- Banking
 - Cards
 - General
 - Insurance
 - Lifestyle
 - Loans
 - NRI
 - Real Estate
 - Taxation
 - Travel

Larissa Fernand

Totally ecstatic about buying your new home? After all, you are getting fairly good bargain for 2,000 sq ft of area. Don't mean to be a kill-joy, but, can you tell me how the area is defined?
Is it carpet area? If not, is it 'built-up' area or 'super-built up' area? What's the difference, you ask? Quite a bit.

With no common criteria for measuring constructed space, the quote could be on the basis of any of the above three concepts. Of course, it goes without saying that there is no universally acceptable definition of these terms too.

Generally speaking, the carpet area is defined as the actual area within the walls of your house. To demonstrate, if you had to lay out a carpet, how much area would it require? That's the carpet area for you.

Built-up area goes a step further and it includes the carpet area as well as the area of the inside walls.

Super-built up or the sale area is the most comprehensive and includes a proportionate share of the lobby, staircase, outside corridor and elevator. In some cases, the terrace is also included in this. The total area of all these divided by the number of apartments in proportion to the size is how this calculation is done.

This break up is extremely essential as builders can place anywhere from 60 per cent to 80 per cent of the super built area as carpet area. That means, if the quote is on 2,000 sq ft, the carpet area could be anywhere from just 1,200 sq ft to 1,600 sq ft. If this break up is not mentioned in the agreement, demand that the builder mention it in the sale deed.

Tell us what you think of this information