Commercial Section Field Descriptions, Salt Lake County Assessor

The Commercial Section Record describes the exterior of the building. A commercial building may be constructed so that separate wings or additions have different building materials, different actual ages, different story heights, and or different building classes. The system allows for a separate Commercial Section Record for each of the separate additions that have different characteristics from one another, or for different sized floors of a multiple story building. A list of all sections is contained on the “Records” tab on the bottom of the screen in the section record. At least one Commercial Group Record must be recorded for each Commercial Section Record.

1. NUMBER OCCURRENCES – (#3) This is a numeric field. (1 – 99) This is the number of identical sections or buildings of the same use found on the parcel. The cost will be computed for one building, then multiplied by the number of occurrences. Defaults to 1 if the field is left empty. This field is also used in the income approach. The value in the income detail records is multiplied by the number of occurrences before being transferred to the income summary.

2. BUILDING NUMBER – (#10) This is a character field. This field indicates the building number assigned by the developer.

3. CLASS – (#1) This is a list field. This is Class of Construction, not Rentable Class. This is further defined in “Marshall and Swift Commercial Valuation Guide,” Section 1. The classifications are:

A - Steel Frame
B - Concrete Frame
C - Masonry Wall
D - Wood Frame
S - Metal Frame

4. DEPRECIATION GRADE – (#2) This is a list field. This field is used to determine the depreciation column in the depreciation tables. The classifications are:

S - Superior
E - Excellent
VG - Very Good
G - Good
A - Average
F - Fair
P - Low Cost

5. TENANT APPEAL – (#2) This is a list field. Tenant Appeal can be loosely defined as “How will this property rent?” It will be an all encompassing variable which can be used to adjust the base rent and arrive at a reasonable rental rate for each individual property. This factor incorporates all other adjustments. In practice, however, some of the other variables may still help increase the accuracy of the tabled values. This can give a good starting point for table adjustments, which can then be refined as the physical data are gathered more consistently over time. The classifications are:

S - SUPERIOR – Best area with Highest possible rents from the very best tenants.
E - EXCELLENT – One of best locations in the County. Able to command near the highest rents for a given commercial use.
VG - VERY GOOD – Very good location. Indicative of high rents.
G - GOOD – Good location. Indicative of higher than average rent.
A - AVERAGE - Rents should reflect typical rents for established buildings in average locations. .
F - FAIR - Lower than average rents for a given commercial use in fair locations.
P - POOR – Poor location. Lowest rents for a given use.

6. EXTERIOR WALL TYPE - (#2) This is a list field. The classifications are:

AB - Asbestos Shingles
FR - Frame
BR - Brick
ST - Stone
AL - Aluminum / Vinyl
ML - Metal
MG - Metal / Glass
CN - Concrete
BL - Block
CU – Curtain*
SO - Stucco
OT - Other

*Non-structural exterior walls (typically pre-fabricated panels) which are attached to the building structure. May be any type of exterior wall material. This classification is currently not used in Salt Lake County.

7. FOUNDATION – (#1) This is a list field. The classifications are:

Y - Yes N - No

8. PERIMETER - (#5) This is a numeric field. (100 - 2500) This field indicates the measurement around the exterior of a building expressed in lineal ft. The common portion of walls between two sections should be evenly divided between the two.

9. NUMBER OF STORIES - (#2) This is a numeric field. (1 - 25) This field indicates the number of stories in the section. The number of stories is a whole number and therefore, no partial story heights such as 1.5 stories are allowed.

10. AVERAGE STORY HEIGHT - (#3) This is a numeric field. (8 - 40) A building that has areas that differ only in story height may be done in one section using the average story height. Story height is measured from the bottom of one floor or ceiling to the bottom of the next floor. Disregard mezzanines, which are figured as an added cost. Do not include the parapet if any.

11. GROUND FLOOR AREA - (#7) This is a numeric field. (400 - 200000) This field generally indicates the size (gross square footage) of the section that is on the ground level. If a section comprises areas above the ground level, it is the 1st level of that section. An example is a section, which goes from the 3rd to the 5th story of a building. The ground floor for this section is the 3rd story.

12. PERCENT OFFICE – (#3.1) This is a numeric field. This is a percent of an industrial type building that is office area. This field is used in the income factor tables.

13. YEAR BUILT – (#4) This is a numeric field. Additions built in different years should generally be set up with separate Section Records. This field is used in the income factor tables.

