Measuring Floor Areas in Spain – GFA and GIA

Gross Floor Area and Gross Internal Area in Spanish Buildings from Arquitecto Daniel Trujillano

Info00. Gross Floor Area and Gross Internal Area in Spain

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Architect Daniel Trujillano

http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/measurement/home.html

Measurement Reports for Buildings in Spain

Video 00: Measurement of Floor Areas in Spanish Buildings

Architect Daniel Trujillano
http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/measurement/home.html 
Measurement Reports for Properties in Spain

Measuring Floor Areas in Spain (II)

Measuring Floor Areas in Buildings (II)

GIA and GFA in Spanish Order ECO/805/2003

In Spain, Order ECO/805/2003, on Valuation Standards for Real Estate Properties, includes specific criteria for the measurement of Gross Internal Areas (GIA) and Gross Floor Areas (GFA) in buildings.

Gross Internal Area - GIA

According to the Order ECO/805/2003, GIA is the result of substracting from the floor area bounded by the perimeter defined by the inner face of the external wall of a building -or a building element- the following areas:

• the area occupied by all internal walls and partitions
• the area occupied by vertical structural elements
• the area occupied by pipes or ducts with horizontal section area greater than 100 square centimeters
• the floor area where clear height is smaller than 150 centimeters.

The floor area bounded by the perimeter defined by the inner face of external walls must include 50 per cent of the floor area of all private use covered outdoor spaces (terraces, balconies, drying rooms, porches, loading docks, overhangs, etc.), as measured along the horizontal projection of the roof.

GFA Excluding Common Parts

According to the Order ECO/805/2003, the Gross Floor Area Excluding Common Parts is the result of adding to the floor area delimited by the inner face of the external walls of a building -or element of a building- the following areas:

• 100 per cent of all area occupied by facades
• 50 per cent of all area occupied by sharecropping partitions, or partitions shared with other elements in the same building.

Again, the floor area bounded by the perimeter defined by the inner face of the external walls must include 50 per cent of all private covered outdoor spaces, as measured along the horizontal projection of the roof.

GFA Including Common Parts

According to ECO/805/2003, Gross Floor Area Including Common Parts includes the proportionate share which is result of the application of the associated sharing rate on the floor area of all common elements of the building.

Architect Daniel Trujillano

http://www.arquitectotrujillano.com/measurement/home.html 

Bulding Measurement Reports in Spain

Measuring Floor Areas in Spain (I)

Measuring Floor Areas in Buildings (I)

Gross Floor Area (GFA) and Spanish Cadastre

The correct measurement of floor areas can be essential throughout the building process: it determines the calculation of structures, instalations and costs, and it's the basis for the determination of fees, charges, taxes and insurance costs. In Spain, we have more than one standard for calculating floor areas, and we need to choose the proper method depending on the purpose for which the calculation is made. In relation to the Gross Floor Area (GFA), the following definitions, both related to Spanish Cadastre, involve some measurement criteria.

The Gross Floor Area (GFA)

According to Spanish Royal Decree 1020/1993, the Gross Floor Area ('superficie construida' in Spanish) is the floor area bounded by the outer line of the perimeter walls of a building, deducting the area occupied by courtyards. In buildings with party walls, GFA is limited by the axis of the sharecropping. The floor area of ​​balconies, terraces, porches and similar elements is measured by the following criteria:

• if they are not covered, they do not count
• if they are covered and closed in three of their four orientations, they are computed at 100%
• if they are covered and closed in less than three orientations, they are computed at 50%.

Spaces less than 1.50 m in height (eg, under stairs or ramps, or under pitched roofs) only account for the calculation of the GFA when the use of the property is not residential.

Cadastral Gross Floor Area

In the case of buildings with multiple owners (eg, apartment buildings), Spanish Cadastre defines the Cadastral Gross Floor Area of a property as the result of adding to the private GFA a proportional part of the GFA of the common elements. The propotional part of the GFA of the common elements is the result of the participation of the private element in the common elements, by applying the proper participation rate.