Building Owners and Managers Association

The Building Owners and Managers Association, or BOMA, is a trade group for commercial property owners and managers. It was founded in 1907 and is best known for its standards for measuring office and other commercial buildings.

BOMA's office standard is approved as an American National Standard through ANSI, and many commercial leases use it to define rentable and usable area. It deals with things houses do not have, such as shared lobbies, corridors, and elevator shafts.

BOMA standards do not apply to homes. A house is measured under ANSI Z765 instead, which reports one gross living area figure rather than dividing space among tenants.

Further reading: Building Owners and Managers Association on Wikipedia.