Carpet vs Built-up vs Super Built-up Area in a Commercial Lease
Ask three owners for the size of the same 1,000 sq ft office and you may hear 1,000, 1,200 and 1,450 sq ft. None of them is lying. They are using three different measures of area, and in a commercial lease the measure you pay on changes the bill every single month.
The three measures
Carpet area is the floor you can actually use: the space inside the walls of your unit, where you could lay a carpet. Desks, racks, machines and counters go here. Nothing else does.
Built-up area is the carpet area plus the thickness of the unit's walls, and any balcony, utility area or internal shaft that belongs to the unit. For a standalone factory or warehouse this is often called the covered area.
Super built-up area is the built-up area plus your proportionate share of the building's common areas: entrance lobby, lifts, staircases, corridors and sometimes amenities. In office buildings and malls it is also called the chargeable or leasable area.
| Measure | Includes | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Carpet area | Usable floor inside the unit | Planning your layout and headcount |
| Built-up or covered area | Carpet area + walls + attached balcony or utility | Factories, warehouses, standalone buildings |
| Super built-up or chargeable area | Built-up area + share of common areas | Offices in multi-tenant buildings, mall shops |
Loading: the number that matters
The gap between super built-up and carpet area is called loading:
Loading % = (super built-up area − carpet area) ÷ carpet area × 100
A unit with 1,000 sq ft of carpet area quoted at 1,400 sq ft super built-up has 40% loading. Put the other way round, its efficiency is 1,000 ÷ 1,400, or about 71%: for every 100 sq ft you pay for, you get 71 sq ft to use.
Loading is not a trick. A building with a large lobby, several lifts and wide corridors genuinely has more common area to share out. But it does vary a lot from one building to the next, so two quotes at the same rate per sq ft are rarely the same deal.
A worked comparison
Take two offices, both quoted at ₹80 per sq ft per month.
| Office A | Office B | |
|---|---|---|
| Quoted (super built-up) area | 1,500 sq ft | 1,500 sq ft |
| Carpet area | 1,125 sq ft | 975 sq ft |
| Efficiency | 75% | 65% |
| Monthly lease amount | ₹1,20,000 | ₹1,20,000 |
| Effective rate on carpet area | about ₹107 per sq ft | about ₹123 per sq ft |
Same headline rate, same monthly cheque, but Office B gives you 150 sq ft less to work in. At roughly 60 to 80 sq ft per workstation, that is two or three fewer desks. Our guide to how much office space a startup needs shows how to turn headcount into carpet area.
How it differs by property type
Offices. Almost always quoted on super built-up area in multi-tenant buildings. Ask for the carpet area in writing and check the efficiency.
Retail shops and showrooms. High-street shops are often quoted on built-up or carpet area; mall units on super built-up. For retail, frontage and visibility can matter more than a few square feet either way; see our comparison of shops, showrooms and co-working space.
Factories and industrial buildings. Usually quoted on covered area, floor by floor. Check whether the basement, mezzanine, staircases and the open compound are counted, and at what rate.
Warehouses and godowns. Quoted on covered shed area. What often decides the real capacity is not floor area but clear height, so read the warehouse leasing checklist alongside this.
Why it affects more than the lease amount
Several other charges are usually calculated on the same chargeable area:
- Common area maintenance (CAM), charged per sq ft per month.
- Security deposit, usually a multiple of the monthly lease amount.
- Annual escalation, applied to the lease amount.
- GST, charged on the lease amount and on CAM where it applies.
So an inflated area figure is paid for several times over. Our guide to security deposits and maintenance charges covers what each of these should include.
What to do before you sign
- Ask which measure the quote uses. "₹80 per sq ft" means nothing until you know per sq ft of what.
- Ask for the carpet area in writing, with a floor plan showing dimensions.
- Measure it yourself. A laser distance meter and twenty minutes on site is enough. Measure wall to wall, room by room.
- Work out the effective rate. Add the monthly lease amount and CAM, then divide by the carpet area you measured.
- Compare options on that number, not on the headline rate.
- Write the area into the lease. State the carpet area and the chargeable area, and what happens if a joint measurement shows a difference.
- Negotiate with it. If the efficiency is poor, that is a fair reason to ask for a lower rate or a longer fit-out period. See how to negotiate a commercial lease.
The short version
Carpet area is what you use. Super built-up area is often what you pay for. The honest way to compare two spaces is total monthly outgo divided by measured carpet area.
Every listing on LeaseOnDemand shows the area and the monthly lease amount up front, so you can run this calculation before you visit. Browse office space, shops, showrooms, warehouses and factories for lease, or see all commercial property.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between carpet area, built-up area and super built-up area?
Carpet area is the usable floor inside the walls of your unit. Built-up area is the carpet area plus the thickness of the walls and any balcony or utility area attached to the unit. Super built-up area is the built-up area plus your share of the building's common areas, such as lobbies, lifts, staircases and corridors.
What is the loading factor in a commercial lease?
Loading is the difference between super built-up area and carpet area, expressed as a percentage of carpet area. If a unit has 1,000 sq ft of carpet area and is quoted at 1,400 sq ft super built-up, the loading is 40%. The higher the loading, the more you pay for space you share with other occupants.
Is a commercial lease rate in India quoted on carpet area or super built-up area?
It varies. Offices in multi-tenant buildings and shops in malls are usually quoted on super built-up (also called chargeable or leasable) area. Standalone buildings, factories and warehouses are more often quoted on built-up or covered area. Always ask which measure a quote uses and get it written into the lease.
How do I compare two commercial lease quotes that use different area measures?
Convert both to an effective rate on carpet area. Take the total monthly outgo, including the lease amount and common area maintenance, and divide it by the carpet area you measured yourself. The space with the lower effective rate per usable sq ft is the cheaper one, whatever the headline rate says.