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 vital part of creating the appraisal report and approximating the value of a home. This post strolls you through the actions on how to determine GLA with self-confidence.

What is Gross Living Area (GLA)?

Property is determined after local guidelines 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 location of completed, above-grade (in the air) property area. It is computed by measuring the outside boundary of the structure and consists of only ended up, habitable, above-grade home. Finished basements and attic areas are not generally consisted of in the GLA total. However, regional practices differ on this.

GLA is a vital part of the valuation of a home or residential or commercial property. It is not the like overall living area (TLA). Although the Appraisal Institute does not strictly specify TLA, it is usually taken to include any completed basement area, livable attic areas, and even unattached accessory residence units.

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

The habitable, above-ground area in a domestic property is the part of the home that commands the greatest rate. The assessment of the residential or commercial property is often a direct result of just how much of the residential or commercial property's area has this condition and will, in turn, straight effect insurance coverage expenses and worth and, eventually prices.

Because of this, it's crucial that the appraiser consist of every legitimate location in a GLA computation so that the residential or commercial property accomplishes its rightful sales rate, the mortgage lending institution understands the correct value, and the residential or commercial property is effectively insured.

How is Gross Living Area Measured and Calculated?

Historically, GLA has been open to interpretation in how it was computed, with appraisers, remodelers, and the like utilizing different meanings and calculations. In the United States, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) just recently presented ANSI Z765-2021 to record typical requirements for appraisers.

Some companies, such as Fannie Mae, a leading source of mortgage financing in the United States, now require appraisers to utilize these requirements and provide a useful summary file.

The ANSI home measurement requirement has a couple of crucial elements:

- It uses to single-family housing. It does not apply to apartments, condominiums, 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 nearest inch or tenth of a foot and reported on a sketch or flooring strategy of the residential or commercial property. The final square footage estimation is to be reported to the nearby whole square foot.

What Is Included in the GLA Calculation?

For a space to be included as GLA, it must adhere to these six criteria:

It needs to be finished. It needs to consist of walls, floors, and ceilings, ended up with basic materials such as carpet, drywall, etc.
It needs to be above ground. Even a space just 2 feet listed below ground counts as basement space and is omitted.
It needs to be confined. It must have 4 walls.
It requires to be contiguous. It must be connected to the rest of the Gross Living Area.
It should be conventionally warmed, utilizing forced air, solar, radiant heating, etc (space heating systems do not count).
It should be permitted. The regional city or county building department need to have allowed the location.
If an area fulfills all these aspects, include it in the GLA. Note that the external walls for included locations become part of the measurement. A space is omitted from the GLA if any of the above criteria are unmet. Instead, it can be noted as a separate line item in the report and consisted of 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 essential to understand which locations of a residential or commercial property are not included in the GLA computation. These areas are, however, often included in the computation of TLA.

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

- Unfinished garages.
- Below-grade (below ground level) spaces such as basements. This consists of walk-out basements - ones with direct access to the outdoors - typically discovered in a home built on a slope. Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished sheds or structures not linked to the primary structure, such as homes or Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU). Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished areas that are just connected to the main home by an incomplete location - to put it simply, they are not connected by a finished and heated up passage or staircase. For instance, a guest suite attached to the main home through an unfinished garage. Instead, list them in the TLA.
- Finished living spaces where over 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 must be omitted from the GLA.
- Covered or revealed patios and decks.
- Porches that are not enclosed, or if enclosed, 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 floor. For example, a cantilevered window-seat bump-out.
- A fireplace is left out if it is surrounded on 3 sides by external walls.
- A space that was built or remodeled without an appropriate permit.

5 Practical Tips on How to Measure GLA On-Site

Start with a walkaround - Walk around 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 create a digital sketch utilizing floor plan software on your tablet.
Start measuring - work your way from corner to corner and utilize a measuring tape, roto wheel, or a laser to get the right measurements. Round your measurements to the closest inch or the nearest 1/10th of a foot so you abide by the ANSI standard.
Head inside - Ensure to go inside the residential or commercial property and determine any locations that don't fulfill GLA standards. These areas must be noted as TLA.
Do the mathematics - Combine all the locations that comply with GLA requirements - this is the GLA. Then build up the areas that are non-GLA, and include these to your GLA area, which gives you your TLA.
Bonus Tip! Use Software to Double-Check Your Calculation

Make an expert layout sketch complete with measurements and annotations, and include this as part of your appraisal report. This offers complete transparency on how you concerned your estimation and gives you the confidence you have come to the best number.

