Do you know what area you’re paying lease rent for?

In the previous article: “The area calculated for TAX purposes – What kind of area are you paying taxes for?” I wrote about the area we pay a property tax for. The situation is completely different when it comes to calculating an area for lease purposes. It’s rare for the owner or the manager of the building to lease a property, or part of it, according to Polish norms, and even rarer to lease an object measured according to an international norm without modifying it. However, if he decides to do so, the owner can decide himself whether to include staircases and stairs separated by walls in the lease area, or in the common areas of a building. When it comes to office buildings, it’s generally not practised.

Staircases and elevators

The vast majority of leased areas are measured according to foreign norms. Measurements done according to the BOMA, Tegova, GIF and RICS norms entirely omit the areas of staircases, elevator shafts and stairs separated by walls, including the adherent walls. They are excluded from the lease area, are not part of the direct lease and are not counted in the add-on factor – it’s as if the building didn’t exist in those parts. This doesn’t apply to the scenario when there are indoor stairs in the leased room used by only one tenant – the height of the stairs doesn’t matter either (this is applicable to all foreign norms). If the tenant builds stairs connecting levels, the area created by an orthogonal projection of the stairs is included to the lease area on both storeys. It doesn’t matter here if it’s an indoor staircase, an escalator or even an elevator (shops such as Smyk or H&M often have their own elevators). In single storey office with a varied floor level on the same storey the stair area is included in the total area of those offices (the area is included in the lease). For example: on a single storey there are additional steps (of total height of about 0,40 m) that are used to get to the “higher level” – in this case they are included in the area of the room (storey). It’s the same when there are steps that lead out of the office to e.g. a terrace, such stairs are also included in the lease area.

Shafts

There are, apart from staircases, many elements that have a significant impact on the area of a building. The first one are shafts. The Tegova norm is the only one that allows some shafts to be included in the lease area – it allows shafts that have an area up to 1m2 (including the surrounding walls). The BOMA norm allows including shafts with an area up to 0,1 m2, but in reality there are very few such shafts. As for shafts built for the needs of the tenant, their area is included in the lease area.

Construction walls and support columns

An exterior wall can also be included in the lease area, but only according to the BOMA norm, only when it’s the main facade on the ground floor level and only when it’s an area of commercial use. If we take under consideration the BOMA Retail norm, all exterior walls are wholly included in the lease area (walls surrounding the given tenant). According to the BOMA norm, in case of construction walls that are between two tenants or are within the area leased by one of the tenants, the walls are included in the lease area. All other construction walls are included in a particular area group (e.g. technical areas of the building, technical storeys, entertainment areas of the building or entertainment floors). In the Tegova norm, construction walls are included in the lease area if their area doesn’t exceed 1m2. As for support columns, they are included in the lease area when using the BOMA and Tegova norms. In the first case, all columns are included, and in the second one only the columns with an area up to 1m2 (even the National Stadium, which is a monumental building, has columns with an area just short of 1m2 on the minus levels). All other norms don’t include support columns in the lease area. In the German GIF norm the whole construction (regardless of its area) is subtracted from the lease area (it’s problematic – you have to obtain a construction plan from the owner of the building). In the RICS norm, in case of the area between a support column and the exterior wall of a building being smaller than 25 cm, that area along with the column is not included in the lease area. Additionally, in the RICS norm, if the width of a heater is over 25 cm, that area is excluded from the lease area. In all foreign norms partition walls within the area of the lease are included in that area. They are excluded only in the PN-ISO 9836:1997 (usable area) and in the Uopiol (the Act on local charges and fees of January 12th 1997). Nothing comes in the way of leasing the total area, including the exterior walls, according to the PN-ISO 9863:1997 – halls can be an example. It’s not common practice to use foreign norms of lease area measurements in Polish houses and apartments. Polish norms are mainly used, where all walls, columns and shafts are excluded from the lease area.

Summary

To sum up, stairs and staircases can be included in the lease area of houses, flats and commercial properties only when they are located in leased spaces and are used only by an individual tenant. Shafts can be included in the lease area only according to the Tegova norm (up to 1m2). Exterior walls can be included only in the BOMA norm on the ground floor level of a commercial use area, and on the higher storeys only in keeping with the rule of domination of one factor (a plane that dominates in a particular vertical cross-section of a storey). Support columns and construction walls are included only in the BOMA and Tegova norms (up to 1m2). Partition walls are included in the lease area in all foreign norms. Despite the amount of details, it’s all possible to understand. However, the situation is different when the lessor introduces individual modifications to the norms, which you can read about in a different article of mine. By using this kind of modifications you can reduce or increase the lease area up to a few %, or over a dozen % in tenement buildings. It translates to a change of profits from the lease, in relation to the theoretical value. Usually the lessor agrees to all the modifications by signing the agreement, often not knowingly (usually applies to companies with little experience in leasing). It’s worth pointing out that it’s not common that the tenant checks whether the area declared in the agreement is the same as the one leased to him in reality.

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Author: Adrian Hołub

Translation: Julia Pająk

Contact with

 Monika Hołub

Co-owner Polish Geodetic Group

szkolenia@geodezyjny.com

Tel.: +48 785 041 07

 Adrian Hołub

Co-owner Polish Geodetic Group

adrian.holub@geodezyjny.com

Tel.: +48 608 577 042

Measure it soon!