Glossary
Expenses & Charges
Variable CAM
The portion of the CAM pool that moves with how full the building is: janitorial, common-area utilities, trash removal, landscaping, and similar day-to-day operating costs. Variable CAM is the only category a gross-up clause can legitimately adjust to a stabilized occupancy level, typically 95%.
Firm impact
Confirming which line items genuinely qualify as variable is the first step in any gross-up review. Miss one fixed cost hiding in the variable bucket, and the whole gross-up calculation your team signs off on is wrong.
How this gets abused
A landlord classifies a fixed-rate management fee and a flat security contract as "variable" costs, then grosses both up along with real variable expenses like janitorial. The reclassification adds thousands in gross-up padding to costs that never moved with occupancy in the first place.
Practitioner note
Build a two-column list for every CAM audit: what the lease and industry norms call variable, and what the landlord actually grossed up. Any mismatch is worth a direct question to the landlord's accounting team before your firm finalizes the finding.
Related terms
FAQ
Questions about variable cam
Which CAM costs are usually variable?
Janitorial, common-area utilities, trash removal, landscaping, and HVAC maintenance are the classic examples. They rise and fall with how many tenants are actually using the building's shared spaces.
Can a lease define variable CAM differently than the industry norm?
Yes, and firms should check the lease definition first. Some leases list the exact categories that qualify for gross-up, which overrides any general industry convention.
You know the term. Now check the math.
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