WASHINGTON, D.C. and Houston — (April 24, 2008) — The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) are pleased to announce the publication of “A Unified Approach to Measuring Office Space,” a report outlining common definitions for floor area measurements as well as major revisions to IFMA and BOMA’s respective area measurement standards.
These common definitions will be incorporated into the standards supported by each organization, with the primary goal being to clarify building measurement and industry comparisons based on floor area measurements.
Currently, IFMA recognizes “The ASTM Standard Classification for Building Floor Area Measurements for Facility Management,” while BOMA supports “The ANSI/BOMA Standard Method for Measuring Floor Area in Office Buildings.” Together, the two standards form the foundation for benchmarking and best practice. They are commonly used by facility professionals and building owners and managers to measure floor area in office buildings.
BOMA and IFMA appointed a working group comprised of key members of both organizations to develop these common definitions. The professionals included had extensive experience in floor measurement issues. Their goal was to develop commonly agreed upon definitions to be contained in each floor measurement standard as well as commentaries with parallel definitions that elaborate on the floor area measurement process. The definitions and commentaries are available in the new joint publication, and are meant to be uniform and easily understood by non-technical readers.
“The major benefit of this publication is that it establishes common terms and approaches for measurement that each organization will use as they revise their respective standards,” said Kent C. Gibson, CPM, BOMA chair of the working group and vice president of Zions Securities Corporation in Salt Lake City. “This allows both organizations to be consistent in going forward in the development of their standards. A large part of the foundation has been laid.”
“We’ve known that the members of our community need a common communication protocol. They need one set of measurements and one methodology,” said Lynne Blair, IFMA chair of the working group and president of LY Blair & Associates in Ottawa. “It’s important to help them save time, effort and money, and with this new unified approach, we can do that.”
“A Unified Approach to Measuring Office Space” is currently being offered by BOMA and IFMA. To learn more about the publication, or to purchase it from BOMA or IFMA respectively, visit http://shop.boma.org or www.ifma.org/bookstore.
About BOMA
Founded in 1907, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International is an international federation of more than 100 local associations and affiliated organizations. The 17,000-plus members of BOMA International own or manage more than 9 billion square feet of commercial properties in North America and abroad. BOMA’s mission is to enhance the human, intellectual and physical assets of the commercial real estate industry through advocacy, education, research, standards and information. On the Web at www.boma.org.
About IFMA
IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognized international association for professional facility managers, supporting more than 19,000 members in 60 countries. The association’s members, represented in 125 chapters and 15 councils worldwide, manage more than 37 billion square feet of property and annually purchase more than US$100 billion in products and services. Formed in 1980, IFMA certifies facility managers, conducts research, provides educational programs, recognizes facility management certificate programs and produces World Workplace, the world’s largest facility management conference and exposition. For more information, visit www.ifma.org.
CONTACTS
Laura Horsley
Director of Communications
BOMA International
(202) 326-6315 or lhorsley@boma.org
Andrea Sanchez
Communications Manager
IFMA
(713) 623-4362 or andrea.sanchez@ifma.org