- Thomas Hall
- Thomas E. Hall and Associates, Inc.
- September 28, 2022
When are building overhangs allowed and when not allowed to be counted in rentable square footage?
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When are building overhangs allowed and when not allowed to be counted in rentable square footage?
Hi Thomas,
The area under a roof overhang is included as Rentable Area if it covers a "Permanent Floor" according to the definition in the standard. That definition also refers to a concept known as "Industrial Activities". The basic idea is that an overhang needs to cover something that is useful to a tenant's operations in order to be Rentable Area. For example, a covered loading dock would be included as Rentable Area, but a covered area dedicated to landscaping would be excluded. There is a possible exception noted on page 16 of the standard, which states:
Overhang Area may be proportionately allocated to Occupants using Building Service Area or Inter-Building Service Area if agreed by all parties in the lease. When using this methodology, it must be noted in the Global Summary of Areas and in all associated lease documents that the Overhang Area was classified as either Building Service Area or Inter-Building Service Area.
Thanks,
David