घराचे क्षेत्रफळ (एरिया) म्हणजे काय?

 *Sahakarsutra*

(For creating awareness)

लक्षात घ्या घराचा ‘एरिया’ (How is the area of a flat calculated?)

बिल्ट अप एरिया. कार्पेट एरिया म्हणजे घरात वापरायला मिळणारी जागा. म्हणजेच, ज्या जागेवर आपण कार्पेट अंथरू शकतो, त्या क्षेत्रफळाला कार्पेट एरिया म्हणतात. कार्पेट एरियात भिंती येत नाहीत.

बिल्टअप एरिया हा कार्पेट एरिया, भिंती, बाल्कनी किंवा गॅलरीचं क्षेत्रफळ एकत्र करून मोजला जातो. थोडक्यात, बिल्टअप एरिया म्हणजे एखादा फ्लॅट बांधण्यासाठी वापरण्यात आलेलं एकूण क्षेत्रफळ.

सुपर बिल्टअप एरियात सोसायटीतल्या सेवा-सुविधांसाठी वापरण्यात आलेल्या क्षेत्रफळाचा समावेश असतो. म्हणजे लिफ्ट, पार्किंग, लॉबी, जनरेटर रूम आदी सर्वांचाच समावेश यात होतो. सर्वसाधारणतः सुपर बिल्टअप एरिया हा बिल्टअप एरियाच्या २० टक्के एवढा असतो. या २० टक्के क्षेत्रफळालाच 'लोडिंग' म्हणतात. हे लोडिंग वेगवेगळ्या गृहप्रकल्पात किंवा सोसायट्यांमध्ये कमी-जास्त असू शकतं.

उदा. फ्लॅटचा बिल्टअप एरिया १००० चौ.फू. आणि सुपर बिल्टअप एरिया २००० चौ.फू. असेल, तर फ्लॅटचा एरिया १२०० चौ.फू. असल्याचं मानण्यात येतं. याला क्षेत्रफळाला 'सेलेबल एरिया'सुद्धा म्हटलं जातं. सेलेबल एरियात म्हणजे फ्लॅटच्या दरांमध्ये कार्पेट एरिया, बिल्टअप एरिया आणि सुपर बिल्टअप म्हणजे लोडिंग अशा सर्व खर्चांचा समावेश असतो. बिल्डर किंवा विकसक एखादा फ्लॅट विकत असतो, तेव्हा तो ग्राहकांकडून त्या फ्लॅटवरचं लोडिंगही वसूल करत असतो.

Flats are generally priced on the basis of the area. However, the actual usable area of the flat may differ from the one you are charged for, or, the saleable area. The difference between the useable and saleable areas is a result of the space included in the calculation. Some of the commonly used area calculations are:

CARPET AREA

This is the net usable area measured wall to wall, from the inner faces of walls. Simply put, it is the area in a flat which can be covered by carpeting. Some builders may add half the actual area of a terrace or dry areas while calculating the total carpet area. Others may treat these spaces like internal rooms and consider the entire area..

BUILT-UP AREA

This is the gross area of a flat. Besides the carpet area, it includes the space covered by the wall thickness and ducts. Generally, it is 10-15 per cent more than the carpet area of the flat.

SUPER BUILT-UP AREA

The current trend is to consider this as the saleable area. It is calculated by adding the markup for common spaces to the built-up area. These common spaces include the ones on the floor (lifts, staircases etc) and those in the building (entrance lobby, electrical room, pump room, flower beds etc). Basically, it includes all the common amenities that are built, but not directly charged to the customer. Parking space is excluded from this calculation and is typically charged for separately.

Ideally, the area of the common spaces should be calculated and added proportionately to each flat. However, this practice is rarely followed. As a thumb rule, most builders take 1.25 as the multiplying factor to calculate super built up area, multiplying the carpet area by 1.25. This would increase the total saleable area by approximately 25 per cent.

This percentage is also commonly known as ‘loading’. Most builders quote loading figures while calculating the saleable area. For example, say the carpet area of your flat is 500 square feet. The builder may add loading of about 30 per cent. This means that have to pay for 650 square feet, inspite of using only 500 square feet.

Since there is no written rule with regards to loading, on occasions, it could even be as high as 50-60 per cent. This implies that a 1,000 sq ft flat (super built up) could have a carpet area of barely 500-600 sq ft. As a result, home owners can find themselves in a dingy flat in spite of paying a high price. Builders usually justify such high loads on the basis of amenities provided. Thus, it would be higher for larger schemes, where more space is given to amenities and common areas as compared to small projects without much frills.

 *What Carpet area covers:*

◆ Rooms- Bedrooms, study, Dining room, Dressing Rooms and Other Rooms

◆ Bathroom

◆ Balconies within Property unit

◆ A staircase within Property unit

●Kitchen

◆ Stores

*What carpet area does not cover:*

◆ External and internal Walls

◆ Common areas

◆ Terrace

◆ Utility Ducts & Interior Part

 *What is Built Up area?*

Built up area is the area which is totally covered by internal and external walls and it also includes ducts & Interior part. It is also known as the total covered area of the apartment and is the sum of carpet area, area covered by the thickness of walls and includes the terrace, balcony and other livable areas.

*What built up Area covers:*

External & Internal walls

Carpet Area

Utility Ducts & Interior part(sewage/water pipeline, Interior part of Door and window AC ducts and shafts etc)

There also is a term which most of us are not aware of, that is Plinth/covered Area

Basically, the covered area does not include balcony and any structure called cantilever. This does not have any kind of ground support or from the lower apartment. This, however, is covered in Built up area. So, the covered area/plinth area is the area under the Roof.

*How do we calculate Built up Area?*

Carpet Area + Area of walls + Area of Utility & Interior part = Built Up Area

Generally, the built up area is 10 % more than the Carpet area.

Example — If Carpet area is 1000 sq.ft then the built up area would be around 1100 Sq Ft.

 *What is Super Built Up area?*

Built up area of a property and the sum of common areas that are proportioned to the unit is called Super built up Area.

The super built up areas may include elevator, swimming pools, garden, lobby, lifts etc. But, parking does not count and it is charged separately.

*Now what all is covered by the super built up area :*

◆ Built up area of the Property.

● Common areas — Clubhouses, Air ducts, Pipe/shafts Duct, Lift, Staircases, Lobby, Swimming pool, Gymnasium (proportioned to the housing unit)

◆ What it does not cover:

Roof Terrace

Water tank

Lofts

Parks, Driveways, Garden, Play hub

◆ How do we calculated Super built up Area?

Super built up Area = Built up Area + Proportionate Common area

First, you need to know about the total common area. 

For example, if the common area of 10 apartments is 2500 sq.ft, then the area proportional to one housing unit would be total common area divided by the Number of apartment = 250 sq.ft per apartment.

If you don’t know the measurement of the Common area then here is a simple way to calculate it:

You can check the loading factor from the builder and calculate the super built up area by adding the loading factor to the Carpet area. The loading factor may vary from 15 to 50% depending on the place of property and may vary from builder to builder.

Super Built up Area = Carpet Area(1+loading factor)

For Carpet Area = 1,000 Sq Ft

Super Built up Area =1000 sq.ft(1+0.35)

=1350 sq.ft

@ Dayanand Nene