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How the Gross Internal Area (GIA) is calculated
How the Gross Internal Area (GIA) is calculated

Rules and instructions to include or exclude spaces from the calculation.

Xavier Olland avatar
Written by Xavier Olland
Updated over 3 months ago

When you get a Cubicasa floor plan, you also get the total area of the property. We have set rules so that every scan comes out with the same logic regarding the area calculation that we call Gross Internal Area or GIA.


While we try to have solutions that are all-encompassing, there will always be architectural oddities, regional habits, or simply personal preferences that will break these rules. To accommodate situations where our standardized rules may not work for you, we have tried to build up a solution that makes sense and can be easily edited without our help so you can get the output you need and are happy with.

Disclaimer: the GIA has no legal value nor does it follow any specific standard. We support the ANSI-Z765 standard in the US and is available through our GLA add-on (read more about it here).

Ground rules

GIA includes all spaces that are:

  • Indoor

  • Finished

  • Enclosed

  • with a minimum ceiling height of 5' (or 152cm)

External walls and Outdoor spaces are always ignored.

How to include an excluded space ?

It's quite simple. You can include any indoor space by changing their properties. Here is how to do it:

  1. Open the floor plan in our Quick Edit tool.

  2. Click on the label of the space you want to edit.

  3. The space properties pane appears on the right

  4. Check the finished and enclosed checkboxes

  5. Make sure the height is over 5' (or 152cm)

Repeat this for each space you want to include. Then save your floor plan and wait for the delivery.

Other elements

External walls

If you need to include external walls in the measurements you should choose our GLA add-on (read more about it here).

Outdoor areas

By definition, Outdoor areas are always excluded from the Gross Internal area. Nevertheless areas that are "attached" to the property such as verandas, patios, decks, porchs, balconies and terraces will have their areas displayed on the floor plan so potential buyers can properly estimate the property area.
The following areas are excluded (even if screened or covered):

  • Balconies

  • Decks

  • Patios

  • Porch

  • Terrace


Swimming pool and bathtubs

These are ignored as they overlap spaces. Counting them would make their area count twice.

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