This partial list of Building Measurement Industry terms relates to this single standard: STEVENSON SYSTEMS, INC. 1986
The areas which are shared by and apportioned to all tenants in the building. May include the main lobby, mail room, building mechanical and electrical rooms, fire control rooms, communication rooms, pump rooms, loading docks and other building service areas.
The Floor's portion of the Building Common areas, such as the main lobby, mail room, etc. Floor’s Building Common Share is equal to the total Building Common square footage multiplied by the floor net Rentable divided by the total building net Rentable)
Commonly referred to as "Unenclosed Non-Rentable", the non-rentable and non-usable areas of the building not apportioned to all tenants. Can include basements, penthouse mechanical rooms and building service areas. Building Non-Use areas may be converted to Building Common.
A defined area of a building that includes the area adjacent to the elevators when entering or exiting on a particular floor.
The areas which are shared or used by multiple buildings within a complex of buildings. The areas shared may include loading docks, engineer’s office, central mechanical and electrical plants (central plant), etc.
With the update of tenant improvement drawings, confirm (finalize) the square footage of the Rentable and Usable areas of the updated suite(s) and produce and issue a “Composite Drawing” that shows all the final or confirmed tenant suites on a floor.
Includes the public corridor areas on each floor that connect the tenant spaces with the stairs and elevators.
Efficiency of a building or floor is its Usable Area divided by its Rentable Area, or the inverse of the R/U Ratio.
Building Efficiency = Total Rentable Area / Total Gross Area Floor Efficiency = Floor Rentable Area / Floor Gross Area.
It is a percentage that represents the inverse of a Floating, Flat or Arbitrary Factor. It represents how much of my Rentable Area is Usable Area.
Common term used in the commercial real estate industry to communicate a building, tenant or floor factor. A factor (expressed as 1.0000) that when multiplied times the Usable square footage of and area determines the Rentable square footage. (See Load Factor)
This is a factor that represents a single factor assigned to all floors of a building. This factor is usually based on market conditions and therefore the name Market or Arbitrary Factor. When the Market or Arbitrary Factor is used, a single factor assigned all floors of the entire building and general applied to the multi-tenant Usable area of each floor. The Market or Arbitrary Factor is usually lower than the true factor generated from actual square footage calculations. This system is of using Market or Arbitrary Factors has no relationship to the true factor(s) or the true Rentable Areas. The Arbitrary or Market Factors is established as follows: Tenant Factor Tenant Conversion Factor (Arbitrary) is equal to Usable Area (multi-tenant) of a floor multiplied by the Arbitrary Conversion Factor which is equal to the Rentable Area. Example the true Floating factor may be 1.1923 while the Arbitrary or Market factor is set at 1.1200 Factor
When the Average Factor system is used, there is a single factor "averaged" throughout the building. This factor is established based on multi-tenant Usable areas within the entire building. This factor is based on the total common areas apportioned within the entire building. The Average Factor is established as follows: Tenant Factor Tenant Conversion Factor (Flat) is equal to the Total Building Rentable Area divided by the Total Building Usable Area Usable Area (multi-tenant) of a floor multiplied by the Tenant Conversion Factor equal to the Rentable Area. Example: 120,000 rsf / 105,000 usf = 1.1428 Factor
Is a single average factor system establishing one factor for all floor of the building based on a multi-tenant occupancy. This Flat or Average Factor is calculated using the average of the Floating Factor of the building. The factor is calculated as follows: Flat Building Factor = Total Rentable Area of Building / Total Usable Area of Building
The Floating Factor System establishes for each floor a specific factor based on the common or service area apportionment that actually serve that floor. This factor may vary for each floor of a building depending on its size and design. The Factors are calculated as follows: Floor Factor (Add-On) (Floor Factor = Net Rentable Area / Usable Area) Usable Area multiplied by the Floor Conversion Factor = Net Rentable Area Tenant Factor (Add-On) (Tenant Factors = Rentable Area / Usable Area) Usable Area multiplied by the Tenant Conversion Factor = Rentable Area
Usable Area multiplied by the Floor Conversion Factor equals Net Rentable Area
Composite for each floor identifying all the suite(s) on the floor and showing the interior partition location.
Are major holes in the floor(s) of the building where there is no floor. May include stairs, shafts, flues, major pipe shafts, vertical ducts, and the like, which penetrate more than one floor. Does not include stairs, dumb-waiters, etc., exclusively serving a single tenant occupying offices on more than one floor. These penetration may or may not include their enclosing walls depending on the measurement standard used or the type of penetration.
Strips of wood or metal attached to a wall or other surfaces to provide a level attachment surface for other finished material such as wood paneling, drywall, stone, etc. If furring is attached to a permanent building structure, as a concrete wall or column, it is ignored when measurements are taken of the building and will not change he calculated areas.
Shall mean the conversion factor that distributes the Building Common Area of a building.
Major openings in the floor to accommodate vertical building elements such as stairs, elevators, HVAC shafts, atriums and the like. Distinguished from minor vertical penetrations by various rules of thumb (ranging from 64 square inched to 144 square inches, 1 square foot).
A floor on which the Usable or Occupant Area can be leased to more than one tenant or occupant.
A system created by Peter Stevenson founder of Stevenson Systems, Inc., that documents the use and/or allocation of measured areas by applying appropriate measurement standard(s) throughout the lifecycle of a property.
An analytical method developed by Stevenson Systems, Inc. to document, classify and evaluating the measure med area for a specific building or project.
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