BOMA Releases Updated Office Measurement

First, the BOMA standards are certified by The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) process. To paraphrase ANSI, in the interest of openness, balance, consensus, and due process, the ANSI rules require the standards be re-evaluated every 5 years for any necessary changes or recertification. Also, it is not BOMA directly that makes decisions on updating the standard, rather it is a committee of industry expert volunteers made up of a wide demographic of users who make the decisions on how the standards will be written or updated. Due to the recertification process, the 2017 Office Standard was overdue for review and recertification. The committee voted that some desired changes warranted an update to the standard rather than simply re-affirming the 2017 standard. Please note that old versions of BOMA standards are available and that using the new standard (or any BOMA standards) is completely optional in most cases. The standards themselves, nor BOMA, dictate what revised version a user chooses. BOMA only makes recommendations for pairing certain standards to the use type.

So, what has changed in the new 2024 Office Standard?

One significant change is allowances for patios to be included in common area allocations both as amenities or service areas.  There are stringent guidelines to follow to help make sure that these are spaces dedicated to the building occupants and not otherwise leased. This inclusion of patios is not without precedent. In 2017, balconies and rooftop terraces were added to the rentable area. However, the 2010 standard before stuck to a pure building floor area measurement by only including what was inside the building enclosure. The 2017 and 2024 standards have progressively expanded the measurements to provide guidelines for other spaces on a property that may be considered part of the building in function and allow for a landlord to charge for them at an appropriate rate, including to not charge at all if they so choose.

 Additionally, in the 2024 Office Standard these unenclosed areas leased as occupant area are now unburdened from the common area load factor. In other words, they do not get a proportional share of service and amenity areas on their floors or from the building. This is an advantage when the unenclosed areas are leased at a reduced rate or not charged for, making it simpler to reduce charges for these spaces (in markets where there is pushback against charging for these outdoor spaces) and still maintain the purity of a measurement that stays true to the BOMA standard.

A small but related change is that occupant storage is moved from the rentable exclusions category to be included in the rentable areas. It is still unloaded, just like the unenclosed areas mentioned above, but it no longer will be categorized as a “rentable exclusion” and will now be included in the total rentable area.

Finally, there was a lot of discussion around how to best adapt BOMA standards to serve the growing life science building sector. A special sub-committee was formed to review this question and after several meetings, they concluded that there are two basic types of life science buildings that closely resemble either office buildings or industrial buildings in how they function and are measured. What consistently presented a problem when applying BOMA standards to life science buildings are the significant and unique equipment needs dedicated to the user that often-required shafts for outside air, exhaust, or even equipment located on the floor or roof that are particular to the tenant. So, the choice was made to add guidance into both the office and the industrial standards for measuring and including these occupant dedicated service areas in the tenant’s occupant area. This made a lot more sense to the committee over making a new standard dedicated to the life science use type. The Industrial Standard is under review, and you can expect to see similar provisions added to it for life science buildings with more of a manufacturing or industrial use type.

There are numerous other changes throughout the standard. These changes include improvements to simplify method B (the single load factor method), clarified unenclosed circulation and exterior door setbacks, a couple vocabulary changes, and many new illustrations have been added. If you want to know more, the standard can be purchased from the BOMA Library at BOMA.org, or you may reach out to your measurement expert to discuss it. If you are in need of an expert in building area measurement, Solid Tech Property Measurement offers area analysis consulting, building area reports, and classes on BOMA Measurement Standards certified for AIA continuing education credit.