[Q&A]: What’s the Difference between Floor Area, Carpet Area & Built-up Area?


One of our readers, Mrs. S.Jacob, has sent us a query seeking the difference between Floor Area, Carpet Area & Built-up Area of a house.

This is something which every person who wants/ plans to buy a home must know beforehand so that he/ she can have a better deal with the builder/ seller of that particular house/ apartment/ building etc. This is utmost important because the total cost of the deal is worked out based upon one of these area figures only  

[i.e., TOTAL COST = TOTAL AREA x CALCULATED RATE PER UNIT AREA]
As such, it becomes prudent to get accustomed with the various terms used in the realty transactions, like plinth area, covered area, carpet area, built-up area, super built-up area, super area and so on, since the jargon used may leave the customer totally confused and uncertain of what he would be finally getting after getting through the deal putting in his/her hard-earned money.

We, your friendly B-n-M Team, shall chalk out hereunder what the common different terminologies are used for stating the area of a particular house when someone is buying/ selling or even calculating the property tax on it.

The common terminologies used by builders/ sellers/ authorities are:
  1. FLOOR AREA (or PLINTH AREA, or COVERED AREA, or BUILT-UP AREA)
  2. CARPET AREA,
  3. SUPER BUILT-UP AREA
1. Floor Area (Or Plinth Area, Or Covered Area) : It is the area calculated by multiplying the outer-to-outer dimensions of the floor; not considering the boundary walls, but definitely taking into account the house outer walls as well as the inner walls. As such, this term implies to the area covered under outer-to-outer walls of the house.

2. Carpet Area : It is the area which implies to the total clear usable area inside of the house. It is calculated by subtracting the area occupied by the outer and the inner walls of the house from the Total Floor Area. This term, therefore, indicates the area where actually one can walk into, or in other terms can lay a carpet into.

3. Super Built-up Area : It implies to the actual area exclusively for use by the owner (read purchaser or end-buyer) including various floors, and with proportionate addition of the common areas like lobby, staircases, shafts, lift wells and other circulation areas, areas under common facilities like basement, sub-stations, security room, garbage chutes and can you believe even window projections. The area under stilt is also sometimes included in the super area calculations.

Making sense out of these terms, it becomes prudent that the end-buyer must make himself/herself clear as what he/she will get out of a deal as a potential buyer. One can easily realize its importance understanding how each square foot (sq ft) calculated in a particular deal can directly translate into significant amounts that need to be spent purchasing the property.

Hope our dear reader Mrs. Jacob will now have a better idea while making a deal. Hope our other readers also do get benefited understanding this basic realty jargon.
Blog Post Title: [Readers’ Q&A]: What’s the Difference between Floor Area, Carpet Area & Built-up Area?
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  1. Dear "Team B-n-M"
    I am so very happy to learn the answer to my query. I appreciate the fact that you guys responded to my query within a day, and have elaborated the terms in a very simple manner.

    I must say that you guys made it much simpler to explain, whereas at other sites where I was looking around, either the explanation was too bluntly short, or it was too complicated to understand.

    I think now I can understand the builders' jargon better and can help my husband in finalizing a better deal both money as well as space-wise.

    Thank you guys once again

    ReplyDelete
  2. What percentage of the total area needs to be added to the total area to find out the super builtup area ?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Suguna,

    We have created a new post on 11/Jun/08 wherein we have taken your query and have tried to provide you an answer to your question.

    We welcome and appreciate you writing in to us. Hope you will continue patronizing our blog, and will share more of your viewpoints.

    You may go directly to the link by clicking here:
    http://www.bricks-n-mortar.com/2008/06/readers-q-super-built-up-area-is-how.html

    Regards,
    Team@Bricks-n-Mortar.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Good blog, very helpful posts.
    Thanx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi,
    That was a very good info.Please what is the differnce in sq.ft rate normally between ground floor and first floor (excluding special elevation work)for an independant house

    Regards
    Robert

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Robert,
    Thanks for linking this blog and the information provided therein.

    We have answered your query in a new post published on 17/Aug/09 on this very blog. You can check the post at:
    http://www.bricks-n-mortar.com/2009/08/readers-q-whats-difference-in-rate.html

    Hope the post's info gives you some insight and may help you in taking the appropriate decision. For any other information/ clarification, do let us know.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Thanks for writing-in to us. Hope we were/are able to assist you.

Your suggestions/ comments/ feedback/ contributions help us bettering our blog.

Thanks and regards,
team@bricks-n-mortar.com