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 calculate the Gross Living Area (GLA) of a residential or commercial property is a fundamental part of producing the appraisal report and estimating the value of a home. This post strolls you through the steps on how to determine 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 total area of completed, above-grade (in the air) property space. It is calculated by measuring the outside border of the structure and consists of just completed, habitable, above-grade home. Finished basements and attic areas are not generally consisted of in the GLA total. However, local practices differ on this.

GLA is a critical part of the assessment of a home or residential or commercial property. It is not the like overall living location (TLA). Although the Appraisal Institute does not strictly define TLA, it is usually taken to consist of any finished basement space, livable attic locations, and even unattached accessory house systems.

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

The livable, above-ground space in a house is the part of the home that commands the best cost. The assessment of the residential or commercial property is often a direct outcome of how much of the residential or commercial property's space has this condition and will, in turn, directly impact insurance expenses and value and, ultimately sales price.

Because of this, it's crucial that the appraiser include every valid area in a GLA estimation so that the residential or commercial property accomplishes its rightful list prices, the mortgage loan provider understands the appropriate value, and the residential or commercial property is effectively guaranteed.

How is Gross Living Area Measured and Calculated?

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

Some organizations, such as Fannie Mae, a leading source of mortgage financing in the United States, now need appraisers to utilize these requirements and supply a useful introduction document.

The ANSI home measurement requirement has a few crucial elements:

- It applies to single-family housing. It doesn't apply to apartment or condos, condos, or commercial residential or commercial property.
- It specifies Gross Living Area (GLA) and what to include or exclude from the estimation.
- Measurements are kept in mind to the closest inch or tenth of a foot and reported on a sketch or layout of the residential or commercial property. The last square footage estimation is to be reported to the closest entire square foot.

What Is Included in the GLA Calculation?

For a space to be consisted of as GLA, it should stick to these six requirements:

It needs to be ended up. It should include walls, floors, and ceilings, ended up with standard products such as carpet, drywall, and so on.
It should be above ground. Even a space just 2 ft below ground counts as basement space and is omitted.
It has actually to be confined. It should have four walls.
It requires to be contiguous. It needs to be linked to the remainder of the Gross Living Area.
It needs to be conventionally heated up, using forced air, solar, radiant heat, etc (area heating units do not count).
It must be allowed. The regional city or county building department must have permitted the area.
If an area satisfies all these elements, include it in the GLA. Note that the external walls for consisted of areas become part of the measurement. An area is omitted from the GLA if any of the above requirements are unmet. Instead, it can be kept in mind as a separate 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 domestic area of adjoining, ended up locations, it is very important to understand which locations of a residential or commercial property are not included in the GLA computation. These locations are, nevertheless, typically included in the estimation of TLA.

Examples of locations that are not consisted of 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 outdoors - normally discovered in a home built on a slope. Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished outbuildings or structures not linked to the primary building, such as homes or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished locations that are only linked to the main home by an unfinished location - simply put, they are not connected by an ended up and heated corridor or staircase. For instance, a guest suite connected to the primary home via an unfinished garage. Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished living areas where majority 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 left out from the GLA.
- Covered or discovered patio areas and decks.
- Porches that are not enclosed, or if enclosed, are not suitable for year-round use. These are often called three-season spaces.
- Openings in a level that look down to the floor below, such as a vestibule or foyer.
- Bump-outs that do not have a flooring. For instance, a cantilevered window-seat bump-out.
- A fireplace is omitted if it is surrounded on 3 sides by external walls.
- A room that was constructed or redesigned without a proper permit.

5 Practical Tips on How to Measure GLA On-Site

Start with a walkaround - Walk the beyond 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 quick sketch of the residential or commercial property shape on paper or develop a digital sketch utilizing flooring plan software on your tablet.
Start measuring - work your way from corner to corner and use a tape step, roto wheel, or a laser to get the appropriate measurements. Round your measurements to the closest inch or the nearby 1/10th of a foot so you adhere to the ANSI requirement.
Head inside - Make certain to go inside the residential or commercial property and measure any locations that don't satisfy GLA standards. These areas must be listed as TLA.
Do the math - Total all the locations that adhere to GLA requirements - this is the GLA. Then include up the areas that are non-GLA, and include these to your GLA area, which offers you your TLA.
Bonus Tip! Use Software to Double-Check Your Calculation

Make an expert flooring plan sketch total with measurements and annotations, and include this as part of your appraisal report. This provides total openness on how you pertained to your computation and provides you the confidence you have arrived at the right number.

