What is the current RICS document relating to measurement?
RICS Professional Statement: RICS Property Measurement (2nd Ed.) January 2018 (incorporating the International Property Measurement Standards)
- Global RICS-led initiative introduced mandatory IPMS and practice aiming to avoid current inconsistent definitions of measurement in different countries and bring greater global transparency.
- Lead by the International Property Measurement Standards Council (IPMSC) which is a global group of professional and not-for-profit organisations.
- Replaces references to measurement of offices and resi properties in the RICS Code of Measuring Practice 2015.
- Members encouraged to report on a dual basis until IPMS is embedded into market practice
What are the general principles of measurement and calculation in RICS Statement?
Mandatory for all RICS members when measuring office and resi buildings (unless client advises otherwise) to comply with the following requirements:
- Provide date of measurement
- State measuring methodology
- Provide reference and scale of any plans used
- State conversion factor from metric/imperial and any rounding
- Measurements and calculations clearly documented
- Retain record of RICS member responsible to certify above requirements
- Members expected to advise their client / employer on benefits of IPMS, however understood that IPMS isn’t suitable in all situations
- Adopting IPMS is mandatory for the reporting of resi and offices
- Includes in Appendix A details of acceptable tolerances.
What is IPMS 1 used for?
IPMS 1: Offices - for planning or building cost purposes (GEA)
Measuring the area of a building including externa walls on a floor by floor basis.
Measurements include:
- Covered galleries
- Balconies
- Generally accessible roof terraces
Exclude:
- Upper void levels of atrium
- Open external stairwells
- Patios, refuse areas, external parking at ground level.
What is IPMS 2 used for?
IPMS 2: Offices - for agency and valuation purposes (GIA)
Measures interior of an office including all areas in direct use, measured to the Internal Dominant Face (IDF - inside surface comprising more than 50% of the floor to ceiling height) of the wall on a floor by floor basis in component areas.
Includes:
- Covered galleries and balconies
- Generally accessible roof terraces.
Excludes:
- Open light wells and upper-level voids of an atrium
- Patio and decks at ground level
- External parking and equipment yards, cooling equipment and refuse areas.
What is IPMS 3 used for and how does it differ from NIA?
IPMS 3: Offices - also for agency and valuation purposes (NIA)
Used for measuring the occupation of floor areas in exclusive use using same assumptions as IPMS2.
Includes:
- Covered galleries
- Generally accessible roof terraces
Excludes:
- Standard facilities providing shared or common facilities such as lifts, stairs, motor rooms, WCs, cleaner’s cupboards, plant rooms.
Difference between IPMS 3 and NIA:
- Perimeter measurements are taken to Internal Dominant Face
- No exclusions for restricted height of less than 1.5m
- All columns included
- Area occupied by the reveals of a window when measured and assessed as the IDF 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 exclusive use of one tenant are included and stated separately.
What is IPMS: Residential Buildings?
IPMS: Residential Buildings came into effect on 1st May 2018.
Standards are:
- PMS 1 External
- IPMS 2 Residential (internal) - interior of the building
- IPMS 3 Residential (Occupier) - occupation of the building on an exclusive basis to an occupier. Broken down to 3 sub areas:
- IPMS 3A - Measurement of outer face of external wall and centre line of shared walls
- IPMS 3B - Measurement of the area in exclusive occupation, including internal walls and columns, measured to IDF.
- IPMS 3C - Measurement of the area of exclusive occupation, excluding the walls and columns, measured to the IDF
Can you explain your understanding of the recent IPMS Updates?
IPMS All Buildings 2023:
- Supersedes all standards previously published by IPMS.
- Aims to establish a consistent methodology for measuring all types of buildings in the world and promote international collaboration.
- Harmonises all building classes into a single document into one set of standards.
- Renders obsolete the previous publications for individual sectors e.g., offices and resi
- Aims to provide high-level, overarching standards that provide guidance on best practice in property measurement
- RICS yet to adopt this new mandatory form of measurement - once adopted, its envisaged the current RICS Property Management 2018 will be irrelevant.
