Business Personal Property (BPP)
Business personal property is movable property owned by the business and used in its operations, distinct from the building itself and covered under a separate policy limit.
Business personal property encompasses all tangible personal property owned by the apartment building owner that is used to maintain, manage, or operate the property. Under ISO form CP 00 10, BPP includes furniture and equipment in leasing offices, maintenance tools and supplies, fitness center equipment, pool furniture, common-area furnishings, lobby décor, landscaping equipment, and appliances owned by the landlord but installed in tenant units. BPP does not include the building structure, permanently installed fixtures, or property owned by tenants.
For apartment owners, accurately scheduling BPP is essential because the default sublimits on many commercial property policies are insufficient to cover the full inventory. A mid-size apartment community may have $200,000 or more in BPP when all common-area furnishings, leasing office equipment, maintenance shop tools, and owner-supplied in-unit appliances are tallied. Owners who carry only a minimal BPP limit may discover after a loss that their fitness center treadmills, pool heaters, and model-unit staging furniture are collectively worth far more than the coverage available.
BPP is typically valued on the same basis as the building—either replacement cost or actual cash value—depending on the policy endorsements. Owners should conduct an annual BPP inventory, photographing and listing all items with approximate replacement costs. This inventory not only ensures the BPP limit is adequate but also streamlines the claims process when a loss occurs, because the burden of proving the existence and value of destroyed property falls on the policyholder.