What is Gross Living Area (GLA) and how do You Calculate It?

What is Gross Living Area (GLA) and How Do You Calculate It?

Knowing how to determine the Gross Living Area (GLA) of a residential or commercial property is a vital part of developing the appraisal report and approximating the worth of a home. This post walks you through the actions on how to compute GLA with confidence.

What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?

Property is determined after local regulations worldwide. In the US, Gross Living Area (GLA) is defined by the Appraisal Institute's Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal, 7th Ed., as the overall location of finished, above-grade (above the ground) property space. It is computed by determining the outside boundary of the structure and consists of just finished, habitable, above-grade living area. Finished basements and attic locations are not typically consisted of in the GLA overall. However, local practices differ on this.

GLA is an important part of the evaluation of a home or residential or commercial property. It is not the same as total living area (TLA). Although the Appraisal Institute does not strictly define TLA, it is typically required to consist of any completed basement space, habitable attic locations, and even unattached device dwelling systems.

Why is it Important to Know the Exact GLA of a Home?

The livable, above-ground area in a domestic home is the part of the home that commands the best price. The valuation of the residential or commercial property is typically a direct outcome of how much of the residential or commercial property's space has this condition and will, in turn, straight effect insurance costs and worth and, eventually sales price.

Because of this, it is essential that the appraiser consist of every legitimate location in a GLA estimation so that the residential or commercial property attains its rightful prices, the mortgage lending institution knows the appropriate worth, and the residential or commercial property is effectively guaranteed.

How is Gross Living Area Measured and Calculated?

Historically, GLA has been open to interpretation in how it was determined, with appraisers, remodelers, and so on using various meanings and estimations. In the United States, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) recently introduced ANSI Z765-2021 to document typical requirements for appraisers.

Some organizations, such as Fannie Mae, a leading source of mortgage financing in the United States, now require appraisers to utilize these standards and offer a practical overview document.

The ANSI home measurement standard has a couple of essential elements:

- It applies to single-family housing. It does not apply to apartment or condos, condominiums, or commercial residential or commercial property.
- It specifies Gross Living Area (GLA) and what to include or leave out from the calculation.
- Measurements are noted to the nearest inch or tenth of a foot and reported on a sketch or floor strategy of the residential or commercial property. The last square footage computation is to be reported to the nearby whole square foot.

What Is Included in the GLA Calculation?

For an area to be included as GLA, it must follow these 6 criteria:

It must be completed. It must include walls, floorings, and ceilings, ended up with standard products such as carpet, drywall, etc.
It should be above ground. Even a space simply 2 feet below ground counts as basement space and is omitted.
It needs to be enclosed. It should have four walls.
It needs to be contiguous. It must be linked to the remainder of the Gross Living Area.
It should be traditionally heated, using forced air, solar, glowing heating, and so on (area heating units do not count).
It should be permitted. The regional city or county structure department must have allowed the area.
If an area satisfies all these aspects, include it in the GLA. Note that the external walls for included locations are part of the measurement. An area is left out from the GLA if any of the above requirements are unmet. Instead, it can be kept in mind as a different line product in the report and included as part of the TLA.

What Are Non-GLA Areas in a Residential or commercial property?

As the GLA is the overall of the above-ground property space of contiguous, finished locations, it is essential to understand which locations of a residential or commercial property are not consisted of in the GLA estimation. These locations are, nevertheless, often consisted of in the computation of TLA.

Examples of locations that are not included in the GLA computation are:

- Unfinished garages.
- Below-grade (listed below ground level) spaces such as basements. This includes walk-out basements - ones with direct access to the outside - generally found in a home developed on a slope. Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished sheds or structures not linked to the main building, such as homes or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished locations that are only linked to the primary living space by an unfinished location - to put it simply, they are not linked by an ended up and heated passage or staircase. For instance, a visitor suite connected to the main home through an incomplete garage. Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished living areas where more than half of the ceiling area is less than 7-foot-high. If the ceiling slopes (such as in an attic), any location with less than a 5-foot ceiling height need to be excluded from the GLA.
- Covered or discovered patios and decks.
- Porches that are not enclosed, or if confined, are not suitable for year-round usage. These are frequently called three-season rooms.
- Openings in a level that look down to the flooring listed below, such as a vestibule or foyer.
- Bump-outs that do not have a flooring. For example, a cantilevered window-seat bump-out.
- A fireplace is left out if it is surrounded on three sides by external walls.
- A space that was constructed or renovated without a suitable permit.

5 Practical Tips on How to Measure GLA On-Site

Start with a walkaround - Walk the outside of the home or residential or commercial property to get an idea of the shape of the residential or commercial property.
Sketch on paper or tablet - Make a fast sketch of the residential or commercial property shape on paper or create a digital sketch utilizing layout software application on your tablet.
Start determining - work your way from corner to corner and utilize a tape procedure, roto wheel, or a laser to get the proper measurements. Round your measurements to the nearby inch or the nearest 1/10th of a foot so you comply with the ANSI requirement.
Head inside - Ensure to go inside the residential or commercial property and determine any areas that don't satisfy GLA standards. These locations should be noted as TLA.
Do the mathematics - Total all the areas that comply with GLA requirements - this is the GLA. Then build up the areas that are non-GLA, and include these to your GLA location, which gives you your TLA.
Bonus Tip! Use Software to Double-Check Your Calculation

Make a professional floor plan sketch complete with measurements and annotations, and include this as part of your appraisal report. This provides total openness on how you came to your estimation and offers you the confidence you have come to the best number.

