The practical benefits of IPMS
Improved communication and the establishment of investment markets across the Caribbean have made it more important that there be a single measuring stick for calculating the area of both commercial and non-commercial real estate space.
IPMS is the new International Property Measurement Standard. Over time it will become a suite of documents that will cover all the main property asset classes in an attempt to bring uniformity to the way that property is measured and reported on the global platform. The first standard released in November 2014 was for office buildings. Standards for industrial, retail and mixed-use have followed.
Following the release of IPMS: Offices, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) have redrafted the Code of Measuring Practice (CoMP) and have re-published this as the Professional Statement for Property Measurement. This document became mandatory for all RICS members from 1 January 2016 and for Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) members on 1 February 2016. In the first instance, the Professional Statement was for offices only with the existing CoMP still to be used for other property asset classes. As the other sections of the professional statement are published they will take over from the relevant sections of the CoMP.
Recent research undertaken by Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, American professional services, and investment management company specializing in real estate, comparing five different measurement standards from leading property markets, showed that there was a 24% variance in the reported area if the same building was reported using the different standards.
IPMS will bring greater confidence and consistency in the global property market and allows greater transparency. Stakeholders will be able to benchmark their property portfolios to a recognized standard rather than spending time and effort creating bespoke standards or calibrating and translating reports produced to current standards. IPMS will work alongside the existing recognized International Financial Reporting Standards for accountancy (IFRS) and the International Valuation Standards for valuation (IVS).
