The Building Owners and Managers Association International developed the newest 1996 standard, as well as previous versions (see History). A diverse group of real estate industry professionals participated in the two-year revision process, including owners and managers of multi-tenant office buildings, managers of owner-occupied facilities, asset managers, leasing professionals, brokers, architects, interior designers, space planners and appraisers. The result is a consensus document that has gained the approval of the American National Standards Institute, and has repeatedly been recognized by the courts as THE national standard. 

The purpose of the Standard is to provide a standard means for the definition and calculation of Rentable space, as it pertains to office buildings. It is to permit communication and computation on a clear and understandable basis. It is also to allow comparison of values on the basis of generally agreed upon methods of measurement.

For more than 75 years, BOMA International has sponsored the Standard Method for Measuring Floor Area in Office Buildings, and has been the one accepted and approved by ANSI. The Standard may be used to measure space in both existing and new office buildings.


Note:  BOMA has recently (fall 2004) released the BOMA/SIOR 2001 Standard for Measuring Floor Area in Industrial Buildings. This standard effectively covers all buildings where more than 50% of the space is non-office, thus applying to industrial, retail, and all non-office buildings.

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