Paradox of “Area” in Building of Hong Kong

There are a ranges of terms from “Usable Floor Area / space – UFA , “Saleable Area – SA ” , “Gross Floor Area – GFA “, ” Internal Floor Area – IFA” , “Common Area – CA”, “Lettable Area – LA ” and “Construction Floor Area – CFA” to describe and present the “area” of the space in numerical way. The confusion of amongst these terms stems from the different definition of their respective legal context, code of practice and the application. In short, “Usable Floor Area” is originated from Buildings Ordinance for population estimation in a proposed space whereas the Saleable area is for property conveyance in First Hand sale. The “Common Area” is the idea coming from Deed of Mutual Covenant and Building Management Ordinance. On the contrary, “Construction Floor Area” is for construction cost estimation and this area covers also the ceiling and wall face area.

Hong Kong Institute of Surveyor has published the “Code of Measuring Practice” MPracticeCode-199903 (1) There has laid some quick understanding to the “area”.

residential area of the city at dusk,bird’s eye view