Difference Between Carpet Area and Built Up Area

Are you looking to buy a house and aren’t sure how carpet and built-up areas differ? Before you can comprehend that, your mind wanders to another question: what is the difference between built-up and super-built-up areas?

What Is a Carpet Area?

Inside the house, the carpet area is the area that can be used to spread a carpet. It is the apartment’s net usable area. It includes the thickness of the internal wall but excludes terrace or balcony. Technically, the distance between inner walls is carpet area. Also, it will only include a staircase if it is located inside the apartment; nevertheless, balcony, lift, lobby, and other areas will not be included in the carpet area.

How to Calculate the Total Carpet Area?

There are different methods of calculating carpet area. Firstly, you should know that carpet area is 70% of built-up area. For instance, assuming that the built-up area is 1,000 sq ft, your carpet area should be 70% off 1,000 sq ft, which is, in this case, 700 sq ft. So your carpet area is 700 sq ft.

What Is a Built-Up Area?

In simple words, built-up area is the carpet area plus the area covered by walls. Balconies, terraces (with or without roofs), mezzanine floors, and other detachable livable areas such as servant rooms, etc. are included in the built-up area. You should also be aware that shared walls with other units are factored in at 50%, whereas other walls are computed fully.

How to Calculate Built-Up Area?

Logically, built-up area = carpet area + areas covered by walls. In most cases, it is 10-15% larger than the carpet area. With the following example, you can see what I mean.

Assume that regions covered by dry balconies and terraces account for 10% of the built-up area, while the useable area is only 70% of the built-up area. So, if the built-up area is 1,000 square feet, 30% of it, or 300 square feet, is unusable, leaving 700 square feet to be utilized.

What Is a Super Built-Up Area?

The proportionate part of the entry lobby, corridors, stair cases, elevator shafts, lift lobby, generator rooms, club house, security room, and any other common areas in the complex are included in the super built-up area. However, super built-up area does not include underground sump, water tanks, walk ways, swimming pools, open sports facilities, weather sheds, inaccessible flower beds, or lofts.

Calculating Super Built-Up Area

Developers use 1.25 as a multiplying factor to measure super built-up area since it includes common amenities such as elevators, verandas, and clubhouses. This results in a 25% increase in total saleable area. Loading is the term for this percentage. When calculating saleable areas, few developers use loading figures. For example, if the carpet area is 600 sq ft, the builder adds a loading of 30 per cent, you have to pay for 780 sq ft, whereas you are using just 600 sq ft.