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BOMA 2024's Outdoor Area Measurement: What It Means for CAM

By Angel Campa·Founder, CapVeri4 min read

What Changed in BOMA 2024

The BOMA 2017 standard (ANSI/BOMA Z65.1-2017) measured indoor areas only. Outdoor spaces — no matter how finished, maintained, or valuable to tenants — were excluded from the building's rentable area calculation.

BOMA 2024 changed this. The updated standard introduces a framework for measuring "outdoor amenity areas" that meet specific criteria:

  • Improved: The space has been built out beyond raw land (pavement, decking, furnishings, lighting)
  • Maintained: The landlord regularly maintains the space (cleaning, landscaping, repair)
  • Occupant accessible: Tenants and their employees can use the space during normal business hours
  • Defined boundaries: The space has clear physical or logical boundaries

Spaces that qualify: rooftop terraces, landscaped courtyards, ground-level plazas with seating, outdoor dining areas, sport courts, and improved garden areas.

Spaces that don't qualify: parking lots, loading docks, unimproved land, fire escape routes, mechanical equipment pads, and construction staging areas.

The RSF Impact

Adding outdoor amenity space to the building's rentable square footage changes the math:

Before BOMA 2024 remeasurement:

  • Building RSF: 200,000 SF (indoor only)
  • Tenant A: 10,000 SF / 200,000 SF = 5.00% pro-rata share

After BOMA 2024 remeasurement (with 12,000 SF rooftop terrace):

  • Building RSF: 212,000 SF (indoor + outdoor)
  • Tenant A: 10,000 SF / 212,000 SF = 4.72% pro-rata share

Tenant A's pro-rata share decreased by 0.28 percentage points. On a $2M operating expense pool, that's a $5,600 annual reduction in CAM charges for that single tenant.

Across a 15-tenant building, the total recovery from tenants doesn't change — it redistributes. But the per-tenant impact depends on whether tenants' suites were also remeasured.

Where It Gets Complicated

1. Lease Language May Not Support Remeasurement

Your lease defines how RSF is calculated. If the lease says "measured in accordance with BOMA 2017" or "BOMA standards in effect as of the lease commencement date," you can't unilaterally switch to BOMA 2024.

Adopting BOMA 2024 typically requires one of:

  • Lease language that references "BOMA standards as amended" or "current BOMA standards"
  • A lease amendment agreed to by the tenant
  • Application to new leases only (existing tenants stay on old measurement)

Mixed measurement standards within the same building create reconciliation complexity. Tenant A might be on BOMA 2017 (200,000 SF denominator) while Tenant B is on BOMA 2024 (212,000 SF denominator). Both denominators are contractually correct, but they produce different pro-rata shares for the same expense pool.

2. Outdoor Maintenance Costs Enter the Pool

If you add outdoor space to the RSF calculation, the costs of maintaining that space should also enter the operating expense pool (assuming they're not already there). This includes:

Outdoor ExpenseTypical Cost RangeAlready in CAM?
Landscaping$1.50-$4.00/SFOften yes
Outdoor furniture maintenance$0.50-$1.50/SFRarely
Outdoor lighting$0.25-$0.75/SFSometimes
Rooftop terrace cleaning$1.00-$2.50/SFRarely
Seasonal setup/breakdown$0.50-$1.00/SFRarely
Irrigation$0.25-$0.50/SFSometimes

For a 12,000 SF rooftop terrace, annual maintenance costs might run $30,000-$60,000. These costs increase the total expense pool, partially offsetting the pro-rata share reduction from the larger denominator.

3. Common Area Factor Changes

The common area factor (also called load factor or add-on factor) is the ratio between a tenant's rentable area and their usable area. Adding outdoor amenity space to the building increases the common area, which increases the load factor.

If the load factor increases, tenants with leases that define their premises by usable SF (with the load factor applied to get rentable SF) may see their rentable SF increase. This changes their share of CAM.

The math gets circular quickly. Work with a BOMA-certified professional for the initial remeasurement.

When to Adopt BOMA 2024

Good candidates for early adoption:

  • Buildings with significant outdoor amenity space (>5% of indoor RSF)
  • New construction where lease templates can incorporate BOMA 2024 from day one
  • Properties undergoing major renovation with outdoor space additions
  • Buildings where all leases reference "current BOMA standards"

Wait-and-see candidates:

  • Buildings with minimal outdoor space
  • Portfolios with long-term leases referencing BOMA 2017 specifically
  • Markets where tenant brokers aren't yet familiar with the 2024 standard

CAM Reconciliation Implications

If you adopt BOMA 2024, your reconciliation process needs several updates:

  1. Update the building denominator in your property management system
  2. Verify each tenant's lease to confirm which measurement standard applies
  3. Add outdoor maintenance costs to the recovery pool (if not already there)
  4. Recalculate pro-rata shares for tenants on the new standard
  5. Document the change in your reconciliation workbook and cover letter
  6. Communicate proactively — tenants should understand why their share changed before they see the statement

CapVeri validates pro-rata share calculations against building RSF and tenant SF data. If you remeasure under BOMA 2024, CapVeri flags any tenant where the pro-rata share doesn't match the updated denominator.

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