A new global standard for measuring property, called the International Property Measurement Standard for Offices (IPMS for Office Buildings), was recently launched in an effort to create consistent real estate markets worldwide.

The method is expected to replace many other standards currently used around the world.

“Globalization is not a coming trend—it is here and it is a fact of life,” said Lori Burger, president of IREM, which is a member of the coalition that led the development of this standard. “In what has become a global real estate market, the need for transparency, for a common language, and for international standards becomes paramount.”

According to Peal Capital Analytics, transactions within the commercial property market reached more than $1 trillion worldwide in 2013.

Yet, many local market-specific standards posed a significant challenge as more and more investors and corporate occupiers operated internationally.

Some benefits of the IPMS for Office Buildings include more transparent and consistent management of property assets. The new global standard will also define which areas are included when measuring a property and which are not.

In the past, inconsistencies created confusion in the market. Some businesses spent too much money developing their own processes for measuring benchmarking property assets.

Following the IPMS for office buildings, other international property measurement standards will be introduced, such as IPMS for residential, industrial and retail property.

More than 50 professional organizations have worked on the new global measurement standard, with industry supporting adoption.

So far, the Dubai Government has already announced plans to make IPMS mandatory in response to a growing international investor base moving into Dubai’s commercial property sector.