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ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act. Legislation introduced in 1990 to mandate public building access for all handicapped persons.

Amortize - tenant improvements costs which are absorbed in to lease payments with interest. Click here to learn more about office leases and amortizing.

Architect - a licensed consultant who plans buildings or interior building spaces and advises in their construction.

As Builts - (see Record Documents).

AWD - Architectural Working Drawings. Also known as Construction Documents (CD's). Building-permit-quality architectural drawings from which interior spaces are constructed.

Bidding (construction) - a competitive process by which a company submits against others a statement of how, when, and at what price a project will be completed.

Big Boxes - large, open warehouse-like commercial properties typically utilized by retail "superstore" chains. Distressed big box properties are often retrofitted for call center, office-warehouse, research and other commercial uses (see Call Center).

BOMA Standard - the Building Owners and Managers Association developed a national documented standard which specifies how interior square footage is measured. Addresses questions on common areas, demising partitions and rentable/usable (R/U) factors. Click here to learn more about measuring square footage.

Building Capital Improvements - a building's assets that are fixed in place: public area and mechanical/electrical improvements to the base building, separate from tenant improvements.

Building Code - a municipal rule or set of instructions that specifically governs the safety characteristics of building interiors and exteriors. Fire protection and detection systems, corridor lengths, fire ratings, lighting and handicapped access are examples of characteristics governed by codes. Click here to learn more about Building Codes.

Building Evaluation Services - investigation and analysis of a building or facility to determine its compatibility with the user's specific requirements (see also Due Diligence).

Building Permit - a written license issued by a municipality which grants permission for a building or a building interior space to be constructed. < BACK TO TOP

Build-to -Suit - a facility custom designed to fit the user's specific requirements. Generally implies that the user is also the owner.

Cabling - the installation and management of computer and telephone wiring, including fiber optics in an interior space. Typically not included in tenant improvement allowances.

CAD - Computer Aided Design. Drawing and drafting using computer software and outputting electronic files to large printers or plotters. Virtually all architectural, and mechanical and electrical engineering plan documentation are CAD-generated.

Call Center - a customer service or telemarketing area or a facility in which large volumes of incoming or outgoing telephone calls are handled by shift workers. Call centers are typically defined by large, open areas with moveable workstations or cubicles with management office and meeting or conference areas. Call centers are often housed in a converted retail or warehouse properties.

Circulation Factor - the measurement factor determined by the amount of interior space allotted for tenant "common areas," like corridors and hallways. A conventional office with fixed walls requires about 35 percent additional square footage for circulation. An "open" office plan can have a 45 percent factor. Click here to learn more about Circulation Factors.

Common Area - shared spaces within a building like lobbies, hallways, rest room, corridors, etc.

Common Area Factor - a multiplier used to distribute a pro-rata share of a building's common areas among the tenants. Typically eight to ten percent for full-floor tenants; twelve to 16 percent for smaller tenants.

Compact Filing - office filing systems compacted electronically through document scanning or CD transfer, or by moving non-essential archives off-site.

Computer Rooms (servers) - specially-designed compartments within an office space in which high-speed servers with accompanying wiring and hardware are located. Require special cooling components and heavy load electrical and mechanical systems.

CD - Construction Documents. (see Architectural Working Drawings).

Cleanroom - an environment, typically used in manufacturing or scientific research, that has a low level of environmental pollutants such as dust, airborne microbes, aerosol particles and chemical vapors. A cleanroom has a controlled level of contamination that is specified by the number of particles per cubic meter at a specified particle size.

Construction Management - the process of administering a construction contract, including construction bidding. Typically performed by an architect, general contractor or other consultant on behalf of a client.

Construction Monitoring - a service performed by an architect or other consultant in which the process of the build-out, short of construction administration, is monitored for quality and timeliness.

Contractors - usually refers to the General Contractor or the company who and contracts for and supervises the complete build-out of a space. Can also refer to any entity that performs a service for a certain rate.

Core and Shell - the outside or skeleton of a building plus its central stairwells and elevator shafts, restrooms, mechanical and electrical rooms and equipment serving the building occupants.

Corporate Facility Standards - a cultural mandate by a company that dictates how and by whom the specifics of a facility will be utilized, usually by rank, pay grade, or operational function. Click here to learn more about Corporate Facility Standards.