Pick layout software application like RoomSketcher, as here you get an inbuilt total location calculator that you can use to verify your measurements. If everything matches up, then excellent! If not, inspect that you've gone into the same measurements into RoomSketcher as in your manual calculations, and review your manual calculations for any errors or oversights.

- Discover more about how appraisers use RoomSketcher

GLA vs. Total Living Area (TLA)

While GLA is the finished, linked, above-ground space in a house, Total Living Area (TLA) generally includes below-ground finished space and non-connected (or non-contiguous) area.

Total Living Area includes, for example, finished basement space and different completed buildings such as cottages and accessory house units. Additionally, heated, ended up attic areas would be consisted of as long as over half the location has a ceiling height of 7 feet or more. In the case of a slanted ceiling in the attic, just the area with a height of five feet or more is counted.

If you utilize flooring plan software application like RoomSketcher to draw your expert layout, you can establish any space to leave out, so the automatic calculation doesn't include this area.

GLA vs. Gross Building Area (GBA)

Whilst GLA is the requirement for single-family homes, multi-family houses with 2 to four systems are frequently measured using Gross Building Area (GBA). Both GLA and GBA compute the ended up areas of a structure.

The primary difference is that below-grade home is consisted of in the Gross Building Area. Like GLA, GBA includes ended up corridors, storage rooms, laundry rooms, and interior staircases.

GLA vs. Gross Internal Area (GIA)

Gross Internal Area (GIA) is often used for business structures. The Gross Internal location (GIA) is the entire enclosed internal flooring area, measured to the inside face of the exterior walls.

This measurement can give commercial building leases a concept of the functional interior flooring location. The measurement includes any area utilized by internal walls or partitions, as well as corridors, bathrooms, and storage rooms. It might likewise include garages and basements.

GLA vs. Total Square Footage

There is no "main" meaning of overall square video footage. Rather total square video footage is used to describe the square video footage of a defined area. You could, for instance, report the total square video footage of the garage, which would not show whether the garage was finished or contiguous with the home.

The GLA just consists of above-grade, ended up, adjoining locations of a home whilst the overall square video consists of other locations (that may not be living areas) as long as they have walls, ceilings, and floors.

Total Square Footage can include garages, workshops, unfinished storage locations, patios, patios - any area under the main roofing system, as well as removed structures like separate garages, guest suites, or cabanas.

GLA vs. TLA vs. GBA vs. GIA

Still confused? Check out this useful table to offer you a fast referral regarding what is what:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Are external walls included in the GLA calculation?

Mostly. A GLA calculation consists of the external walls for the spaces, locations, and staircase, which satisfy the GLA standard, so just the outside walls of those areas are included.

Is a garage consisted of in the Gross Living Area?

No, unless it has been permitted and converted into an above-grade, contiguous, ended up, warmed, livable area.

Are closets consisted of in Gross Living Area?

Generally, yes, if they satisfy the height requirements.

Are stairs consisted of or left out in GLA?

The stair treads and landing locations are considered part of the space from which they descend, so if that space is thought about part of GLA, so is the stair area. If the stair opening is bigger than the stairs, then just the stairs (treads and landings) are included in the GLA for the floor from which the stairs come down.

How do you determine stairs in Gross Living Area?

The stair tread and landings are consisted of in the Gross Living Area for the level from which they descend. For instance, stairs coming down from a second level to the ground flooring are counted in the GLA of the 2nd level.

Any area below the staircase is consisted of in the square video footage of the floor to which the stairs come down. So the area beneath the staircase in our example is included in the GLA for the ground flooring.

Note that if the opening to a stairwell is the very same size as the stairs, then the entire opening belongs to the GLA for the flooring from which the stairs descend. If the opening is broader than the stairwell, then consist of only the area equal to the size of the stairs (in the GLA for the flooring from which the stairs come down).

Are fireplaces included or left out in the GLA?

If a fireplace is surrounded on three sides by external walls, it is not part of GLA.

Is the attic included in the GLA?

Finished attics prevail in numerous areas. According to the definition of GLA from the Appraisal Institute, attics are not normally included in the GLA. However, regional practices on this differ. In numerous areas, an attic's area can be included in the GLA as long as it is warmed and ended up.

If there is a sloped ceiling in the attic, then the ANSI Z765-2021 standard states that you can only consist of the flooring location where the ceiling determines five feet up. Furthermore, a minimum of half of the finished floor area need to have seven feet of ceiling height.

Take Your Appraisals to the Next Level

Appraising is an important task requiring precision and attention to information. There are normally acknowledged measurement standards depending on the location in which you live. A few of the standards now need computer-generated sketches for appraisal reports.

If you desire an easy way to turn your hand-drawn sketches into expert flooring strategies, examine out RoomSketcher. If you wish to discuss our services or ask questions about Gross Living Area calculations, please call us; we would love to assist you.

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