Document sets out:
- IPMS 1 - External measurement
- IPMS 2 - Internal measurement
- IPMS 3.1 - External exclusive use
- IPMS 3.2 - Internal exclusive use
- IPMS 4.1 - Selected area including internal walls
-IPMS 4.2 - Selected areas excluding internal walls.
What is the RICS Code of Measuring Practice, 2015?
It is still the best practice document for all measurement exercises except for offices and residential properties.
Provides specific definitions to ensure a common and consistent approach to measurement.
Bases of Measurement:
1. GEA - town planning, council tax valuations, building cost estimates for houses.
2. GIA - Estate agency, rating, building cost estimation for commercial assets and valuation / rating of industrial / warehouse / retail warehouse / food stores / new homes valuations (approx 2-3% deduction from GEA)
3. NIA - As above but for shops (approx 15% deduction from GIA)
What is included / excluded in GIA for industrial / retail warehouses?
Includes:
- Columns
- Lift wells
- Mezzanines with permanent access
- Loading bays
Excludes:
- Canopies
- Fire escapes
- Covered ways
Ancillary offices within the unit are measured on GIA
What is considered when measuring shops using NIA?
When measuring a shop unit fitted with full height partitioning by the tenant, try to estimate the actual built width of the shop by one following technique:
- Remove a ceiling tile
- Try to get behind the partitioning
- Inspect the basement or first floor to see the actual built width
- Scale from floor plans
- Take sufficient on site measurements to calculate ITZA measurement
What is included / excluded in NIA for offices?
Include:
- Atria with clear height above entrance halls if not used in common 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 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
Exclude:
- WCs
- Plant and lift rooms
- Stairwells
- Meter and service cupboards and service risers
- Areas less than 1.5m in height
- Cleaner’s rooms
- Permanent circulation areas
- Space occupied by permanent, continuous AC, heating / cooling apparatus if space is rendered unusable, or if it protrudes 0.25m or more from useable area
- Areas substantially unusable with a dimension between opposite faces of less than 0.25m
- measurements taken to the glazing for full height glazing unless elements of the window structure or design render the space unusable.
What is the Internal Eaves Height?
The clear height between the floor and the lowest point of the underside of the roof e.g., the eaves at the lowest point.
What is the Site Depth?
The measurement from the front to rear boundaries.
What is the Shop Depth?
The measurement from the notional display window to the rear of the retail area, including the thickness of the display window.
What is the Built Depth?
The maximum external measurement from the front to rear walls.
What is the 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 the Net Frontage?
The overall frontage of the shop line measured between the internal face of the external walls.
How is land measured?
- Check boundaries accurately on site with an OS map and/or Land Registry title document prior to calculating the area of a site using Promap.
- A trundle wheel could be used on site.
- Using mathematical trigonometry or a planimeter for the calculation of a site area.
- A plot ratio is the ratio between the size of the site and the building footprint (GEA) - also known as site cover.
- 1 acre = 0.4046 hectares.
What is meant by the Accuracy of Measurements?
IPMS refers to the measurer having regard to state the degree of tolerance reported as a percentage.
IPMS recommends that all measurements are supported by computer-generated drawings and verified on site.
What is the Building Line?
This is a line within, or coinciding with, the property lie, beyond which it is illegal to build.
What are the commonly used scales?
A scale ratio of the length in a drawing to the length of the real thing.
1:50 - Room Plan
1:100 - Building Plan
1:1250 - Street/Location Plan
1:2500 - Location Plan
1:50000 - Road / Walking Plan
What are the measurement tools, when would they be used, and what are the pros / cons associated with them (laser)?
- Incudes a tape, rod, laser device, and software for measuring a property.
Lasers - Pros:
- Lasers tend to be accurate within c1.5mm up to 200m.
Lasers - Cons:
- Bright sunlight can distort measurements
- Reliant on batteries
- Lasers need to be calibrated annually by manufacturers
- All measurement tools should be checked for accuracy frequently against a known distance and the results recorded in a log.
- Software such as ‘Promap’ and / or a trundle wheel can be used for measuring land.
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