Two redlines that run close coupled with the International Building Code are open for public consultation until September 14 and October 15, respectively:
NOAA National Weather Service: Storm Total Maps and Verification
ASCE Codes & Standards Catalog
Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee
Code and Standards Open for Comment
America’s Infrastructure Score: C-
Our engagement with ASCE standards dates to the founding of Standards Michigan, when we challenged legacy live-load requirements for university armories whose contemporary use no longer resembled the military occupancy from which the requirements arose.
BOMA International sets the standard for measuring buildings. In 1915, BOMA published its first office standard, Standard Method of Floor Measurement. Throughout the years, the standard has been revised to reflect the changing needs of the real estate market and the evolution of office building design.
BOMA International is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) secretariat for a suite of area measurement standards.
The BOMA catalog remains active, with recent revisions reflecting changes in building use, energy accounting and increasingly complicated mixed-use occupancies.
Inspired by Lord Kelvin’s “If you can not measure it, you can not improve it” and Peter Drucker’s adage “If you can’t measure it, You can’t improve it” and W. Edwards Deming’s counter-argument — “It is wrong to suppose that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it – a costly myth.” we present the standards catalog of the Building Owner’s Management Association:
BOMA Area Measurement Standards Timeline 1915-2021
At the moment all titles in this catalog seem to be stabilized. Largely because a sizeable portion of square footage in every school district, college, university and university-affiliated healthcare research and clinical delivery system derives at least part of its funding from governments at all levels there are workgroups devoted to measuring square footage and documenting its use. For example:
Space Management: University of Oklahoma
Space Management: Texas A&M University-San Antonio
Space Management Policy: University at Buffalo
Getting square-footage right is essential for securing an organization’s sustainability and “green” claims for example. The links in previous posts provide for information about future public consultations.
We maintain the BOMA catalog on the agenda of our Space Planning, Hammurabi and Architectural colloquia, hosted 6 to 8 times annually. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting, open to everyone.
Posted March 20, 2021
We drill into the specifics commonly found in education communities: sub-lease of space to private industry in publicly-owned facilities. The Building Owners and Managers Association International is an ANSI-accredited consensus standard developer and revised its standard — BOMA Z65.5 Retail Properties: Standard Method of Measurement. Measuring the area of a retail building can quickly become complex when variables must be considered such as ancillary space, mezzanines and storefront lease lines. Many large research universities have long since leased space within many of their building envelopes for private industry to service their communities — student unions, hospitals, dormitories and athletic venues, for example. From the project prospectus:
Z65.5 is intended exclusively for retail properties and their associated structures and may be applied to single-tenant, multi-tenant or multi-building configurations. It features a single method of measurement, with two levels of measurement data, known as Partial Measurement and Overall Measurement for retail properties. It does not measure sidewalks, surface parking, drainage structures, or other ancillary site improvements. This standard is chiefly designed to generate Gross Leasable Area figures, a key metric in retail leasing; however, it also produces area figures which may be of interest to those examining space utilization, valuation, benchmarking, and the allocation of building expenses to various cost centers. The scope of this standard is not intended to be submitted for consideration as an ISO, IEC, or ISO/IEC JTC-1 standard.
Public consultation is open until February 8th.
You may obtain an electronic copy from: floorstandards@boma.org. Send comments (with optional copy to psa@ansi.org) to: floorstandards@boma.org. We encourage user-interest subject matter experts in education facility management to participate directly in the BOMA standards development process by communicating directly with Tanner Johnson at BOMA (tjohnston@boma.org) or 202-326-6357 for more information.
We keep the BOMA catalog on the standing agenda of our colloquia devoted to building construction best practice. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [14-117]
Category: Architectural, Facility Asset Management
Colleagues: Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
More
Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
Posted February, 20 2020
The Building Owners and Managers Association International (BOMA) is an ANSI-accredited consensus standard developer. BOMA has initiated the process of revising its real property measurement standard — BOMA Z65.2 For Industrial Buildings: Standard Methods of Measurement. The primary objectives of this standard are:
– To promote an unambiguous framework for determining the areas of Industrial Buildings with a strong focus on Rentable Area calculations;
– To facilitate transparency and clear communication of building measurement concepts among all participants in the commercial real estate
industry;
– To allow a comparison of values on the basis of a clearly understood and generally agreed upon method of measurement; and
– To align concepts and measurement methodologies with the International Property Measurement Standards: Industrial Buildings (January 2018)
document.
Comments due March 15th
Click here to view these changes in full (Page 2)
Send comments (with optional copy to psa@ansi.org) to: tjohnston@boma.org













Standards Michigan follows, but d0es not advocate in most of the BOMA standards suite for the following reasons:
We encourage user-interest subject matter experts in education facility management to participate directly in the BOMA standards development process by communicating directly with Tanner Johnson at BOMA (tjohnston@boma.org) or 202-326-6357 for more information.
We maintain the entire BOMA suite on our periodic Model Building Code colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [15-200]
Category: Architectural, Space Plaaning, Facility Asset Management
Colleagues: Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
LEARN MORE:
Facilities Information Management
Guideline for Square Footage Requirements for Educational Facilities
Guide to School Site Analysis and Development
5.18.20
This content is accessible to paid subscribers. To view it please enter your password below or send mike@standardsmichigan.com a request for subscription details.
