Area

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A prefab house floor area is the area of a normally horizontal, permanent structure for each level of the house. The total house area is the result of the addition of all the floor areas.

According to RICS Code of measuring practice (2015)
Gross External Area (GEA) is the area of a building measured externally at each floor level.
Gross Internal Area (GIA) is the area of a building measured to the internal face of the perimeter walls at each floor level.
Net Floor Area is the usable area within a building measured to the internal face of the perimeter walls at each floor level.
Effective Floor Area (EFA) is the usable area of the rooms within a building measured to the internal face of the walls of those rooms.

As measuring floor areas has supposed a long problem of consistency from an international comparative perspective, the (IPMSC) Residential building measurement standards have then been adopted as the unique reference by organizations like RICS. The international standard includes these definitions:

IPMS 3 – Residential is the floor area available on an exclusive basis to an occupier.

This definition encloses three alternative bases:
IPMS 3A – Residential: an external measurement of the area in exclusive occupation. It equates somewhat to RICS Gross External Area (GEA).
IPMS 3B – Residential: an internal measurement including internal walls, etc. It equates somewhat to RICS GIA Gross Internal Area (GIA).
IPMS 3C – Residential: an internal measurement excluding internal walls, etc. It equates somewhat to Effective Floor Area (EFA).

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