Office Measurement Standards: BOMA 2010

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) method for floor measurement has served as Canada’s national standard since 1915.  It has undergone various changes to respond to the changing needs of landlords and tenants across the country.  The last version (the “1996 BOMA Standard”) relating to office spaces has been replaced by the “BOMA 2010 Standard”.  According to Dennis Daoust, a founding partner at Daoust Vukovich LLP,

“The 1996 Standard introduced a feature that involved the grossing up of Rentable Areas to include a share of Building Common Areas such as main floor lobbies, loading areas and boiler rooms, and it included other improvements but it still needed some ‘tinkering’ to make it work better.  As well, there has been a need expressed by industry participants for a method of measurement that simplified things by using a single gross up factor for all space in the building.”

The BOMA 2010 Standard provides for two different methods of measurement from which one may choose. Method A (the Legacy Method) essentially replicates the method available under the 1996 Standard, but it introduces some refinements.  Method B (the Single Load Factor Method) applies a single gross up factor to all tenants in the building regardless of the floor occupied.  While deciding on the most appropriate method will depend on the space being considered, users will have a choice of method that was not available under BOMA 1996.

Both Method A and Method B, unlike the 1996 Standard, exclude storage areas in defining Rentable Area.  Under the 1996 Standard, areas designated as storage and not intended for occupation are included in calculating the Rentable Area for a building.  This had the effect of artificially inflating the size of the Rentable Area and therefore eliminating tenant obligations respecting the costs and taxes associated with these areas.  That resulted in landlords subsidizing tenants with respect to the costs associated with storage areas.

Another refinement made by BOMA 2010 includes a new method for calculating the gross up relating to Floor Common Areas.  A more appropriate apportionment of Floor Common Areas is provided for so that in grossing up space on floors containing Building Service Areas (such as boiler rooms and mechanical rooms), tenants on other floors no longer absorb a share of Floor Common Areas that should be apportioned to the tenants on the floor containing the Building Service Areas.

For further information on the new 2010 BOMA standard and useful drafting tips, please review the article written by Dennis Daoust entitled “BOMA 2010: A New Approach to Office Measurement Standards” by clicking the link below.