Area determination - Covered Area
Technical terms
In many documents or sales talks, terms outside of the standardized terms are also used, such as
covered veranda,
uncovered veranda,
total covered area.
This does not make it easy when determining the size of the apartment.
Ask for the following terms to get a precise answer:
Carpet Area
Translated, it is the carpet area. So it is the total area of the floor, only without interior walls. It is self-explanatory terminology, that is, how much carpet can be laid in the interior. You can find it from the floor plan of the designer, if the dimensions are given.
Covered Area
Translated, it is the covered area. Total area of the apartment. That is, it is measured from wall to wall. It includes the carpet area and the interior walls. As a rule of thumb, about 12-15% can be subtracted from Covered Area to get an approximation of Carpet Area.
If the walls are very thick, an upper band, i.e. 15%, can be considered. The Covered Area is sometimes referred to as the "Built-Up Area".
Super Built-up Area
Somewhat confusing. It is the entire common area of the building. It includes lobby, stairwell, elevators, shafts, security rooms, other amenities like swimming pool, etc.
Note that the total common area that everyone has access to is counted as Super Built-up Area. Simply put, the total area is divided by the total units in the building or project and added proportionately to the apartment size.
An example of Super Built-up Area (SBU)
Carpet Area 100sqm + 15% = 115sqm Covered Area
Assuming there are 4 units in the project with a common area of 160sqm
Common area 160sqm / 4 = 40sqm
SBU = Covered Area + 115sqm + 40sqm = 155sqm
It can be assumed that the SBU will be less in a standalone building, while the SBU will be more in a complex.
Now you can understand that all projects can not be the same and ; rules of thumb lead only to approximations.