Glossary · Costs and income
Common area fee
Also called: Maintenance fee, CAM fee
In short
The owners' regular payment for running the building: staff, cleaning, security, utilities for shared areas, insurance and upkeep. Charged per square metre per month, usually collected a year in advance.
What it means
Everything the owners share has to be paid for: the lobby staff, the lifts, the pool, the gardens, the lighting, the building's insurance. The common area fee divides that cost between the units according to their registered floor area.
How it is set and collected
- The rate is set in baht per square metre per month, by the developer at first and by the owners' meeting afterwards.
- It is usually collected for a year in advance, the first year at transfer.
- As a rough guide, most new buildings fall between about 30 and 90 baht per square metre per month. Buildings with hotel-level services charge more.
- Unpaid fees carry surcharges, and a unit cannot be transferred until its fees are cleared.
What to check
A low fee is not always good news: a building that collects too little is maintained too little. Ask what the fee covers, when it was last changed and how much owners owe in arrears.