What is included in CAM charges, line by line
CAM charges are your share of the cost of running the parts of a property that all tenants use. What counts is not set by custom or by the landlord's accounting: it is set by two parts of your lease, the definition of Common Area Maintenance (or Operating Expenses) and the list of exclusions that follows it. Your lease controls, so the useful question for each line on a statement is whether those two clauses let it in.
The two clauses that decide
The definition says what the landlord may recover: costs of operating, maintaining and repairing the Common Areas, and a description of what the Common Areas are (parking lots, sidewalks, landscaped areas, signs, roofs or structure, depending on the lease). A cost that falls outside the definition is not CAM, however the statement labels it.
The exclusions then take costs back out: "Operating Expenses shall not include..." followed by a list. Read the list in full. It can carve out capital replacements, leasing costs, the landlord's own overhead, costs reimbursed by insurance or by another tenant, and more. If your lease has no exclusion list, the definition alone controls.
Common line items and what to check
| Line on the statement | Where the answer is | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Landscaping, sweeping, cleaning, snow removal | Definition of Common Areas | The work was done on common areas, not inside another tenant's premises or on a pad the landlord sold. |
| Common area electricity, water and lighting | Definition; utilities clause | Meters that also serve leased space or vacant suites are not a common area cost unless the lease says so. |
| Security and patrols | Definition | Security for one tenant's event or a single store is that tenant's cost. |
| Pylon and directory signs | Definition of Common Areas; capital exclusion | Repairs and lighting of a shared sign can fit the definition. A new sign structure can be a capital item. Your own sign panel may be billed to you directly under a signage clause rather than through CAM. |
| Repairs vs replacements | Capital exclusion; amortization clause | A roof patch is a repair; a new roof, a rebuilt parking lot or new HVAC units can be capital. The lease decides whether capital is excluded, amortized or recoverable. |
| Management or administrative fee | Fee sentence in the operating expenses section | The percent and the base it applies to. A fee charged on taxes and insurance when the lease limits it to CAM is an overcharge. |
| Real estate taxes and insurance | Separate tax and insurance clauses | These may be billed as their own lines rather than as CAM, with their own rules on caps, deductibles and fees. |
| Leasing commissions, marketing for vacant space, legal fees in disputes with other tenants, off-site salaries | Exclusion list | These are landlord costs of running its business. Check whether your exclusion list names them. |
Which items are excluded varies from lease to lease, so treat the right column as questions, not answers. For the patterns that show up as overcharges, see the most common CAM overcharges.
Worked example: sorting one statement
A hypothetical tenant has a 4.0% share. Its lease defines Common Areas to include the pylon and directory signs, excludes capital replacements (with no amortization allowance), leasing commissions and marketing for vacant space, and allows a 10% administrative fee on CAM. All figures are illustrative.
| Line (whole center) | Billed | Under this lease | Allowed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landscaping | $36,000 | Included | $36,000 |
| Parking lot sweeping | $18,000 | Included | $18,000 |
| Common area electricity | $24,000 | Included | $24,000 |
| Directory sign repair and lighting | $3,000 | Included (signs are Common Areas) | $3,000 |
| New pylon sign structure | $40,000 | Excluded (capital replacement) | $0 |
| Leasing commissions | $12,000 | Excluded | $0 |
| Marketing for vacant suites | $5,000 | Excluded | $0 |
| Subtotal | $138,000 | $81,000 | |
| Admin fee, 10% | $13,800 | On the allowed base only | $8,100 |
| Pool | $151,800 | $89,100 | |
| Tenant's 4.0% | $6,072 | $3,564 |
The tenant was billed $151,800 x 4.0% = $6,072, but the lease allows $89,100 x 4.0% = $3,564. The difference is $6,072 minus $3,564 = $2,508 for one year. As a check: the excluded lines total $40,000 + $12,000 + $5,000 = $57,000, the fee charged on them is $5,700, and 4.0% of $62,700 is $2,508. Note that the sign appears twice with two different answers: the repair fits the definition, the new structure falls under the capital exclusion. The CAM overcharge benchmarks show how the math changes when a lease allows capital items to be amortized instead.
How to check your own statement
- Copy the definition of Common Areas and the full exclusion list from the lease, including amendments.
- Ask for the expense detail if the statement only shows totals.
- Mark each line included, excluded or unclear, and recompute the fee on the allowed base.
- Multiply the difference by your share. The step-by-step audit method covers the share, cap and gross-up checks that come next.
- Object in writing before your lease's audit window closes, citing the clause for each line. The dispute guide has a letter template.
Questions
Can a building directory be recovered through CAM?
It depends on the lease. If the definition of Common Areas includes directory or pylon signs, repairs and lighting can be CAM. Replacing the sign structure can be a capital item, which some leases exclude or only allow as amortized portions. Your own panel on the sign is a separate question your lease answers.
Are property taxes and insurance part of CAM?
Some leases fold them into one operating expense pool; others bill them as separate lines under their own clauses. Your lease controls, and it matters for things like the admin fee base and caps.
What if a line is not mentioned in the lease at all?
Check whether it fits the definition of Common Area Maintenance or Operating Expenses. A cost outside the definition is not recoverable as CAM even if the exclusion list does not mention it.
Check your own reconciliation, free
Email your lease and the landlord's latest CAM reconciliation to audit@tenantback.com. Tenantback's agents check every line against the lease and send back each overcharge with the clause and the math, usually within minutes. No signup. If you then recover money through Tenantback, it keeps 25% of what comes back, and nothing otherwise.
Using ChatGPT or Claude? Connect https://tenantback.com/mcp and ask it to audit your statement.