2024 International Existing Building Code
2025 GROUP B PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE I-CODES | April 2025
Important 2024 IEBC Changes Affecting College & University Facilities
| Code Change | Campus Impact |
|---|---|
| 1. Occupiable Roofs | New provisions coordinate rooftop occupancy requirements with the 2024 IBC. Universities converting roofs into terraces, student gathering areas, dining spaces, green roofs, or observation decks must evaluate structural capacity, means of egress, accessibility, guardrails, and fire protection. |
| 2. Risk Category Clarification for Additions | Provides clearer guidance when additions have a different occupancy than the existing building. This is particularly important for laboratory expansions, medical research buildings, student health facilities, and emergency operations centers. |
| 3. Storm Shelter Coordination | Storm shelter provisions now coordinate directly with IBC Section 423 and ICC 500. Campus projects in tornado-prone regions should verify shelter requirements early during planning. |
| 4. Smoke Compartment Requirements | Certain renovations involving healthcare occupancies, student medical clinics, and assisted-living facilities may require additional smoke compartmentation during major alterations. |
| 5. Adult Changing Stations | Projects adding toilet facilities may now require adult changing stations in certain accessible family or assisted-use restrooms. This primarily affects stadiums, arenas, student unions, libraries, and performing arts centers. |
| 6. Exterior Wall Renovations on High-Rise Buildings | Installation of combustible exterior wall coverings or envelope systems on existing high-rise buildings may trigger automatic sprinkler requirements. This should be evaluated during residence hall and research tower renovations. |
| 7. Existing Automatic Sprinkler Systems | New provisions establish conditions under which certain non-required sprinkler systems may be removed following occupancy changes. Campus owners should review this carefully before renovation projects. |
| 8. Temporary Emergency Building Uses | New Appendix E provides guidance for temporary emergency use of existing buildings. Universities can incorporate these concepts into emergency operations planning during natural disasters or public health emergencies. |
| 9. Construction Site Safety Planning | New owner responsibilities emphasize development of site safety plans and designation of responsible personnel during construction. This is especially valuable on occupied campuses where construction occurs adjacent to classrooms, residence halls, hospitals, and pedestrian routes. |
| 10. Better Coordination with the 2024 IBC | Many provisions have been reorganized or updated to improve consistency between the IEBC and the current International Building Code. Campus design teams can expect fewer conflicts between existing-building and new-construction requirements during modernization projects. |
Facilities Most Likely to be Affected
“`
November 30, 2021
Every month we direct our colleagues in the education industry to the US Census Department’s monthly construction report to make a point: at an average annual clip of about $75 billion, the education industry is the largest non-residential building construction market in the United States. A large part of that construction involves infrastructure upgrades of existing buildings that contribute to sustainability goals but may not make flashy architectural statements for philanthropists.
EDUCATION INDUSTRY CONSTRUCTION SPEND
The International Existing Building Code (IEBC) is a model code in the International Code Council family of codes intended to provide requirements for repair and alternative approaches for alterations and additions to existing buildings (LEARN MORE). A large number of existing buildings and structures do not comply with the current building code requirements for new construction. Although many of these buildings are potentially salvageable, rehabilitation is often cost-prohibitive because compliance with all the new requirements for new construction could require extensive changes that go well beyond the value of building or the original scope of the alteration.
FREE ACCESS: 2021 International Existing Building Code
Education facility planners, architects and managers: Sound familiar?
ICC administered workgroups have been convening with considerable frequency over the past several months to pull together a number of relevant concepts for the next (2019 Group B) revision. For the purpose of providing some perspective on the complexity and subtlety of the issues in play, a partial overview of working group activity is available in the links below. Keep in mind that there are many other proposals being developed by our ICC working group and others.
IEBC Healthcare for BCAC December 11 2018
16-169 IEBC BCC Worksheet October 2-3 2018
There are other many other issues we have been tracking. The foregoing simply presents the level of detail and subtlety that is noteworthy.
On Tuesday the ICC has released its the complete monograph for use at the Group B Committee Action Hearings, April 28-May 8 at the Albuquerque Convention Center:
It is a large document — 2919 pages — so keep that in mind when accessing it. There are many issues affecting #TotalCostofOwnership of the education facility industry so we will get cracking on it again next week. See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconference. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our home page.
Finally, we persist in encouraging education industry facility managers (especially those with operations and maintenance data) to participate in the ICC code development process. You may do so by CLICKING HERE. Real asset managers for school districts, colleges, universities and technical schools in the Albuquerque region should take advantage of the opportunity to observe the ICC code-development process. The Group B Hearings are usually webcast — and we will signal the link to the 10-day webcast when it becomes available — but the experience of seeing how building codes are determined is enlightening when you can watch it live and on site.
