BIM – Issues for Building Owners
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The first issue of the BOMA Standard Method of Floor Measurement for Office Buildings was published in 1915. It was quickly adopted by the industry as a national standard, and stood for close to 40 years without amendment. In 1952, with the advent of more modern architectural designs, the Standard was revised. It was then further revised in 1955 to become the American National Standard, of which BOMA International was a co-sponsor.
The next major revision came in 1971, and reflected leasing concepts in use at that time. This version lasted until 1980, when another major revision took place. The 1980 Standard clarified some details regarding points of measurement relative to the exterior wall of a building, and established the basic methods for measuring the office area of a given floor. This 1980 Standard was basically the BOMA Standard in use most recently, until the last major revision in 1996. There was a minor update in 1989, with a French translation plus the publication of a list of 26 commonly asked questions and answers about the 1980 Standard. Though this list of questions/answers is not officially part of the Standard, any reference to a 1989 Standard is referring to this list in combination with the published 1980 Standard.
In 1996, the Standard underwent a major revision, in an attempt to overcome some serious flaws and shortcomings in the 1980/89 version. The major change introduced in 1996 is that the Standard is now a building-wide method of measurement, as opposed to previous versions which were more of a floor-by-floor method. Now, spaces that clearly benefit all building occupants can be measured and allocated to all, no matter what floor they occupy, on a pro-rata basis.
In 2004, BOMA released the BOMA/SIOR Standard Methods for Measuring Floor Area in Industrial Buildings Standard. Focused primarily at industrial buildings, whether single or multi-tenant, it also applies to any building that is more than 50% non-office (including retail).
In 2007, BOMA and IFMA released the document ‘A Unified Approach for Measuring Space‘, with the intent of the development of a common language and set of terms to be used by both IFMA and BOMA Standards, in future.
BOMA since then has been working to update the 1996 Office Standard to be in conformance with this IFMA/BOMA Unified Approach. To that end, in 2010 BOMA released the 2010 Office Standard Methods of Measurement, which was intended to replace the 1996 Standard. This has since been updated in 2017 (see below).
As well, they have recently released the ‘2018 Gross Areas of a Building: Methods of Measurement (ANSI/BOMA Z65.3)‘ Standard. This is in compliance with the BOMA/IFMA Unified Approach, and has been updated in 2018 so as to be more consistent with the Office 2017 Standards, and is intended to deal with single-tenant buildings, with definitions of ‘Gross1 Area’ to replace previous definitions of Gross Building Area.
The 2004 Industrial Standard first evolved into the 2012 Industrial Buildings Standard (ANSI/BOMA Z65.2), with content updated to be in synch with the other 2010 Standards. It became ANSI certified, and as well it is not intended to apply to Retail buildings now, with the introduction of the new Retail Standard (below).
Also in 2010, BOMA has released the new 2010 Retail Standard of Measurement (ANSI/BOMA Z65.5), a long-awaited standard intended to deal with retail-only buildings.
For those dealing with multi-unit residential properties, BOMA has also released a 2010 Multi-Unit Residential Standard of Measurement (ANSI/BOMA Z65.4).
In 2012 BOMA has released the 2012 Mixed Use Properties Standard of Measurement (ANSI/BOMA Z65.6).
Then in October 2017, BOMA has released the 2017 Office Standards (ANSI/BOMA Z65.1) Methods A and B, updating the 2010 Office Standard. This represented quite a major change in the Office Standards, and as usual is most favorable for landlords.
Most recently, BOMA released the 2019 Industrial Standard (ANSI/BOMA Z65.2), replacing the 2012 version, with content updated to be more in synch with the 2017 Office Standards.