CALCULATION OF BUILDING AREAS

BUILDING AREA
• This refers to sum of the floor area of all floors in all buildings on a site.
Example of different building areas
• Circulation area eg corridors
• Mechanical area eg lifts
• Assignable areas- areas assigned for or available for assignment to an
occupant for specific use eg lecture room, laboratory, bedroom etc
NB It is important to know how these different areas are calculated in
order to advise the Architect when dividing space within a building.
Wednesday, March 24, 2021 1
NET ASSIGNABLE AREA
• This is the sum of all areas on all floors of a building assigned to or
available for assignment to an occupant or for specific use.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 2

EXAMPLE OF NET ASSIGNABLE AREA

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 3

 CONTINUATION
BASIS OF MEASUREMENT
• Net assignable area is computed by physically measuring or scaling
measurement from the inside faces of surface that form boundaries
of the designated areas.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 4

NON-ASSIGNABLE AREA
• This refers to the amount of space within a building that is essential to
the operation but not assigned directly to people or program.
• The area of non-assignable space is the sum of the space allocated to
the three major non assignable space which are Building Service area,
Circulation area and Mechanical area.
Non – assignable area= Circulation area+ Building Service area+
Mechanical

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 5

NET USABLE AREA
• This refers to the sum of all areas on all floors of a building either
assigned to or available for assignment to an occupant or necessary
for the general operation of a building.
• It can also be defined as the sum of assignable area and non-
assignable area.
NET USABLE AREA = net assignable + non-assignable

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 6

 GROSS AREA
• This is a floor area of a structure included within the outside faces of
the exterior wall including circulation and shaft areas.
• The value is either physically measured or scaled from the outside
faces of exterior walls.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 7

 EXAMPLE OF GROSS AREA

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 8

 CIRCULATION AREA
• This refers to the sum of all areas on all floors of a building required
for physical access to some subdivision of space whether physically
bounded by partitions or not.
BASIS OF MEASUREMENT
Circulation area is computed by physically measuring or scaling
measurements from inside
faces that form the boundaries of the designated areas.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 9

 CIRCULATION AREA

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 10

BUILDING SERVICE AREA
• This refers to the sum of all areas on all floors of a building used for
sink rooms and public rest rooms.
• It is computed by physically measuring or scaling measurements from
the inside faces of surfaces that forms the boundaries of the
designated areas.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 11

EXAMPLE OF BUILDING SERVICE
AREAS

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 12

STRUCTURAL AREA
• This is the sum of all the areas on all the floors of a building that
cannot be occupied or put to use because of structural building
feature.
• It is determined by calculating the difference between the measured
gross area and the measured net usable area.
• Structural area = Gross area – Net usable area.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 13

MECHANICAL AREA
• This is the sum of all areas on all floors of a building designed to
house mechanical equipment

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 14