Measurement Flashcards
What RICS guidance do you follow on measurement?
RICS Professional Statement: RICS Property Measurement 2018
What does RICS Property Measurement 2018 cover?
Introduced mandatory International Property Measurement Standards
What is the aim of RICS Property Measurement 2018?
To establish consistencies in property measurement to be adopted by governments and industry on a global basis
When did RICS Property Measurement 2018 come into effect?
May 1st 2018
What types of property does Property Measurement 2018 replace guidance that was in Code of Measuring Practice 2015?
Offices and residential
What are RICS members encouraged to do until IPMS becomes embedded into market practice?
Report on a dual basis
When will RICS implement IPMS for industrial and retail property?
No date has been set
What are the mandatory requirements under Property Measurement 2018 when measuring office and residential property? (unless requested otherwise by client in writing)
- Date the measurement
- State measuring methodology
- Provide reference and scale of any plans used
- State conversion factor from metric/imperial and any rounding
- Measurements / calculations must be clearly documented
- Retain record of RICS member responsible to certify above requirements
What are ‘common facilities’ under IPMS?
Parts of a building providing shared facilities that do not change over time (e.g. stairs, lifts, circulation space)
What is the ‘component area’ under IPMS?
One of the main elements into which the floor area of a building can be divided
What are ‘finished surfaces’ under IPMS?
The wall surface directly above the horizontal wall-floor junction, ignoring skiting boards, cable trunking, heating and cooling units, and pipework
What is ‘internal dominant face’ under IPMS?
The internal finish comprising more than 50% of the floor to ceiling height for each IDF wall section
What is ‘IDF wall section’ under IPMS?
Each internal finish of a section of an External Wall, ignoring the existence of any columns, that is either recessed from or protrudes from its adjacent section
What is a ‘limited use area’ under IPMS?
Areas with limited height, natural light or below ground
What is ‘useable floor area’ under IPMS?
Space for exclusive use of an occupier
When is IPMS 1 for offices used, and for what purposes?
Used for measuring the area of a building including external walls on a floor by floor basis
For planning or building costs purposes (GEA)
What is included in IPMS 1 office measurement?
- Covered galleries
- Balconies
- Generally accessible roof terraces (GEA did not include galleries and balconies)
What is excluded from IPMS 1 office measurement?
- Upper void levels of an atrium
- Open external stairwells
- Patios, refuse area, external parking at ground level
When is IPMS 2 for offices used, and for what purposes?
Used for measuring the interior of an office in include all areas available for direct use, measured to the ‘Internal Dominant Face’ of the wall on a floor by floor basis
For agency and valuation purposes (GIA)
What is included in IPMS 2 office measurement?
- Covered galleries and balconies
- Generally accessible roof terraces
What is excluded from IPMS 2 office measurement?
- Open light wells and upper level voids of an atrium
- Patio and decks at ground floor level
- External parking and equipment yards, cooling equipment and refuse areas
When is IPMS 3 for offices used, and for what purposes?
Used for measuring the occupation of floor area in exclusive use using same assumptions as IPMS 2
Also for agency and valuation purposes (NIA)
What is included in IPMS 3 office measurement?
- Covered galleries and balconies
- Generally accessible roof terraces
What is excluded from IPMS 3 office measurement?
Standard facilities providing shared or common facilities, such as stairs, lifts, motor rooms, ECs, cleaners’ cupboards, plant rooms, etc
What is the difference between IPMS 3 and NIA?
- Perimeter measurements are taken to the ‘Internal Dominant Face’
- No exclusions for restricted height of less than 1.5.
- All columns are included
- Area occupied by the reveals of a window when measured and assessed as the internal dominant face are included
- On floors with multiple occupiers, the area is taken to the midpoint of the partition wall between tenancies
- Covered galleries and balconies for the exclusive use of one tenant are included and stated separately
What does IMPS 1 for residential property cover?
External area of the building
What does IMPS 2 for residential property cover?
Internal area of the building
What does IMPS 3 for residential property cover?
