Glossary / Space and measurement
Also known as: BOMA measurement standards, ANSI/BOMA standards
Floor measurement standards published by the Building Owners and Managers Association International that set how to calculate rentable, usable, and gross areas in office, retail, industrial, and other buildings. Leases often name which BOMA standard applies.
BOMA International publishes a family of floor measurement standards. Its standards page lists separate standards for office (2024), industrial (2019), gross areas (2018), multifamily and hospitality (2023), retail (2020), and mixed-use (2021). The office standard, ANSI/BOMA Z65.1-2024, has a primary purpose of calculating rentable area for leasing, and also supports space utilization, valuation, benchmarking, and expense allocation.
Standards change between versions. WeirFoulds LLP describes how the 2010 office standard added a second, building-wide method for calculating load factors alongside the older floor-by-floor method, and recommends that leases specify which BOMA standard and method applies.
The standard used determines the Rentable square feet (RSF) in the lease, and rent is charged on rentable area. If your commission is based on rent, the measurement standard is one step removed from your fee: a different version or method can change the RSF, and so the rent and the commission.
For landlord rep brokers, knowing which standard the building was measured under helps you answer tenant objections about the load factor. For tenant rep brokers, it lets you compare buildings on a consistent basis.
The standards also differ by property type. Cove notes that BOMA keeps separate standards because office, industrial, and retail buildings share space differently: office buildings have substantial common corridors and amenities, while warehouses have large open footprints and little shared area. When you work across asset classes, do not assume a load factor or measurement method from one property type carries over to another.
Check which BOMA standard and version the lease names, and confirm the RSF was measured under it.
