Definitions

Interior Area is a per floor calculation, made by measuring to the inside surface of the exterior walls. The footprint of all interior walls and staircases is typically included.

Excluded Area is a sum of the area of all rooms (measured to the inside surface of room walls) that are excluded from the Interior Area for a floor and the footprint of corresponding walls. Prescribed area exclusions can vary from region to region. Examples of exclusions are spaces open to below, garages, cold cellars, crawl and reduced height spaces.

Exterior Wall Footprint is the sum of the estimated area of the perimeter wall segments bounding both Interior and Excluded Areas.

Exterior Area is a per floor calculation, made by measuring to the outside surface of the exterior walls and is represented by the sum of the Interior Area and the Exterior Wall Footprint.

Grade is the ground level at the perimeter of the exterior finished surface of a house. A floor is considered to be above grade if its floor level is everywhere above grade.

Total Interior Area is the sum of all Interior Areas.

Total Excluded Area is the sum of all Excluded Areas.

Total Exterior Area is the sum of all Exterior Areas.

Finished Area is a per floor calculation made by adding all enclosed areas in a house that are suitable for year-round use based upon their location, embodying walls, floors, and ceilings and which are similar to the rest of the house. Footprint of walls is attributed to finished area only when the walls are bounding finished areas.

Unfinished Area is a per floor calculation made by adding all enclosed areas that do not meet the criteria for Finished Area. Exceptions are outdoor and non-walkable areas, for example porches or areas open to below. Footprint of walls is attributed to unfinished area only when the walls are exclusively bounding unfinished areas.

*Notes: For exterior walls that are adjacent to the outside of the property, where typically only the interior side has measurement data, an estimation of the exterior wall thickness (as directly measured at the property) is used to calculate its footprint. Considerations are not made for varying wall thickness along the perimeter.

Disclaimer - All dimensions and floor areas must be considered approximate and are subject to independent verification.

PDF Floor Plans

1. RECA RMS 2017: Color is used to indicate all included areas. Excluded and not reported areas are shown in white. Walls are always shown in black.

2. ANSI Z765 2021: Color is used to indicate all finished areas. Unfinished and not reported areas are shown in white. Walls are always shown in black.

More Information About the Standards

1. RECA RMS 2017: https://www.reca.ca/licensees-learners/tools-resources/residential-measurement-standard

2. ANSI Z765 2021: https://www.homeinnovation.com/z765