BOMA: The Standard For Measuring Office Space
September 17, 2007
In most parts of the country, the most common method for measuring office space and determining the gross leasable area is the BOMA (The Building Owners and Managers Association) standard. It is the most commonly used method as it provides Landlord’s with the ability to capture all common areas when calculating rentable square footage. The 1980 standard analyzed tenant spaces by floor while the 1996 method took into account the entire building’s rentable square footage.
In Silicon Valley, the BOMA standard is most commonly used while a number of office buildings use the Drip-Line method which determines the rentable square footage where the measurement is taken to the outermost perimeter of the building, regardless of whether it is enclosed or not.
In addition, there are some methods of measurement based on regional standards. Two of these regional standards are the REBNY and GWCAR methods, which are commonly used in the New York City and Washington D.C. area, respectively. The REBNY method attempts to bring the rentable square foot number as close to the gross built area so that they can maximize profits.
Regardless of what measurement method is employed, it is advisable that tenant’s perform proper due diligence before executing a lease to ensure they are getting what they pay for. While smaller tenants may not have the leverage that a 100,000 square foot user has, they should ensure that the rentable square footage of their space is at the very least within close proximity of what the landlord is quoting.
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A note on NYC office space and REBNY. REBNY does not actually offer a definition for “rentable” sf. Generally rentable sf in NYC is not equal to gross built area, it exceeds it! REBNY does define “usable” area however, and that definition includes the space out to the outer edge of the building (including the brick and windows).
For more on this, check out: http://www.brokerednyc.com/2008/04/loss-factor-demystified-or-truth-about.html
and
http://www.brokerednyc.com/2008/04/truth-about-loss-factor-part-2-or.html
You should to do a write up about the definition of Usable SF Vs Gross SF Vs. Rentable SF and how load factors are applied – you can even give some mathimatical examples. I know there’s alot of people out there who dont understand this.
I have a question:
In order to measure ground floor retail space in Boma Standards, is the measurement taken from the middle of the outside wall? Please let me know.
Many Thanks,
Lloyd
retail space is generally measured from the outside face of the wall. If the retail space is in-line, or shares a wall with another tenant, then those shared walls are measured from the center line.
Remember though that some landlords measure using BOMA dripline, which can go beyond the exterior wall and measure to the outside perimeter of the building (which may not be the exterior wall).
In retail, size is generally referred to as GLA, which is gross leasable area. That area too is also measured to the outside face of the wall, and center line of common walls.
Kev,
Here is a small write up on Usable SF Vs Gross SF Vs. Rentable SF and how load factors are applied.
Let me first say these definitions are all subject to change depending on how the lease document is written. However, the ANSI/BOMA Z65.1-1996 which is the most current BOMA standard and generally accepted nationally defines them as follows:
Usable Area: The measured area of an office area, store area, or building common area on a floor. The total of all the Usable Areas for a floor shall equal Floor Usable Area of that same floor.
In english this means when you measuring your office it is the area you can touch, put a desk or a chair(usable). Depending on the office you may measure from the glass or the wall. No deduction for pillars or support beams.
Gross Building Area: The total constructed area of the building. Generally not used for leasing purposes.
Gross Measured Area: The total area of a building enclosed by the Dominant Portion, excluding parking areas and loading docks outside the building line Generally not used for leasing purposes.
Rentable SF: I think Boma does a very poor job of defining this in straight forward terms. They define it as Rentable SF = Usable Area x R/U Ratio.
What that means if you drill it down is basically your Usable SF + your % of the common area for the floor + your % of the common area of the building equals your rentable SF. The R/U Factor is your Load Factor. Therefore you must know the Rentable SF of the floor and of the entire building.
You should also know there are certain rules on what is included and what is not. Every building is different and some don’t jive into the BOMA standard exactly right.
I hope this was insightful, if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me jpollack@LeaseAnalytics.com
Lloyd,
I all depends on your lease. Sometimes the lease spells out exactly how to measure the space. It may say the landlord used BOMA standards. If the lease is silent in explaining the method of measurement then it is BOMA by default, unless in NY or DC.
if you have any questions feel free to e-mail me jpollack@LeaseAnalytics.com
How does Restrooms, stairwells, and elevators calculate into Rentable area vs ANSI/BOMA office area?
BT,
I am not sure what you mean when you say “Rentable area vs ANSI/BOMA office area.” However, according to the current BOMA ANSI standard here is how the areas are defined.
Restrooms are considered apart of floor rentable area if connected to the tenants floor via a climate controlled corridor. Unless the bathrooms serve the entire building in which case they are building rentable area.
Stairwells and elevators are consider vertical penetrations and are not considered rentable area.
I hope this answers your question. If you need further clarification feel free to contact me. http://www.LeaseAnalytics.com
Best Regards,
Jonathan
Hey all, I have written a very detailed explanation of the REBNY code and noted the main differences between the REBNY and BOMA standards. It can be viewed at http://www.addarc.com/rebny
For a bunch of other information, just browse my site: http://www.addarc.com
Regards,
Dave Aube
I have a quick question regarding the square footage measurement of a practice we just acquired. Basically, the Gross SF of the first floor is 7,500 SF, the Interior Gross Area as defined by ANSI/BOMA “Office Buildings: Standard Methods of Measurement and Calculating Rentable Area”; promulgated
by the Building Owners and Managers Association, date 2010, is 7,190. The architect is simply saying that the difference here is the measurement from the outside walls being included on the Gross SF, but not being included on the IGA SF.
Which way is correct for this single-tenant occupancy? Any help here would be appreciated.
BOMO uses the term RENTABLE and my Starbucks Lease uses the word LEASABLE. Is there a difference or do they have the same deffinition?
BOMA is primarily for office. Leasable is a term more common in retail leasing. In general, retail spaces are measured from the outside of the premises on exterior walls, and to the midpoint of any demising walls. Of course, the lease could define the term Leaseable to mean anything. As of a year or two ago, ICSC and BOMA were working on a retail standard, though not sure that's been finalized yet.
I am trying to determine the Gross Building Area of a two level brick office building. The office building is a brick rectangle. One enters the front glass doors onto the first level. The catch is that the building is on a waterfront lot and the middle of this first floor is open on the back side. There is a four foot brick wall but approximately 1/2 of this center area of the 1st floor is an open breezeway, with vinyl ceilings, recessed lighting, carpet and ceramic tile and accesses to two retail spaces, the elevator, public restrooms, office space. It plays as a building lobby and does have utiltiies and maintenance associated with it yet it is open on the rear side and enclosed by glass doors on the front side. The perimter of this level has three seperate office suites and four garage bays. The second level of the building is fully enclosed and leasable space. My question: Would this open breezeway area be included in the Gross Building Area calculation? I would think ‘yes’. The space is leased out for parties from time to time as it is a waterfront site w/ a marina. In developing an income approach for appraisal purposes, would this area be included as leasable space?
Thanks for any input.
The answer is simple. Disregard any space that is access area, area waiting area, enjoying the sea breass area, and unsecured when every goes home at night. Take a tape measure and measure the INSIDE dimensions of every space within the permit area you are dealing with. Perhaps your client needs my help in describing his property subject to a particular lease. At any rate the area I have asked you to measure is the basis for your lease and that is what should be the base point in any discussions regarding the rent and/or occupancy of this property. My suggestion is simple but crutial to the sucess of you transaction.
Give me a call at (760) 223-6276 to explore this further should you wish.
Sincerely;
Lawrence Speight, P.E.
General Contractor and Engineering Contractor