If you are buying, selling or renting a property you will need to know its size, moreover you want to ensure it is the size you think it is. You could rely on the figures quoted, which we’re sure are accurate…., or you may want to ask a company – like us! – to provide you with an independent area calculation.
To do this we would visit the property and carry out a survey in accordance with the current RICS measuring guidelines. Surveys are carried out using the most appropriate equipment – Handheld laser, Total Station, Laser Scanner, etc – then back to the office to process the data and draw up the floor plans using CAD (Computer Aided Design).
Once the plans are drawn, the areas are calculated and presented in an area schedule with supporting area reference plans.
There are a number of ways property areas are calculated, and this depends on the type of property (Office, Retail, Residential, Leisure or Industrial) and what the measurements are required for. Areas are calculated to:
· GEA (Gross External Area)
· GIA (Gross Internal Area Calculations)
· NIA (Net Internal Area Calculations)
· ITZA (Zoning method for calculating retail properties)
· IPMS (International Property Measurement Standard)