Issue: [16-169]
Category: Architectural, Facility Asset Management, Space Planning
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
#StandardsNewMexico
LEARN MORE:
ICC Group B Code Development Schedule
Plan now to participate in the International Code Council's 2019 Committee Action Hearings in Albuquerque, April 28 – May 8. Your expertise & participation in this year's code hearings are vital. Register for FREE now! https://t.co/kuLDyCiOH6 #CodeHeroes #BuildingSafety365 pic.twitter.com/SpZuehOmd8
— IntlCodeCouncil (@IntlCodeCouncil) March 6, 2019
Connections, learnings, and expanded conversations #SCUPNC2022 in #chicago 👍🌟 pic.twitter.com/enPtA7YJsX
— SCUP (@Plan4HigherEd) October 18, 2022
Early operations benefited from administrative support (aegis) provided by the University of Michigan, including office space and resources in Ann Arbor. This arrangement persisted until a financial crisis in the late 1970s (1976–1980), during which SCUP relocated to New York.
The decoupling—marking full operational and administrative independence from the University of Michigan—occurred in 1980, when SCUP returned to Ann Arbor as a self-sustaining nonprofit headquartered at a separate location –1330 Eisenhower Place — less than a mile walk from Standards Michigan‘s front door at 455 East Eisenhower.
* Of the 220 ANSI Accredited Standards Developers, the State of Michigan ranks 3rd in the ranking of U.S. states with the most ANSI-accredited standards developers (ASDs) headquartered there; behind the Regulatory Hegemons of California and ChicagoLand and excluding the expected cluster foxtrot of non-profits domiciled in the Washington-New York Deep State Megalopolis. Much of Michigan’s presence in the private consensus standards space originates from its industrial ascendency through most of the 1900’s.
Play is the making of civilization—how one plays the game
more to the point than whether the game is won or lost.
We follow development of best practice literature for spectator seating structures produced by the International Code Council, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA 102), the American Society of Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute (ASCE SEI-7). There are also federal regulations promulgated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. (Note that some of the regulations were inspired by the several regional building code non-profits before the International Code Council was formed in year ~ 2000)
The parent standard from the International Code Council is linked below:
ICC 300 Standard on Bleachers, Folding and Telescopic Seating, and Grandstands
The development of this standard is coordinated with the ICC Group A Codes. We have tracked concepts in it previous revisions; available in the link below.
2024/2025/2026 ICC CODE DEVELOPMENT SCHEDULE
As always, we encourage our colleagues with workpoint experience to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process. CLICK HERE to get started.








Category: Athletics & Recreation, Architectural, Public Safety
Contact: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
Virtual reality technology in evacuation simulation of sport stadiums
LEARN MORE:
BREAKING NEWS: Woman spotted at the game has been voted by netizens as one of the most beautiful women in the world.
“I’ve never seen a woman as beautiful as her,” one netizen shared. pic.twitter.com/sA1j8Ju3a7
— 🎼🌺Music Love♥️ (@ThoNg676733) June 7, 2026
The post-pandemic #WiseCampus transformation requires significant capital to meet the sustainability goals of its leadership. Campuses are cities-within-cities and are, to a fair degree, financed in a similar fashion. Tax-free bonds are an effective instrument for school districts, colleges and universities — and the host community in which they are nested — for raising capital for infrastructure projects while also providing investors with, say $10,000 to $100,000, to allocate toward a tax-free dividend income stream that produces a return in the range of 2 to 8 percent annually.
An aging population may be receptive to investment opportunities that protect their retirement savings from taxation.
Curious about the municipal bond market? Check out the MSRB’s new resource “Municipal Market Basics” to start your journey through the MSRB’s newly updated Education Center: https://t.co/BIMBxWpKGkhttps://t.co/PLhtaXzdD9 pic.twitter.com/FVARkkYZAD
— MSRB (@MSRB_News) November 28, 2023
Once a month, we walk through the prospectuses of one or two bond offerings of school districts, colleges and universities and examine offering specifics regarding infrastructure construction, operations and maintenance. We pay particular attention to details regarding “continuing operations”. Somehow the education industry has to pay for its green agenda. See our CALENDAR for the next Finance colloquium; open to everyone.
The interactive map provided by Electronic Municipal Market Access identifies state-by-state listings of tax-free bonds that contribute to the construction and operation of education facilities; some of which involved university-affiliated medical research and healthcare delivery enterprises.
If you need help cutting through this list please feel free to click in any day at 11 AM Eastern time. Use the login credentials at the upper right of our hope page. We collaborate with subject matter experts at Municipal Analytics and UBS.
Issue: [Various]
Category: Administration & Management, Finance, #SmartCampus
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, John Kaczor, Liberty Ziegahn
*We see the pandemic as a driver for a step-reduction in cost in all dimensions of education communities. We coined the term with a hashtag about two years ago.
*College and university infrastructure projects are classified with public school districts under the rubric “municipal bonds” at the moment. CLICK HERE for more information.
Good question. pic.twitter.com/FtW0eSaQs7
— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) January 27, 2025
More:
Duke Law Review: Don’t ‘Screw Joe the Plummer’: The Sausage-Making of Financial Reform
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwB pic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
— USPTO (@uspto) July 13, 2023
Standards Michigan Group, LLC
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Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA
888-748-3670