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This help desk is a free resource intended for discussion purposes only. Neither BOMA, its chapters, affiliates, or Extreme Measures Inc.® are responsible for the information, comments or opinions expressed herein. For complete information, refer to the official publications of the standards themselves.

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Complex Common Area

Amy Lyn
JPMC
May 22, 2019

Hi -

Within a 3 building complex, under what BOMA version (1996, 2010, or 2017) is it allowable to prorate common space within one building to all buildings within that complex?

Thanks!

David Fingret
Extreme Measures Inc.
May 29, 2019

Hi Amy,

All 3 versions of the BOMA Office Standard allow it, but all three are different. BOMA 1996 suggests stacking the buildings in the Global Summary of Areas so they are all essentially one "Building" as far as the calculations are concerned. It's not ideal because it will often create inequities since all Complex Commmon Areas and Building Common Areas are allocated as Building Common Area across all buildings in the complex. BOMA 2010 mentions the ability to calculate Complex Common Areas but doesn't provide a methodology for doing so. After BOMA 2010 was published, BOMA did publish a Best Practices paper that goes into more detail about the methodology for calculating complexes. This was a precursor to the fully fleshed out methodology provided in BOMA 2017. I would highly recommend using Inter-Building Areas in the BOMA 2017 Office Standard to achieve Complex Common Area calculations.

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