Carpet Area vs. Built-up Area: What Apartment Buyers Must Know

Under RERA, developers have to quote pricing based on Carpet Area, the floor space you can walk on, measured inside the internal walls. Built-up Area adds the thickness of those walls plus any balcony, and Super Built-up Area piles on a share of common spaces like corridors, staircases and lobbies. Two apartments quoted at the same built-up area can hand you very different amounts of usable room, depending on how much of that number is corridor and wall. Before you sign anything, ask for the carpet-area-to-super-built-up ratio directly; a higher ratio means less of your money going toward space you cannot use.