Cubicles - also referred to as Workstations. Cubicles are fixed or mobile furniture and partially-enclosed work areas of variable size and wall height. Can be arranged in multiple layouts to maximize both density and flexibility. Click here to learn more about cubicles. < BACK TO TOP

Data Center - also called a server farm, or formerly referred to as a computer room, the data center is a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (air conditioning, fire suppression) and security systems.

DD (Design Development) - architectural and engineering plans and specifications sufficient for construction cost estimating but not for obtaining building permits.

Dead Loads - physical weight of furniture and equipment installed in a space. Typically, buildings are designed to support a dead load of 50 pounds per square foot.

Dealer (furniture) - a company that represents the sale and installation of a furniture product or product line.

Debt Service - interest paid by a building owner on their real estate load. Debt service costs are included in the lease rates and typically can amount to eight to ten percent of the cost of leasing space.

Demising Partitions - walls that define the perimeter of any given interior space and separate one tenant space from another. Square footage of a space is measured from the center line of a demising partition. Click here to learn more about Demising Partitions. Click here to learn more about Demising Partitions.

Demountable Walls - non-fixed wall sections constructed of metal, drywall, fabric and other materials. Demountable walls are manufactured in various heights and thicknesses, can be affixed to furniture systems, lighting and flooring, and are completely portable and moveable. Typically more costly to construct than fixed walls.

Densification - an office planning method or increasing the number of people working within a given space.

Downsizing - reducing a company's personnel and square footage.

Due Diligence - identifying and quantifying the condition of a facility or interior space (see also Building Evaluation Services).

Ergonomics - the science of designing furniture and equipment to sympathetically work with the human body.

Existing or Reusable Assets - improvements made by a previous tenant that can be utilized by an incoming tenant. Examples are computer rooms, heavy electrical or mechanical systems, or telephone cabling.

Exiting - life safety path of egress defined by building codes. < BACK TO TOP

Facilities Program - the process of determining architectural, design, planning and space requirements for office space. A quantification of all the components of any given business space, including equipment and furniture factored in to projected growth of the company over time. Click here to learn more about Programming.

Fees (related to TI's) - (see Soft Costs).

FF & E - moveable furniture, fixtures and equipment.

Fire Rated - Underwriters Laboratory tested standards for fire and smoke barrier separations between areas. Used by building codes to shape life safety standards.

Fixed Office - a "traditional" office constructed of immovable drywall and secured to both floor and ceiling.

Fixed wall (fixed wall construction) - (see Fixed Office).

Flex Space - usually big box office-warehouse buildings designed for a usage breakdown of twenty percent office; eighty percent warehouse. Call centers will typically occupy as one hundred percent open office usage.

Floor Plate - a building's "footprint," or the number of square feet on any given floor.

Furniture Reps - sales and service liaisons of manufacturers who provide customer support to architectural and design firms. < BACK TO TOP

Green Design - (see LEED).

Gross Square Footage - the total square footage enclosed by a building's exterior walls.

Hardwalls (Hardwall Construction) - (see Fixed Office).

Hoteling - when two or more workers with different schedules share the same space, furniture and equipment in an office. Hoteling is one of many progressive office methods for those associated with shiftwork and requiring time outside of the office, like sales and services representatives. Click here to learn more about Hoteling.

Huddle Room - a small conference room designed for two to four people to meet.

HVAC - Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. Office building systems that supply and monitor air temperature and quality.

Indirect Lighting - light fixtures and equipment that provide diffused or deflected overhead or wall illumination.

Installers (furniture) - specialists usually employed by furniture dealers or moving companies who install new furniture systems and tear down and reassemble existing systems.

Interior Designer - a design specialist who specializes in interior finish materials, colors, furniture and accessories.

Lease Rates - the square footage "rental" rate of any given lease space.

Lease Review - the process by which a broker or other real estate specialist seeks out any potential problems in an office lease. A lease review may disclose such issues as square footage discrepancies or tenant improvement allowances.

Leasing Agent - a commercial real estate professional who represents building landlords when negotiating tenant office leases.

LEED - according to the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. For more information on LEED and other facts on sustainable design, visit the U.S. Green Building Counci's website at www.usgbc.org

Life Safety - governing principle behind all building codes that pertain to protecting the health and safety of people within a jurisdiction. < BACK TO TOP

Millwork - wood molding, shelving, trim or other built-in fabricated fixtures.

Occupancy Load - building code standards affixing the number of square feet per occupant for the purpose of determining exiting, HVAC and plumbing requirements, for example.