14. EFFECTIVE YEAR BUILT – (#4) This is a numeric field. This field should indicate the effective age of the building reflecting the true remaining economic life of the building. Effective age may be higher or lower than actual age. Effective age is calculated by subtracting remaining life from the typical life expectancy of buildings of that class, use, and grade. This field is used in the income factor tables and the depreciation tables.

15. YEAR REMODELED – (#4) This is a numeric field. This is to be used when significant remodeling has occurred which enhances the effective year built. Generally, this means that many of the following areas have been updated: electrical, plumbing, roofing, heating, as well as cosmetics. The effective year built should be increased to reflect the changes.

16. LAND / BUILDING RATIO - (#4.2) This is a numeric field. This field indicates the ratio between the Total Land Area and the Total Building Area. Total land area is for the economic unit and does not include residual areas or excess. Total building area means gross area above grade, typically excluding mezzanines and basement area. This field will be globally filled.

17. MISCELLANEOUS STRUCTURE - (#20) This is a character field. The appraiser may list any attached structures or features that have not otherwise been accounted for. Whenever possible identify the miscellaneous structure, its size, and its value per square foot. Abbreviate where needed as indicated in “Commercial Appendix”.

18. MISCELLANEOUS STRUCTURE VALUE – (#8) This is a numeric field. The lump sum values of all Miscellaneous Structures are recorded in this field.

19. COMMERCIAL ASSESSMENT CLASS – (#1) This is a list field. This field will be used to identify the residential exemption for commercial properties. The classifications are:

P - Primary
S – Secondary

Note: Primary and Secondary Percent fields are used by the Appraiser to designate which properties receive the residential exemption. If only a portion of the property is used for residential purposes, the appraiser must divide the building into separate sections for Primary and Secondary.

20. EXTRA FIELD 1 – (#20) This is a character field.

21. ECONOMIC LIFE – (#20) This is a character field. This is the typical life expectancy for a given use, class, and grade as found in Marshall and Swift.

22. REMAINING ECONOMIC LIFE – (#20) This is a character field. This is the estimated remaining life for a building given its current condition and expecting ongoing maintenance.

23. GIS_X - (#10) This is a numeric field. It is used for GIS and is based on state plane coordinate system.

24. GIS_Y - (#10) This is a numeric field. It is used for GIS and is based on state plane coordinate system.

25. PHYSICAL PERCENT GOOD – (#3) This is a numeric field. (0 - 100) Defaults to depreciation tables if not filled in manually. Any appraiser input in this field will over ride the existing depreciation tables. If you enter 90% in physical percent good this represents 10% accrued physical depreciation, and it applies this to the RCN, and not the RCNLD.

Note: Depreciation and obsolescence are not used in the “Market Analysis” or “Income Approach. In the cost approach, physical depreciation is developed as a function of effective age.

26. FUNCTIONAL PERCENT GOOD – (#3) This is a numeric field. (0 - 100) Defaults to 100 if not completed. This field is used to adjust the cost approach for loss in value due to poor layout, design, etc. This % is multiplied times the physical % good to give a cumulative value.

27. ECONOMIC PERCENT GOOD – (#3) This is a numeric field. (0 - 200) Defaults to 100 if not completed. This field is used to adjust the cost approach for loss in value due to influences outside the property. It is multiplied times the physical % good and the functional % good to give a cumulative value.

28. PERCENT COMPLETE – (#3) This is a numeric field. (0 – 100) Defaults to 100 if not completed. This field is used if buildings were only partially finished on the lien date, expressed as a percentage of the total cost.

29. REPLACEMENT COST NEW (RCN) – (#9) This is a numeric field. Cost including material, labor, and overhead that would be incurred in constructing an improvement having the same utility to an owner as another improvement without necessarily reproducing exactly any characteristic of the other property. This field is computer generated, and reflects how particular cost data items were collected by the appraiser. The base cost is determined by the commercial use, construction class, and grade of construction as found in Marshall and Swift.

30. RCN LESS NORMAL DEPRECIATION – (#9) This is a numeric field. This field indicates the replacement cost new less all forms of depreciation. This is a computer-generated field.

31. SOUND VALUE – (#9) This is a numeric field. This allows the appraiser to place a value on the Commercial Building Record which he or she determines better indicates a fair market value than any of the other calculated values on the property.

Note: The Sound Value will override any Cost Value calculated for this Commercial Section Record. Remember the cost Value in a given Commercial Section includes all groups within that Commercial Section.

32. SKETCH – (#2000) This is a character field. It is located on the tool bar. This field indicates the measurements of the outside of any building.