CRE Dictionary

Industry classification is a type of economic taxonomy that organises organisations/businesses into industry groupings.

This taxonomy is hierarchical, with parent-level layers holding more detailed children info below them.

The simplest industry classification is according to the three-sector theory, categorising organisations by

1. Primary (extraction and agriculture),
2. Secondary (manufacturing), and
3. Tertiary (services)

Gmaven uses a fusion of NAICS and the Standard Industrial Classification Coding System (SIC Code v7). This merge, in our opinion, overcomes the shortcomings of each, and provides a comprehensive classification system relevant to both SA and the world. NAICS confirms the closest with the local SIC system, and is structured according to a logical first-order grouping. The detail of the Stats SA SIC data intimidates the practical business person. Where NAICS was either too vague or not detailed enough, SIC v7 fills the gaps.

The hierarchical structure, in descending order of industry classification, is:

• Section
  • Division
    • Group
      • Class
        • Subclass

Here is a list of sections:

Regarding the classification of property owners or funds

• In the simplest industry classification / three sector theory, they would fall within tertiary (services)
• In the above list, would be categorised into real estate and rental and leasing

Within the commercial real estate (CRE) industry, for functional purposes, property owners are classified into the following categories

• Listed property fund
• Private fund
• Life house
• Owner-occupier

For the Wikipedia post on industry classifications, providing links to 16 different classifications/taxonomies globally, please see here