Carpet area, built-up area, super built-up area: only one is defined by law

Carpet area is the usable floor inside your flat, and it is the only one of the three areas the law defines. Built-up area adds the walls and the balcony. Super built-up adds your share of the lobby, stairs, lift and corridors, and is the number most brochures quote. Compare flats, and price them, on carpet area.

Three numbers for one flat

Each of the three is larger than the one before it, and the price per square foot you hear is usually multiplied by the largest.

Built-up and super built-up are trade terms. Nothing in the Act tells a builder how to calculate them, which is exactly why two buildings can quote the same super built-up figure and hand over very different flats.

The area the Act defines

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act wrote carpet area down so that nobody could stretch it. It is the net usable floor area of the apartment. It includes the area under the internal partition walls. It excludes the external walls, the service shafts, any exclusive balcony or verandah, and any exclusive open terrace.

Two consequences follow. First, a balcony is real floor that you will use every day, but it is not carpet area; it is listed separately. Second, the walls between your rooms count, while the walls between you and your neighbour do not.

The Act also makes the number public. A registered project has to declare the number, type and carpet area of the apartments it is selling, with the exclusive balcony and terrace areas stated separately. In Madhya Pradesh the model agreement for sale states the Total Price on the basis of carpet area.

Two flats both advertised at "1,200 square feet" can differ by two hundred square feet of usable floor. Put both on carpet area and that difference shows at once.

Loading: the word for the gap

The difference between the super built-up figure and the carpet area has a name in the trade: loading. It pays for things worth having. A generous lobby, a wide corridor and a second lift all come out of loading. The point is not that loading is bad. The point is that you are paying for it, and you should know how much before you compare two buildings.

Do the sum yourself

One division tells you what you are actually paying for each square foot you can use. Here is an illustration with round, invented figures.

This is not a market rate for anywhere in Indore. It is the arithmetic: take the total price, divide it by the carpet area, and compare two buildings on that number instead of the headline rate.

Three requests to make in writing

All three are ordinary requests, and a straightforward seller answers them without fuss.

1. "What is the carpet area, in writing?" It belongs in the agreement for sale, not in a conversation at the site office.
2. "What is the loading, and how did you work it out?" A plain question with a plain answer. Compare it between projects.
3. "May I see the floor plan with dimensions?" With room sizes on paper, you can check the carpet area yourself instead of trusting it.

When you receive the keys, measure. It takes ten minutes with a tape and the dimensioned plan: room by room, inside face of wall to inside face of wall, add the internal wall thicknesses, and set the total against the figure in your agreement. The cost sheet that turns this area into a price is explained in our guide to reading a builder's cost sheet.

Buying a plot instead?

None of this applies, and that is the useful part. Land has no carpet, built-up or super built-up area. A plot has one area: the one recorded on the sanctioned layout and in the revenue record. The only question is whether the ground the boundary walls actually enclose matches it.

That is a simpler question than anything in a flat brochure, and you can start answering it before you meet anybody, by reading the sanctioned layout for the colony and the plot. If the units on the papers are unfamiliar, our guide to plot sizes and units converts them.

Questions people ask

What is carpet area as per RERA?

The net usable floor area of an apartment, including the area under internal partition walls and excluding external walls, service shafts, exclusive balcony or verandah and exclusive open terrace. It is set out in section 2(k) of the Act.

Is balcony included in carpet area?

No. An exclusive balcony or verandah is excluded from carpet area under RERA and is declared separately. It is real floor, but you should not be charged for it as carpet area.

What is loading in a flat?

The difference between the super built-up area and the carpet area, covering your share of lobbies, stairs, lifts and corridors. It is not defined by law, so ask how the builder calculated the percentage.

How do I calculate the price per square foot of carpet area?

Divide the total price by the carpet area. A flat quoted at ₹4,500 a square foot on 1,200 square feet super built-up, with 840 square feet of carpet, costs about ₹6,429 per usable square foot.

Does a plot have carpet area?

No. A plot has one area, recorded on the sanctioned layout and in the revenue record. Check that against what the boundary walls actually enclose.

Where the facts come from. The facts and figures in this post come from verified government sources and verified RERA-registered brokers.

Indori Zameen is a private platform. It is not a government body and is not affiliated with one — always confirm a record with the concerned authority before you commit money.