As you may or may not be aware there is no common standard across the World on which to measure property in terms of calculating net and gross areas. In the UK we are fortunate to have the RICS Code of Measuring Practice and other developed countries have their own respective standards and codes. For global portfolios this has been a recognised problem as a property in one country would not have the same area as if that same property was measured in another country and thus caused difficulties in terms of calculating property/rateable values across global portfolios.
Last year the International Property Measurement Standards Council (IPMSC) was established and as of November 2014 a new standard for measuring useable space in offices has been issued, namely IPMS:Offices. At Aimcon Surveys Limited welcome and support such steps forward and are ready for this change. Currently, this only applies to useable office space but it is the intention to broaden this to other types of properties, such as residential, retail and industrial in the future (2015/16 anticipated date).
It must be noted that the use of IPMS:Offices is not mandatory in the UK and is at the discretion of the client but is recommended if it is to be successful and certainly if the property is part of a global portfolio. IPMS:Offices does not replace the RICS Code and our policy when instructed on measuring an office building will be to seek advice from the client as to which standard to use when calculating the area.
Please feel free to get in touch and we will try to assist further should you have any queries or concerns. Below is a link to the FAQ’s section of the IMPSC website where further information can be found.
Aimcon Surveys Limited
01604 582200
kevin.perrina@aimcon.co.uk