Occupancy Permit - a written license issued by a municipality which grants permission for a tenant to occupy its built-out space.

Open Systems - office interiors built primarily for the deployment of moveable furniture workstations. Open systems have few fixed offices or conference areas. Click here to learn more about Open Systems.

Parabolic - a type of louver used for florescent light fixtures particularly efficient in distributing light.

Paracube - a scaled down version of the parabolic primarily known for its effectiveness in eliminating computer monitor glare.

Parking Ratio - the number of a building's parking stalls per one thousand feet of interior space. "New" methods of officing require 5 to 6 stalls per one thousand square feet.

Pricing Space Plan - (see Design Development).

Programming - (see Facilities Program).

Property Manager - a real estate professional who manages a building's day to day functions, including security, life safety and HVAC.

Public Area - (see Common Area).

Raceways - typically concealed system furniture panels that carry electrical and telephone cabling. Designed for flexibility, mobility and ease of installation. May also be mounted to drywall partitions.

Record Documents - also referred to as "As Builts," Record Documents are usually CAD-produced drawings that detail existing conditions in any given interior space.

REIT - Real Estate Investment Trust. REIT's are mutual funds that purchase real estate for a return on an investment.

Rentable Square Footage - the total enclosed floor area of a building including common areas and excepting stairwells and elevators.

Rentable/Usable Factor - (see Common Area Factor).

Retrofit - outfitting an obsolete or outdated building or interior space with modern systems, such as HVAC systems, cabling, wiring and fiber optics.

Right of First Refusal - a tenant's expansion option in which it can lease additional contiguous or other space in its building or campus before other parties at the existing current market rates. < BACK TO TOP

Schematic Space Plan - Operational layout of a proposed space to determine the suitability for requirements only. Schematic space plans are not sufficient for construction pricing.

Soft Costs - architectural and engineering fees generally excluded from construction bids.

Space Planning - the preparation of design drawings and documentation that organize and arrange interior spaces, architectural improvements, furniture, fixtures and equipment in response to the detailed and specific requirements of the user.

Specifier - a design professional responsible for selecting and documenting products to be used for a project.

Systems Furniture - collections of moveable office furniture components, including desks, chairs, lighting, shelving, file storage, tables and other equipment designed to fit together easily, interchange with other systems, and compliment the specific operations of a company.

Telecommuting - the process by which an employee works outside of the office and submits data by fax or Internet. An experimental new method of doing business, telecommuting saves square footage for the firm while offering flexibility and autonomy to the worker.

Tenant - the legal occupant of any given interior space or building for a specified term in exchange for rent.

Tenant Development (TD) Services - architectural and engineering design and working drawing services provided for and compensated by, landlords for tenant spaces within a building. TD services represent the best interests of the landlord.

Tenant Finish Allowance - a specified dollar per square footage amount built into a tenant's lease rate for improving its interior space. Click here to learn more about Tenant Finish Allowance and Tenant Improvements.

TI - Tenant Improvement. Negotiated improvements made to a tenant's interior space, and amortized into the lease rate. TI's can include paint, carpet, window treatments, etc.

Tenant Rep Broker - a licensed real estate professional who represents the tenant in finding adequate office space, and negotiating the best possible lease deal with the tenant's landlord.

Tenant Rep (TR) Services - architectural and engineering design and working drawing services provided for a tenant that is seeking to remodel its existing space or relocate to a new space. TR services represent the best interests of the tenant.

Test Fits - a tactic used by tenant representation brokers and architects in which two or more interior spaces, usually in different buildings, are "tested" for potential viability. The architect plans the test space by plugging in the spatial requirements of the tenant to determine if a fit exists.

Transfer Air Fan - a non-ducted exhaust fan designed to remove air from a space and transfer it to the space above the ceiling.

UBC (Uniform Building Code) - one of several standard national building code.

Usable Square Footage - the square footage in any given interior space that the tenant actually uses, exclusive of all common areas.

Vacancy Rate - the percentage of available interior square footage in any given area. The lower the vacancy rate, the less space available.

Watchdog Services - interior architectural supervisory services in which monitoring is the key component. Can apply to construction monitoring, or lease reviews, for example.

Watts/sf - the amount of electrical power per square foot in any given interior space. Five watts per square foot in an office environment is considered more than sufficient for most users. < BACK TO TOP