WASHINGTON, DC—Is that internal column counted as part of a building's overall square footage? What about the parking lot? Let's talk about the floor area. Is it measured to the wall-floor junction or to the walls' midpoint?

Up until a few months ago the answer was, it depends where the building was located. Over the years and decades countries have developed different ways of measuring buildings; even in certain parts of the US it can differ.

Theoretically that is no longer the case.

Last November, the International Property Measurements Standards coalition, a group of 61 organizations from around the world, culminated two years of standard-setting activity to quietly debut its International Property Measurement Standards: Office Buildings. Now, members of the group, which in the US include BOMA International, CoreNet Global and the Institute of Real Estate Management among others, are talking up the standards in order to see them adopted.

"This is an issue that has consistently been a problem around the world," Ken Creighton, director of standards at Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the elected chair of IPMS Coalition, tells GlobeSt.com. "Over the years measurement and valuations have become tangled and interwoven. The very concept of basic physical space has become lost."

IPMS and the promise of uniformity that the new standard promises was the topic of discussion at a DC Real Estate Leaders' Event on IPMS earlier this month at International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, DC.

The forum was sponsored by the District of Columbia Building Industry Association, BOMA, the Apartment and Office Building Association, the American Institute of Architects-DC and RICS.

Besides so-sponsoring the forum, DCBIA is also in the process of evaluating the new standards and educating its members about them.

"We need to look at assets with predictability," says Lisa Mallory, CEO of DCBIA. "DC can be a pilot for implementation of IPMS in the US, especially by working with our members and organizations such as BOMA International and the Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington."

"Standardization of building measurement could build a lot of traction here by eliminating variability in this crucial area."

Standardization will also spur more cross-border investment and development in commercial real estate, Creighton says. "Having these standards in place is a real benefit to the public and to the market place."

With the office standards released, the coalition has turned its attention to standards for residential buildings.

It plans to hold a public consultation on IPMS in the first half of 2015 and is hopeful that the standard will be published towards the end of the year. A standard for industrial buildings will be its third endeavor, followed by retail buildings.

For a FAQ on the standard, visit this site. For the published office standard, go here.