The cost of water supply and sewage disposal for common areas of a commercial building, including irrigation for landscaping, restroom facilities in shared spaces, cooling tower makeup water, and fire suppression system testing. Water and sewer charges are a standard CAM line item.
Water and sewer expenses for CAM purposes include municipal water supply charges, sewer usage fees, stormwater fees, irrigation system water for landscaping, cooling tower water consumption, and water used in fire suppression testing. If the building has a single master meter, the landlord allocates water costs across tenants. If tenants have individual sub-meters, only the common area consumption should appear in CAM.
A building had one master water meter and no sub-meters. A car wash tenant consumed 60% of total water but had no separate metering. The landlord passed the entire water bill through CAM on a pro-rata square footage basis, forcing office tenants to subsidize the car wash tenant's water usage.
Ask whether your building uses sub-meters for high-water-use tenants. If not, review the total water bill against reasonable common area consumption. If a single tenant (restaurant, gym, car wash) consumes a disproportionate share, they should be separately metered or charged a higher allocation.
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Find My OverchargesThis page provides general educational information. It is not legal advice and may not reflect the most current law in your state. Consult a licensed attorney for advice specific to your situation.
