Area or Building Common Area from what was previously Store or Office Area then one or both ratios will be affected.
The Floor R/U Ratio will change if Floor Common Area is increased or decreased (e.g., by changing the configuration of floor circulation corridors or enlarging a restroom). The Building R/U Ratio will change if Building Common Area is increased or decreased (e.g., by leasing an exercise room) or if the Floor R/U Ratio is adjusted on a floor containing Building Common Area.
Changes to the Floor R/U Ratio and Building R/U Ratio will affect the Rentable Area of all the offices or stores located on that floor or in the building. For purposes of stability, adjustments to existing leases based on changes to Rentable Area are typically not made, although the new ratios are used in future lease transactions.
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A: No, the Standard excludes parking space.
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A: No. Major Vertical Penetrations are excluded when calculating Store Area. Rentable Area itself excludes Major Vertical penetrations – and, since Store Area is less than or equal to Floor Rentable Area on the floor where the store is located, Store Area likewise will exclude Major Vertical Penetrations.
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A: Store Area requires a street frontage and a ground level. It is possible for a square building to meet these conditions on every one of its sides. In that situation and on that level, the Dominant Portion would be the building line on each side. However, the sides do not have to be at the same level. A building can have street frontage and ground level on one side (e.g., Floor 1) and street frontage and ground level on another side (e.g., on Floor 3). Each of those two floors would be considered Store Area, and the Dominant Portion would be the building line. Having a separate street entrance for the space is not a requirement in determining street frontage for a Store Area.
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A: The Standard is intended to measure space that is fully enclosed. Therefore the building line, as used in the Standard to determine Store Area, is the outside face of the column line (or the exterior building surface if columns are not present) of the ground floor on the street frontage exposure. Deviations to the building line, including projections or recesses, are ignored unless they are part of the permanent building exterior of the ground floor.
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A: Yes, all tenant spaces within a building should be treated equally. Therefore tenant spaces with separate entrances and no access to ground floor lobbies are treated in the same manner as tenants who do have access to the ground floor lobby.
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A: Columns are not considered in the Standard. Therefore, where a column interrupts the Dominant Portion, the Dominant Portion that exists on each side of the column continues through one-half of the horizontal distance of the column. Where a column interrupts a Dominant Portion that is the same on both sides, the Dominant Portion continues through the column as if the column did not exist. Where a column interrupts a Dominant Portion that is different on each side, the Dominant Portion on one side continues for one-half the horizontal distance and then either steps in or out to meet the Dominant Portion from the other side.
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A: Yes, the measurement is taken to the centre line of partitions between adjoining Office Area(s) or Store Area(s), Building Common Area(s) and the Building Common Area being measured. Building Common Area is measured just like Office or Store Area in determining Usable Area.
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A: All floor space in a building is measured, including mezzanines. The purpose of the Standard is to measure the actual square feet contained in the building. The usefulness of a particular space is not addressed by the Standard, and is better left for lease negotiations between Landlord and Tenant. Varying lease rates are common in the market using such criteria as location on the floor, proximity to the elevator lobby, windows, views, heights in the building, and the usefulness of a particular space.
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A. Yes, except for those areas specifically excluded by the Standard, such as parking areas.
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A: The Standard is a systematic method for measuring office buildings, and should be used in its entirety for each building. Its purpose is to provide a common and agreed-upon basis for comparing lease rates, building efficiencies, operating costs and other relevant data. For example, Gross Building Area is used within the industry primarily to determine construction costs or building value. Usable Area is often used to determine cleaning costs and space efficiencies.
Single occupant buildings will often need to be compared to multi-occupant buildings and, in these cases, Building Rentable Area is the recommended measurement to use. Gross Building Area would be an appropriate method in determining lease rate only if the parties agree. Each part of the Standard has its own use and needs to be applied regardless of the number of occupants.
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A: No, the Standard is intended to apply specifically to the measurement of office buildings. A method for measuring Store Area in office buildings is contained in the Standard. No provision is currently made for measuring any other types of buildings.
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A: Neither BOMA nor the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) certifies, approves, or endorses any space measurement firm or measurement device.
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