Understanding the built-up area is essential for property buyers, developers, and homeowners to plan space utilization effectively. While the plot area refers to the total land available, the built-up area accounts for the actual covered space, including walls and other usable areas.
Calculating the built-up area from the plot area can often be confusing, especially with varying terminologies like carpet area and super built-up area. In this article, we’ll guide you step-by-step on how to calculate the built-up area from plot area, helping you make informed decisions.
Different Types of Areas of The Building
1. Carpet Area
The area in the flat or the apartment, which you could cover using a carpet, is the carpet area. The carpet area is the net usable floor area of the building, which excludes the area covered by external walls, balconies, verandahs, and open terraces.
- What Does Carpet Area Include?
The carpet area is the area of your home which is usable. The carpet area of the apartment does not include the thickness of the inner walls, the space used in building the lobby, the elevator, the stairs, the play area, etc.
- What Does The Carpet Area Not Include?
The areas of the external and internal walls, common areas, and terrace are not covered under the carpet area.
- How To Calculate The Carpet Area
Carpet area = bedroom area + living room + balcony + toilet – thickness of interior walls.
2. What Is Built-Up Area Or Plinth Area
A built-up area or plinth area is the area that is provided for your daily use.
The inside of the building will have a built-up area or plinth area, carpet area, and areas that cover the inner walls and balconies. In India, built-up areas are 15 to 30 percent more than the carpet area of the housing units, and this area is used to construct the inner walls and balconies.
It means that if the developer tells you that the built-up area is 1000 sq ft, then you can assume that the net usable area or carpet area of the apartment will not be more than 700 sq ft.
- What Does Plinth Area Include
The Plinth Areas include-
- Living room
- Kitchen
- Bedroom
- Bathroom
- Staircase
- Terrace
- Balcony
- Veranda
- Utility area
- Wall thickness
- How To Calculate The Built-Up Area?
Carpet area + area of walls + area of terrace/balcony = built up area
3. Super Built Up Area
The saleable area or super built-up area is the total built-up area of the building, which includes the proportionate share of the common amenities in your building. The term proportionate share refers to the total of all common areas divided by the total number of flats in the building.
- What Does Super Built-Up Area Include
Super built-up areas include the area covered by
- Built-up area
- Swimming pool
- Park
- Gym
- Playground
- Clubhouse
- How To Calculate The Super Built Up Area
Super built-up area = Built-up area + proportionate common area
4. Floor Area
The building’s floor area is the total of the areas of all the floors of the building, which is measured to the outer surface of the outer wall, including, lobby, and lift.
- What Areas Are Included In Floor Area
The areas included in the floor area are-
- Gross internal area
- Wall thickness
- Basement area
The value of the floor area is restricted to a specific value to stop the development of usable space on a property in terms of the number of stories.
- What Is The Value Of Floor Area Ratio
The value of the floor area ratio is the ratio of the built-up area to the plot area.
FAR is calculated by the formula: total covered area of all floors divided by the plot area
5. Plot Area
Plot Area is the area that is completely owned by you. Plot Area can also be defined as the total land area which is enclosed by a boundary. Usually, fencing is done to denote the boundaries that are under your ownership.
- What Are The Areas Included In Plot Area?
The areas of the land that is completely owned by you are included in the plot area.
- How To Calculate The Plot Area?
Regular-sized plots are rectangles. You can calculate its area by taking the product of length and breadth.
Length X Breadth= area in sq ft.
To calculate irregular-sized plots, you have to use the heron’s formula because the price of land is per sq ft.
Herons formula
Area=SQRT(s(s-a)(s-b)(s-c))
where s=(a+b+c)/2
6. Setback Area
The plot area, which is to be left on all sides of a building from the property line, in which the construction is prohibited by law, is called the setback area.
Reasons To Impose Setback Area
- If the construction is allowed up to the boundaries of the wall, then foundations for the walls will overlap with the foundation of the walls of the neighboring plot.
- The soil needs to be excavated for the foundation. If the distance to the plot boundary is not left, the excavation of the soil renders the foundation of the neighboring walls unstable.
- It helps the residents of the building by allowing the sunlight to reach inside.
- It keeps the inside of the building well ventilated.
- To make sure building stays away from the road
- Easy movement of the vehicles
- To ensure safe placement of the pipelines for water supply, gas supply, and wastewater pipes.
How To Calculate Built-Up Area From Plot Area With The Help Of Example?
If a 2.5 story building has a plot area of 1150 sq ft, a hotel is to be constructed. Calculate the built-up area, if the carpet area is 600 sq ft, and the wall area is 10% of the carpet area and 50 sq ft balcony.
- Build-up area = Total carpet area+areas of wall+balcony
= 600+(0.1*600)+50 = 710 sq ft
Since total number of floors is 2.5 , Total build up area is 2130 sq ft.
Closing Thoughts
The carpet area is the area on which a carpet can be spread and the built-up area is also known as the plinth area which is the total area provided for use. A super built-up area is an area that includes common spaces of the building such as a swimming pool and gym.
The plot area is the total area in between the fencing and a setback area is an area that is to be left on all sides of a building from the property line, in which the construction is prohibited by law. The total floor area includes the floor area of all the floors of the building.
