Define the operating brief
Write down the required storage system, receiving pattern, shipment sizes, equipment and any office component before touring. Distinguish minimum requirements from preferences. This prevents a low quoted rate from distracting from a feature the operation cannot work without.
Ask for current plans and measured dimensions. Verify clear height at relevant obstructions, door dimensions, loading arrangements, column spacing and internal circulation against the operating brief. Listing labels are useful leads for inspection, not confirmation of operating suitability.
Check the area and separate the components
BOMA publishes a measurement standard for industrial and flex buildings. Ask which measurement basis supports the quote and how warehouse, office, mezzanine and other areas are treated. Record billable area independently of your operational storage calculation.
If yard or outside storage is included, record the documented area, charge and permitted use separately. Do not convert yard space into an invented equivalent warehouse rent. A site with several components needs a cost schedule that preserves those differences.
Hypothetical example: two warehouse footprints
Assume Warehouse A is 10,000 square feet at $12 base rent plus $5 additional rent annually per square foot. Its rent subtotal is $170,000 annually. Warehouse B is 9,000 square feet at $13 plus $5, producing $162,000 annually.
B’s subtotal is $8,000 lower, despite its higher base rate. If the operation requires another hypothetical $20,000 of equipment or reconfiguration at B, compare that opening expense separately. Do not spread it into rent without identifying the term and method. These figures exclude tax, utilities, incentives and yard charges.
Where official sector history exists
The approved source contains separate building-type series for Canada, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, Toronto, Montréal, Calgary and Vancouver, as well as the Atlantic and Prairie regions. Other listed city series combine building types. Coverage is a property of the source, not a missing value to estimate.
For a market without a sector-specific city series, view its all-building history and independently dated sector evidence. Keep the measures separate; a provincial industrial index cannot be relabelled as an Edmonton industrial index.
Sources and scope.
- BOMA International — Floor Measurement Standards ↗
- Statistics Canada — Survey of Commercial Rents reporting guide ↗
Sources checked 12 October 2026. Numerical examples are hypothetical; figures from the official index carry their published source period.