Pick floor plan software application like RoomSketcher, as here you get an in-built total area calculator that you can utilize to confirm your measurements. If everything matches up, then fantastic! If not, check that you have actually gotten in the same measurements into RoomSketcher as in your manual computations, and review your manual estimations for any errors or oversights.

- Find out more about how appraisers utilize RoomSketcher

GLA vs. Total Living Area (TLA)

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

Total Living Area includes, for example, finished basement area and different completed structures such as homes and accessory home units. Additionally, heated, completed attic spaces would be consisted of as long as over half the area has a ceiling height of seven feet or more. When it comes to an inclined ceiling in the attic, only the location with a height of five feet or more is counted.

If you utilize layout software like RoomSketcher to draw your expert floor plan, you can establish any area to leave out, so the automated estimation doesn't include this location.

GLA vs. Gross Building Area (GBA)

Whilst GLA is the standard for single-family homes, multi-family homes with two to four systems are typically determined utilizing Gross Building Area (GBA). Both GLA and GBA determine the ended up locations of a building.

The primary distinction is that below-grade living area is included in the Gross Building Area. Like GLA, GBA includes ended up corridors, storage rooms, laundry rooms, and interior stairs.

GLA vs. Gross Internal Area (GIA)

Gross Internal Area (GIA) is typically used for industrial buildings. The Gross Internal area (GIA) is the entire enclosed internal flooring area, determined to the inside face of the outside walls.

This measurement can offer business structure rents an idea of the functional interior flooring location. The measurement consists of any area used by internal walls or partitions, along with hallways, bathrooms, and storeroom. It may also include garages and basements.

GLA vs. Total Square Footage

There is no "official" definition of overall square footage. Rather overall square video is used to explain the square video of a defined area. You could, for instance, report the overall square footage of the garage, which would not indicate whether the garage was ended up or contiguous with the home.

The GLA only includes above-grade, finished, contiguous locations of a home whilst the total square footage includes other areas (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, porches, patio areas - any area under the main roofing system, along with separated structures like separate garages, guest suites, or cabanas.

GLA vs. TLA vs. GBA vs. GIA

Still confused? Take a look at this useful table to provide you a quick recommendation regarding what is what:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Are external walls included in the GLA calculation?

Mostly. A GLA computation includes the external walls for the rooms, areas, and staircase, which satisfy the GLA standard, so just the exterior walls of those locations are included.

Is a garage consisted of in the Gross Living Area?

No, unless it has actually been allowed and transformed into an above-grade, contiguous, ended up, heated, habitable area.

Are closets included in Gross Living Area?

Generally, yes, if they fulfill the height requirements.

Are stairs consisted of or left out in GLA?

The stair treads and landing areas are thought about part of the room from which they descend, so if that space is thought about part of GLA, so is the stair location. If the stair opening is bigger than the stairs, then only the stairs (treads and landings) are included in the GLA for the flooring from which the stairs descend.

How do you calculate stairs in Gross Living Area?

The stair tread and landings are included 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 second level.

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

Note that if the opening to a stairwell is the exact same size as the stairs, then the whole opening is part of the GLA for the flooring from which the stairs descend. If the opening is larger than the stairwell, then consist of just the location equivalent to the size of the stairs (in the GLA for the flooring from which the stairs come down).

Are fireplaces consisted of or omitted in the GLA?

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

Is the attic consisted of in the GLA?

Finished attics are typical in lots of areas. According to the definition of GLA from the Appraisal Institute, attics are not normally consisted of in the GLA. However, regional practices on this vary. In many areas, an attic's area can be included in the GLA as long as it is heated up and ended up.

If there is a sloped ceiling in the attic, then the ANSI Z765-2021 standard states that you can just include the flooring location where the ceiling determines five feet up. Furthermore, at least half of the finished flooring location should have seven feet of ceiling height.

Take Your Appraisals to the Next Level

Appraising is an essential job requiring precision and attention to information. There are typically acknowledged measurement guidelines depending upon the location in which you live. Some of the standards now need computer-generated sketches for appraisal reports.

If you desire a simple method to turn your hand-drawn sketches into professional layout, check out RoomSketcher. If you want to discuss our services or ask concerns about Gross Living Area computations, please contact us; we would enjoy to help you.