Fees paid by commercial tenants to cover the cost of maintaining shared spaces in a building or shopping center, including parking lots, lobbies, elevators, restrooms, hallways, and landscaping.
CAM charges represent 15% to 35% of total occupancy costs in most commercial leases, making them one of the most financially significant and disputed line items in any lease negotiation or audit. Unlike base rent, which is a fixed, predictable amount, CAM charges fluctuate annually based on the landlord's actual operating expenditures for the building and site. **What CAM charges typically include:** Eligible costs generally cover snow removal, exterior landscaping, parking lot maintenance and resurfacing, lighting for common areas, security services, janitorial services for shared lobbies and hallways, shared utility costs, and property management administration fees. In multi-tenant buildings, each tenant pays a pro-rata share calculated as their leased square footage divided by the total rentable square footage of the property. **How CAM charges are calculated:** The formula is: CAM contribution = (Tenant RSF ÷ Total Building RSF) × Total Annual CAM Expenses. For example, a 5,000 RSF tenant in a 35,000 RSF building has a 14.3% pro-rata share. If annual CAM expenses are $297,500, the tenant owes $42,500 per year ($3,542/month). Tenants typically pay estimated CAM charges monthly; at year-end the landlord issues a reconciliation statement showing actual expenses versus estimates. **What can be excluded from CAM charges:** A well-negotiated lease excludes capital expenditures (roof replacement, major structural repairs), depreciation on landlord equipment, income taxes, leasing commissions, and costs for vacant spaces. Landlords sometimes attempt to amortize capital improvements as "routine maintenance." Tenants without explicit exclusion language are exposed to these pass-throughs. **CAM caps:** An annual CAM cap limits how much controllable CAM expenses (excluding taxes and insurance, which are typically uncapped) can increase year-over-year. A non-cumulative 5% cap means controllable costs cannot rise more than 5% in any year. A cumulative cap allows unused capacity to carry forward — providing weaker protection. Missing CAM caps are one of the most common red flags in commercial lease abstractions. **Audit rights:** Tenants with audit rights can review the landlord's CAM expense records, typically within 12 months of receiving the annual reconciliation statement. Without audit rights, tenants have no mechanism to verify the accuracy of reconciliation billings. For CAM reconciliation analysis, see [CamAudit](https://camaudit.io), a specialized tool for verifying CAM expense accuracy.
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What CAM caps and exclusions mean for commercial tenants, how to negotiate them, and how to verify they are reflected correctly in the executed lease.
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