news | May 15, 2026

What is the difference between the rentable and usable area called?

A helpful tool that tenants and landlords use to understand the difference between a facility's rentable square feet and usable square feet is called the load factor.

Also to know is, what is usable area?

Usable area is the actual space you occupy from wall to wall. I.e. the area you would get if you paced out your offices or warehouse. (This would also include structural walls and columns that are to the inside of the space perimeter, aka internal dominant face)

Also, what is rentable building area? Rentable Square Feet

Simply stated, rentable square footage is the area of the enclosed interior space of the building other than holes in the floor, such as stairwells, and elevator and mechanical duct space. If it's floor that you can stand on, you pay for it, because it is rentable space.

Keeping this in consideration, what is USF and RSF?

Although this may seem pretty cut and dry there are actually two types of square feet that are reference in common commercial real estate transactions: RSF (Rentable Square Feet) and USF (Usable Square Feet). USF refers to the square footage the tenant actually can “use” in their office space.

What does RSF mean in real estate?

Rentable Square Footage

Related Question Answers

How do you calculate usable area?

First, find the total floor area of a building. Then, subtract all shared square footage to get total usable square footage. (The owner or owner's agent should be able to give you these numbers.) From there, divide the total floor space by the usable square footage, and you'll have your load factor.

How is rentable area calculated?

Rentable Square Feet

The portion of common space attributed to a specific tenant is calculated by taking their pro-rata share of the building's total square footage. For example, if a tenant leases 10,000 SF in a 100,000 SF building, 10% of the building's common space will be attributed to that tenant.

What is a circulation area?

The term 'circulation' refers to the movement of people through, around and between buildings and other parts of the built environment. Within buildings, circulation spaces are spaces that are predominately used for circulation, such as entrances, foyers and lobbies, corridors, stairs, landings and so on.

What is considered usable square footage?

In a nutshell, usable square footage is the actual space you occupy from wall to wall. Usable square footage does not include common areas of a building such as lobbies, restrooms, stairwells, storage rooms, and shared hallways.

What is usable carpet area?

Useable carpet area is a measure that excludes walls and includes all the areas where you can spread a 'carpet'.

What is difference between gross area and net area?

The net area informs about the actual area of the accommodation – the actual living quarters. Gross area, on the contrary, includes any common areas; this could for instance be a basement room, gallery, staircase, balcony et cetera, which the tenant has access to on the property.

What is an ancillary area?

Ancillary spaces are spaces that help support the main function of a building. In an office setting, ancillary spaces are communal, unassigned spaces that can include areas like cafes, lounges, outdoor spaces, private enclaves, and other collaborative spaces.

What is the meaning of gross floor area?

Generally, the gross floor area is the sum of the floor areas of the spaces within the building, including basements, mezzanine and intermediate-floored tiers, and penthouses with headroom height of 7.5 ft (2.2 meters) or greater.

How do you calculate core factor?

The core factor can be calculated by dividing the rentable square footage by the usable square footage. It is imperative that we, as Tenant Rep's educate our clients on understanding this number in order to allocate costs and compare different options.

What does sf gross mean?

annual dollars per square

How is loss factor calculated?

Mathematically, loss factor equals “the percentage difference between rentable area and usable area.” In other words, you can calculate loss factor by dividing the difference between the Rentable Square Footage (RSF) and the Usable Square Footage (USF) by the RSF.

What does RBA stand for in real estate?

Rentable Building Area

How do you calculate building load factor?

The building's loss or load factor is equal to the common area divided by the usable area: 1450 divided by 8,300. This gives a load factor of 17.47%. This means that a tenant would pay their actual usable space plus 17.47%.

What are included in CAM charges?

CAM charges are the cost that a landlord pays to operate and run a commercial property. This would include the common area maintenance, charges for cleaning up common areas, security for the property, property taxes, property insurance, repairs and maintenance.

What is aboa sqft?

ANSI/BOMA Office Area (ABOA) means the area “where a tenant normally houses personnel, and/or furniture, for which a measurement is to be computed,” as stated by the American National Standards Institute/Building Owners and Managers Association (ANSI/BOMA) publication, Z65.

What does load factor mean in real estate?

The load factor is a way to calculate the total amount of rent they will actually pay. There is a difference between the usable space rented and the rentable space. The usable space is the square footage the tenant will actually occupy.

What is building load factor?

In short, the load factor is the percentage of space on a floor or building that is not usable and is expressed using the simple formula of rentable area divided by useable area minus one.

What is core factor?

Main definition. Core Factor. The percentage of common areas in a building (rest rooms, hallways) that, when added to the net usable square footage equals the net rentable square footage. May be computed for a building or floor of a building.

What is the common area of a building?

Building Common Areas means those areas within the Building that are provided for the common use of all Building tenants, occupants and invitees, such as, without limitation, accessways, lobbies, common conference and break rooms, corridors, fire vestibules, elevators (if any), foyers, restrooms, janitor's closets, and

What is a good building efficiency ratio?

Commercial projects have always considered the net-to-gross ratio (the ratio of net rentable space versus total gross building space) and are usually 82 percent to 85 percent efficient, while apartments have been far less efficient, with an average ratio of 70 percent to 75 percent.

How do you calculate the building common area factor?

Common Area Factor (or Load Factor)

Start by finding all the usable (USF) and rentable square footage (RSF) throughout the building, then divide RSF by USF to determine the load factor.

What is the common area in apartment?

In an apartment building, the common areas might refer to hallways, doors, elevators and parking lots. Use of the common areas is governed by the lease.

What is BOMA measurement?

For more than a century, BOMA International has set the standard for measuring buildings. In 1915, BOMA published its first office standard, Standard Method of Floor Measurement. Today, BOMA International is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) secretariat for a suite of area measurement standards.

What kind of commercial leases are there?

There are three categories of leases when it comes to commercial real estate: Gross Lease (also known as Full Service Lease), Net Lease, and Modified Gross Lease. The main similarity among these leases is that they all provide a base rent with variations around who pays for which operational expense.

What determines the difference between the various types of net leases?

In a single net lease, the tenant pays a lower base rent in addition to property taxes. Double net leases include property taxes and insurance premiums with the base rent. Triple net leases include property taxes, insurance, and maintenance costs plus base rent.

How do I calculate sq footage?

To find square feet, multiply the length measurement in feet by the width measurement in feet. This yields a product called the area, which is expressed in square feet (or square inches if you are calculating a much smaller space, such as a dollhouse).

What does RSF mean in texting?

RSF — Referee Stopped Fight.

Does rentable square footage include exterior walls?

If there is a common wall between two tenants, each tenant will be paying for half the wall, since they both use it. This is why we use the midpoint on common tenant walls. For the exterior wall, you will probably need an architect. A percentage of these must be included in the tenant's rentable square footage.

What is common area factor?

Common Area Factor (CAF)

The common area factor, also referred to as “load factor” or “add-on factor,” is the increase in the rentable square footage above the usable square footage.