New joint approach to benchmark reports.

Office building benchmark reports are about to get easier and more comprehensive, thanks to a joint approach being developed by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM[R]) and the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International.

The two organizations have instituted measures to allow respondents to report building income and expense data to each organization easily, without submitting separate forms to each group.

While both groups have used the same data collection form for some time, respondents who chose to contribute to both reports had to fill out the form twice. Now respondents can submit their data to one organization and authorize their data to be automatically shared with the other organization. In a joint announcement, IREM president Robert Toothaker, CPM[R], and BOMA Chairman and Chief Elected Officer Kurt R. Padavano, RPA, CPM, FMA, SMA, stated: "Our organizations increasingly are seeking to collaborate in ways that will benefit our members and the other constituencies we serve. By sharing data submitted for our respective reports, thereby expanding the pool of information each of us has to work with, report end users can better assess the performance of their properties compared to similar ones in the marketplace.