What is the RUBS program?
RUBS stands for Ratio Utility Billing System and is a common industry method of allocating and billing utility usage fees in situations where individual utility meters do not exist. For instance, where an apartment building has one master meter for utilities such as natural gas, owners will typically implement a RUBS program to allocate the usage of the master metered utility to tenants. The allocation of utility costs is customarily calculated based on factors such as the square footage of the apartment, the number of bedrooms, and/or the number of occupants. The owner subsidizes a portion of the actual master metered utility to account for usage in common areas, such as lobbies, hallways, laundry rooms, and other areas within the building.
