The American Measurement Standard(r) is a voluntary standard for the measurement of residential square footage. For those professionals who choose to provide this service, the AMS(r) helps to promote the public's trust, as well as offering a consistent, reliable, reproducible, and defensible source for the methodology utilized in the collection and communication of square footage for single-family dwellings. The employment of a written "statement of square footage" is encouraged for the advancement of professionalism and consumer protection, by all those that create and communicate residential square footage data. In this, the information age and the era of technology, it is our sincere hope that the real estate industry will embrace the adoption of a universal measurement standard, mandate it, and educate all professionals about the importance of credible living area data. One industry, one standard