The occupation of the building on an exclusive basis to an occupier
What other measurement guidance from the RICS do you follow?
RICS Code of Measuring Practice 2015
What are the bases of measurement under the RICS Code of Measuring Practice 2015?
- GEA – town planning, council tax valuations and building cost estimates for houses
- GIA – estate agency, rating, building cost estimation for commercial assets & valuation of industrial/warehouses and
valuation & rating of retail warehouses (2-3% deduction from GEA) - NIA – as above but for shops (approx.. 15% deduction from GIA)
What does GIA for industrial / retail warehouses include?
- Columns
- Lift wells
- Mezzanines with permanent access
- Loading bays
What does GIA for industrial / retail warehouses exclude?
- Canopies
- Fire escapes
- Covered ways
If an industrial unit has an ancillary office within it, what basis do you measure the office one?
GIA basis
When measuring the NIA of a fitted retail shop unit with full height partitioning, how can you determine the actual built width of the shop?
- Remove a ceiling tile
- Get behind the partitioning (spot any gaps/holes)
- Inspect the basement or first floor to see actual built width
- Scale from floor plans
- Take sufficient on-site measurements to calculate the ITZA measurement
What is an ITZA measurement?
Area in terms of zone A
What is zoning?
Valuation technique used to create a unit for comparison of retail properties
Rationale is that rental values reduces away from the street
Halving back principle with 6.1m zones (20 ft)
How would you decide what depth zones to apply?
Depends where the unit is located – some prime London retail streets have 9.14m zones
How would you determine what % increase/decrease to apply to a 1st floor area?
Usually treated as A/10 approximately or a flat rate
If a shop had a return frontage, how would you account for this in zoning?
Usually add 10% uplift
What does NIA for offices include?
- Atria with clear height above the entrance halls if not used in commons areas
- Notional lift lobbies and notional fire corridors
- Kitchens
- Built-in cupboards and the like occupying usable area
- Ramps, sloping areas and steps within the usable area and stated separately and pavement vaults
- Areas occupied by ventilation and heating grilles
- Areas occupied by skirting and perimeter trunking
- Areas occupied by non-structural walls subdividing accommodation in sole occupancy
What does NIA for offices exclude?
- WCs
- Plant and lift rooms
- Stairwells
- Meter and service cupboards and service risers
- Areas less than 1.5m in height
- Cleaners’ rooms
- Permanent circulation areas
- Space occupied by permanent, continuous air conditioning, heating or cooling apparatus if space it occupies is rendered
substantially unusable - Areas rendered substantially unusable with a dimension between opposite faces of less than 0.25m
What is internal eaves height?
The clear height between the floor and the lowest point on the underside of the roof (e.g. at the eaves)
What is site depth?
Measurement from the front to rear boundaries
What is shop depth?
Measurement from the notional display window to the rear of the retail area, including the thickness of the display window
What is built depth?
Maximum external measurement from the front to rear walls
What is gross frontage?
The overall external measurement in a straight line across the front of the building from the outside of the external walls or the centre line of the party walls
What is net frontage?
The overall frontage of the shop line measured between the internal face of the external walls
How do you measure land?
- Promap (check boundaries using OS Map/title plan)
- Trundle wheel
- Mathematical trigonometry or planimeter
What is a plot ratio?
Ratio between the size of the site and the building footprint (GEA)
How many hectares is 1 acre?
1 acre is 0.4046 hectares
What is a building line?
The line within, or coinciding with, the property line, beyond which it is illegal to build
What are the limitations of a laser measure?
- Bright sunlight can distort measurements
- Smaller measurements
- Device or human error
How often should a laser measure be calibrated?
Annually by manufacturers
How do you check a laser measure is functional?
Measure a known distance
What is a ‘scale’?
The ratio of length in a drawing to the length of the real thing
What is the scale of a room plan?
1:50
What is the scale of a building plan?
1:100
What is the scale of a location plan?
1:1250 to 1:2500
What is the scale of a road/walking map?
1:50000
How do you convert sq m to sq ft?
Multiple by 10.7639
