Plowing, salting, and sanding of parking lots, walkways, and common area surfaces during winter weather events.
Key Takeaways
| Lease Type | Recoverable? | Controllable? |
|---|---|---|
| NNN | Yes | No |
| Modified Gross | Yes | No |
| Full-Service Gross | No | No |
Approximate budget share: 2-5% of total CAM pool.
Snow removal and ice control covers plowing, salting, sanding, and de-icing of parking lots, driveways, walkways, and common area surfaces at a commercial property during winter weather events. In regions with heavy snowfall, this line item can be a significant CAM cost. The primary dispute in snow removal is the controllable versus non-controllable classification. Because snowfall is weather-driven, landlords frequently categorize snow removal as non-controllable, which removes it from the annual CAM cap calculation. However, many leases do not explicitly list snow removal in the non-controllable column, creating an ambiguity that benefits the landlord if unchallenged. The secondary dispute is accuracy: service logs should document every plowing event with dates and areas treated, and material usage should reconcile with actual snowfall records available from NOAA. Tenants in northern markets should treat snow removal as a high-priority audit target because small per-event pricing errors accumulate across a full winter season.
Overcharge Risk
$1,000-$8,000/year
typical annual overcharge when this line item is disputed
Landlords classify snow removal as a non-controllable expense to bypass CAM caps, even when it is explicitly included in the controllable expense definition under the lease. Costs also fail to correlate with actual snowfall data.
| Legitimate Charge | Suspicious Charge |
|---|---|
| Plowing and salting events that correspond to documented snow or ice events | Snow removal billings for dates with no recorded precipitation in NOAA data |
| Non-controllable classification explicitly supported by lease language | Landlord labeling snow removal non-controllable when the lease is silent on its classification |
| Material quantities (salt, sand) consistent with market pricing | Salt costs that exceed market commodity pricing by 40%+ with no explanation |
| Itemized service logs per event with area treated and service type | A single monthly lump-sum charge with no event-level detail |
Challenge the non-controllable classification if your lease does not explicitly exclude snow removal from CAM caps. Cross-reference costs against NOAA snowfall data for the property location and year. Demand service logs documenting each plowing or salting event.
Check Your Snow Removal & Ice Control Charges
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