Pick floor plan software application like RoomSketcher, as here you get a built-in overall area calculator that you can use to double-check your measurements. If everything compares, then excellent! If not, check that you've gotten in the exact same measurements into RoomSketcher as in your manual estimations, 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 ended up, connected, above-ground space in a home, Total Living Area (TLA) usually consists of below-ground completed space and non-connected (or non-contiguous) space.

Total Living Area consists of, for instance, completed basement area and different completed buildings such as homes and accessory residence units. Additionally, heated, completed attic spaces would be consisted of as long as majority the area has a ceiling height of 7 feet or more. When it comes to a slanted ceiling in the attic, only the location with a height of 5 feet or more is counted.

If you use floor plan software like RoomSketcher to draw your expert flooring strategy, you can establish any space to exclude, so the automatic estimation does not include this area.

GLA vs. Gross Building Area (GBA)

Whilst GLA is the standard for single-family homes, multi-family houses with two to four systems are typically determined using Gross Building Area (GBA). Both GLA and GBA compute the finished areas of a structure.

The main distinction is that below-grade living area is consisted of in the Gross Building Area. Like GLA, GBA consists of completed corridors, storeroom, laundry spaces, and interior stairways.

GLA vs. Gross Internal Area (GIA)

Gross Internal Area (GIA) is often used for commercial buildings. The Gross Internal location (GIA) is the entire enclosed internal flooring space, determined to the inside face of the exterior walls.

This measurement can offer business structure leases an idea of the usable interior floor area. The measurement includes any space utilized by internal walls or partitions, along with corridors, washrooms, and storage rooms. It might likewise consist of garages and basements.

GLA vs. Total Square Footage

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

The GLA only includes above-grade, finished, adjoining locations of a home whilst the overall square footage consists of other areas (that might not be living areas) as long as they have walls, ceilings, and floors.

Total Square Footage can include garages, workshops, unfinished storage locations, decks, patio areas - any location under the main roof, as well as detached structures like different garages, visitor suites, or cabanas.

GLA vs. TLA vs. GBA vs. GIA

Still confused? Take a look at this useful table to give you a fast referral regarding what is what:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

Are external walls consisted of in the GLA computation?

Mostly. A GLA estimation consists of the external walls for the spaces, locations, and staircase, which fulfill the GLA requirement, so just the exterior walls of those locations are consisted of.

Is a garage consisted of in the Gross Living Area?

No, unless it has actually been allowed and transformed into an above-grade, contiguous, completed, heated, livable space.

Are closets consisted of in Gross Living Area?

Generally, yes, if they fulfill the height requirements.

Are stairs included or omitted in GLA?

The stair treads and landing areas are thought about part of the room from which they descend, so if that room 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 floor from which the stairs descend.

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 come down. For instance, stairs descending from a second level to the ground flooring are counted in the GLA of the second level.

Any area beneath the staircase is included in the square video footage of the floor to which the stairs come down. So the area below 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 whole opening becomes part of the GLA for the flooring from which the stairs descend. If the opening is wider than the stairwell, then include only the area equal to the size of the stairs (in the GLA for the floor from which the stairs come down).

Are fireplaces consisted of or omitted in the GLA?

If a fireplace is surrounded on 3 sides by external walls, it is not part of GLA.

Is the attic included in the GLA?

Finished attics are typical in numerous locations. According to the definition of GLA from the Appraisal Institute, attics are not generally included in the GLA. However, local practices on this differ. In lots of areas, an attic's location can be consisted of in the GLA as long as it is heated and completed.

If there is a sloped ceiling in the attic, then the ANSI Z765-2021 basic states that you can only consist of the flooring location where the ceiling determines 5 feet up. Furthermore, at least one-half of the finished flooring area must have 7 feet of ceiling height.

Take Your Appraisals to the Next Level

Appraising is a crucial task requiring precision and attention to detail. There are usually acknowledged measurement guidelines depending upon the location in which you live. A few of the standards now need computer-generated sketches for appraisal reports.

If you desire an easy method to turn your hand-drawn sketches into expert layout, have a look at RoomSketcher. If you wish to discuss our services or ask concerns about Gross Living Area estimations, please contact us; we would enjoy to assist you.

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