What is Plinth Area?
It is the covered built-up area measured at the floor level of any storey or the floor level of the basement of a building.
The plinth area includes:(A/c to is code 3861:2000)
Wall area: This is the area of the walls at the floor level, excluding any decorative elements sticking out.
Shafts: This includes spaces for pipes, cables, and other utilities, as well as stairs and elevators.
Open verandahs: These are partially enclosed areas. For parts with a roof above, 100% of the area is counted. For parts without a roof, only 50% is counted.
Balconies: Similar to verandahs, with a roof counting as 100% and no roof counting as 50%.
Alcoves: These are small recessed areas outside the wall. Their area is counted as 25%, 50%, or 100% depending on their height.
1)25 percent of the area for the alcove of
height up to 1 m,
2)50 percent of the area for the alcove of
height more than 1m and up to 2 m, and
3)100 percent of the area for the alcove of
height more than 2 m
Download IS code 3861:2000
The Plinth Area does not include/ Excluded spaces:
- Non-habitable areas: This category excludes lofts, typically additional rooms built above the main floors and often used for storage or less frequently used activities.
- Decorative elements: These are architectural details that add visual interest but don’t increase usable space, like bands, cornices, sun breakers, and even holders for flower pots.
- Open, non-essential areas: This excludes spaces that are not fully enclosed and primarily used for aesthetics or specific activities, such as open platforms for gathering or relaxation, terraces accessible from the building, and external staircases that are not integrated into the main structure.
- Structures above the roof: This category excludes anything built on top of the main roof, such as:
- Functional spaces: Machinery rooms used for building maintenance.
- Utility or communication structures: Towers that may house utilities or communication equipment.
- Decorative features: Elements like turrets and domes that add a visual touch but don’t serve a practical purpose.
- By excluding these areas, the “plinth area” focuses on the core, functional space of the building at the floor level, providing a more accurate measure of its usable footprint and potentially impacting calculations like construction costs or property taxes.
How to calculate plinth area: Plinth area rate estimate
- A plinth area cost estimate is done according to the building’s plinth area. This cost estimate is derived by multiplying the building’s plinth area with the current rates (based on buildings with similar characteristics in similar locations).
- The result will be the approximate building cost. Each storey in a building will get its own plinth area estimate before the entire property gets an approximate cost according to those individual plinth area costs
Plinth Area VS Carpet Area
- Plinth area: It is the built-up area that is measured at the floor level of the basement of a building or any storey of the building.
- Carpet area: Measured from wall to wall.it is the area of what is useable in a room,
- i.e. the total area in square feet that a carpet can be laid down.
- Plinth area: its is also called built-up area.
- Carpet Area: Carpet area is also called livable area or usable area.
- Plinth area: It includes the building carpet area, wall area of internal and exterior walls, parasitic area, area of elevator opening, etc.
- Carpet area: It does not include the area of the inner and exterior walls of the building. Carpet area the built-up area with the area of the walls subtracted.
- Plinth area: The plinth area is usually around 10-20% larger than the carpet area.
- Carpet area: The carpet area is usually around 10-20% smaller than the plinth area or built-up area.
Plinth Area VS Built-up Area
- The terms plinth area and built-up area are used interchangeably. Both refer to the area covered at the floor level of any floor in a building or the building’s basement floor level. This area includes what is covered by internal and external walls of the building. Often, plinth area is more commonly heard when referring to standalone houses such as villas. Built-up area is generally used more often to describe the square footage of apartments and flats.
Floor Area VS Plinth Area
- Carpet area, floor area, plinth area ,you would have heard these terms used a lot when looking to buy property.
- Carpet area: It is the useable area of a room – the total area in square feet that a carpet can be laid down.
- Floor area: It is the total area of the floor within the walls. To put it simply, the floor area is the plinth area without the area that is occupied by the walls. Area covered by pillars and other supports are not taken into account when calculating floor area.
- Plinth area: It is the total area that lies within the exterior dimensions of the walls of a building at any floor level.
- Difference between plinth area and covered area?
- As mentioned above, the plinth area is the built-up area that lies within the exterior dimensions of the walls of a building at any floor level. It usually measures at 10% to 20% higher than the calculated carpet area.
- Covered area refers to the area under the roof of the building. This includes structures such as the walls, balconies and pillars. When measured, it is usually around 8% to 10% greater than the calculated carpet area.
How to measure the “rentable area” of a building?
For residential buildings (homes, apartments):
- The rentable area is the carpet area (actual usable floor space) plus the area of Kitchen, pantry, storage, bathrooms, and toilets.
- Half the area of an unglazed balcony and all the area of a glazed balcony.
- Excluded from the rentable area are covered spaces like storage areas under stairs and on the first floor.
- For shops and offices only one-quarter of the carpet area is counted towards the rentable area.
- For non-residential buildings (offices, shops, etc.):
- The rentable area is the carpet area plus the area of the canteen, including its storage, kitchen, and pantry.
- Excluded from the rentable area are bathrooms and toilets.
- Similar to residential buildings, for shops and offices , only one-quarter of the carpet area is counted towards the rentable area.
- Remember:
- “Carpet area” refers to the actual usable floor space, excluding walls and other permanent fixtures.
- This section focuses on calculating the area tenants will pay rent for, which may differ from the total building area.
Some General Terminology
Balcony-A horizontal projection with a hand-rail, balustrade or a parapet, to serve as passage or sitting out place.
Mezzanine Floor– An intermediate floor in-between two main floors having minimum height of 2.2 m from the floor and having a proper and permanent access to it.
NOTE : Where rules of the local bodies permit intermediate floor of minimum 1.8 m clear height, these be also considered as mezzanine floor for the purpose of measurement.
Stair Cover ( Mumty )-It is a structure with a roof over a staircase and its landing, built to enclose only the stairs for the purpose of providing protection from weather and not used for human habitation.
Loft-A structure providing intermediate storage space in between two main floors without having a permanent access and at a height not less than 2.0 m from the floor below.
Porch-It is a covered structure supported on pillars or otherwise for the purpose of pedestrian or vehicular approach to a building.