What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?
When people refer to GLA, they are referring to the Gross Living Area obtained by following the measurement precepts of the United States standard ANSI-Z765. Our GLA add-on produces floor plans and reports that contain detailed calculations of the GLA. This add-on will include or exclude spaces following the ANSI rules.
The GLA add-on produces floor plans and reports which contain detailed calculation of the GLA and will include or exclude spaces following the ANSI rules.
What Spaces are Included in the GLA?
To be included in the GLA calculation, spaces must meet specific requirements. The calculation includes all spaces that are:
Heated
Finished
Enclosed
Contiguous
Permitted
Built with a minimum ceiling height of 7'
For example, a garage or an unfinished basement is excluded from the calculation. A finished attic lower than 7' would also be excluded.
Special Rules for Specific Rooms
Ceiling height
Rules differ when you have a flat ceiling or a sloped ceiling. For sloped ceilings, provided the highest point is at a minimum of 7', the area from the highest point down to 5' will be accounted for. Areas under 5' will not be accounted for. Rules will vary based on the property type.
External walls
Rules will vary based on the property type and are covered in this dedicated article.
By default, our floor plans use standard measurements that are highly reliable for most homes: 6" for exterior walls and 4" for interior walls. However, we know that certain materials—like brick veneers—can make walls thicker.
If your property has unique dimensions, we can easily adjust this for you! To request a custom wall thickness, follow these steps:
Determine the custom thickness of your exterior or interior walls.
Locate the comments section on your screen when uploading your scan.
Type a note adding your custom wall thickness into the comments section.
Submit your scan for processing.
Important: Please make sure to include this note before submitting. We can only adjust wall thickness during the initial creation of the model, not after the floor plan has been processed.
Stairs & openings to below
Stairs are included in the floor they descend from.
The area below the stairs (regardless of finish or ceiling height) are included in the level on which the stairs land.
Openings to the floor below are not included (areas where the stair treads and landings are not considered open to below).
You get more details in our dedicated article.
Bay windows
are included if they are floor-to-ceiling
are excluded otherwise
Specific areas
Below grade
If you are wondering whether below grade areas are included in the GLA, below grade areas are not included in the GLA calculation.
Accessory Dwelling Units
ADUs are calculated following the same rules, but to qualify as an ADU several criteria must be met. You can read our dedicated article about ADUS here.
Getting the official documentation
Some elements cannot be detected by Cubicasa and need your input. You will want to follow the exact rules of the standard. In that case we recommend getting the actual documentation.
Disclaimer
Every reference to GLA in Cubicasa documentation and communication is a reference to the United States standard ANSI-Z765. Every output obtained from the GLA add-on in Cubicasa solutions are following this standard. If you live in another country than the US and use our GLA product, you'll probably need to change and adapt a few things.