common area - floor

Common area is a continuous section of floor area that is used by multiple departments. The main purpose of designating common areas is to proportionately charge back the departments that use the common area for the cost of operating the common area. This ensures that the cost of all common areas is covered by the departments that use these areas.

Common areas are not assigned to divisions or departments because they are shared by multiple departments. You designate an area as common by setting its Prorate field. The Groups and Rooms tables contain Prorate fields for this purpose. You can set the Prorate value for rooms, groups, and service areas; you do not set it for vertical penetrations because they are part of the building structure.

For example, a conference room might have its Prorate field set to FLOOR to designate it as common area to be charged back to all the departments on the floor.