Measurement examples
Gross external area (GEA)
Using the RICS Code of Measuring Practice 6th Edition (2007) there follows examples of calculating floor areas for a variety of purposes.
Gross external area (GEA)
GEA is defined as the area of a building measured externally at each floor level as follows;
Included
- Perimeter wall thickness and external projections
- Areas occupied by internal walls and partitions
- Columns, piers, chimney breasts, stairwells, roof, lift-wells and the like
- Atria and entrance halls with clear height
- Above, measured at base level only
- Internal balconies
- Structural, raked or stepped floors are to be treated as a level floor measured horizontally
- Mezzanine areas intended for use with permanent access
- Lift rooms, plant rooms, fuel stores, tank rooms, which are housed in a covered structure of a permanent nature, whether or not above the main roof level
- Outbuildings which share at least one wall with the main building
- Loading bays
- Areas with a headroom of less than 1.5m
- Pavement vaults
- Garages
- Conservatories
Excluded
- External open-sided balconies
- Canopies
- Open vehicle parking areas, terraces and the like
- Voids over or under structural raked or stepped floors
- Greenhouses, garden stores, fuel stores and the like in residential property
Figure 2 Gross external area