New Office Measurement Standard Launched

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International has released Office Buildings: Standard Methods of Measurement and Calculating Rentable Area (2010), a new measurement standard that will help property professionals easily and accurately measure office buildings. The new office measurement standard provides important improvements and changes to the Standard Method for Measuring Floor Area in Office Buildings, the last office measurement standard from BOMA released in 1996. The new publication has several key enhancements that add new methodologies, clarify gray areas, and make it more user friendly via a new interactive downloadable format.

“The updates we have made to the standard reflect the needs of users in the field. We have also brought the standard into the digital age by including hyperlinks to definitions and full color illustrations in the PDF document, eliminating ambiguity and making it easier than ever to understand,” remarked BOMA International Chair James A. Peck, RPA, FMA, senior director of asset services, CB Richard Ellis.

The new features of the standard include:

  • A new Single Load Factor Method. This new calculation, “Method B,” applies to the occupant area of each floor to determine the rentable area and is the same for all floors of a building.
  • More options. Users can choose either the new Method B or the measurement methodology of the 1996 standard, referred to as “Legacy Method A.”
  • Regional leasing practices. A new clause in the standard states that if external corridors are the only way tenants can access their space, property managers can include them as building common areas and therefore include them in their common area maintenance allocations.
  • Measurement clarity. The standard introduces new terms to simplify and clarify the process of measurement, including a step-by-step sequence that includes boundary line definitions. Users will be able to zoom in on full color illustrations to get a closer look at how classes of space transition.

For more information on BOMA’s new office measurement standard, visit the BOMA Bookstore .