Glossary

Fixed CAM Charge

Also known as: Flat CAM, CAM flat fee, CAM

A common area maintenance structure in which a retail tenant pays a predetermined flat dollar amount per square foot, often with a fixed annual escalation, rather than its pro rata share of actual CAM costs subject to year-end reconciliation.

Fixed CAM is especially common for smaller in-line and shop tenants in strip and neighborhood centers, where the administrative cost of individually reconciling small-dollar CAM shares against actual expenses for dozens of tenants can exceed the value of precise cost recovery; a flat charge with a set annual bump (commonly 3% to 5%) gives both parties billing certainty and eliminates CAM reconciliation disputes entirely for that tenant. The tradeoff is that fixed CAM shifts genuine expense-variability risk onto the landlord — if actual costs (snow removal, insurance, utilities) spike well beyond the built-in escalation, the landlord absorbs the shortfall for that tenant regardless — so landlords typically reserve fixed CAM for smaller premises and negotiate a periodic reset or renegotiation right at each renewal rather than locking a flat rate in for the full initial term plus all options.