CAM (Common Area Maintenance)

Category: business

The fees billed to tenants to cover the operating expenses of the shared spaces in a commercial building.

CAM charges are the "shared bill." If you rent a store in a mall, you pay your base rent plus your pro-rata share of the parking lot paving, snow removal, security guards, and hallway lighting. Auditing CAM charges is a major task for commercial tenants.

Common Examples

• The tenant requested a cap on the annual CAM increases to protect their operating budget from unpredictable maintenance spikes.
• Properly reconciling the end-of-year CAM expenses is critical to maintaining a transparent relationship with your commercial tenants.