BUA, GFA and plot area: what the numbers on a floor plan mean

BUA stands for built-up area. It is the total covered area that has been built, measured including the walls. For a villa or townhouse in Dubai, it adds up every floor of the house and usually covered extras such as balconies and covered terraces.

BUA is one of several area figures you will meet on a floor plan, brochure or sale contract. They measure different things, and mixing them up is the most common reason two homes that look similar on paper turn out to be very different in size or value.

This guide explains each figure, shows which one drives your price and your service charge, and works through an example with made-up round numbers. When you are ready to compare real homes, browse all off-plan projects in Dubai.

There are six you will see most often: plot area, built-up area (BUA), gross floor area (GFA), suite area, balcony area and total area. Carpet area is a seventh term, common in India but not standard in Dubai.

BUA is measured to the outside of the walls, so it includes the thickness of external and internal walls, and it adds up every built floor. What else goes in depends on the authority's rules and the developer's definition.

The clearest official guide is the Dubai Development Authority's zoning FAQ, which applies to areas the authority regulates. It says:

• Balconies are always excluded from GFA but included in BUA.
• Private terraces always count as services in the built-up area. Other open areas count only if covered with a slab.
• Swimming pools always count as services in the built-up area.
• Stores always count as GFA, unless they are in a non-air-conditioned basement.
• A gym counts as GFA unless the master developer allows it to be excluded; a gym on the roof counts as an additional floor unless the master developer allows otherwise.

Those are planning rules for a plot. A developer's sales brochure may use BUA more loosely, so ask what the figure in your price list includes: balconies, terraces, a roof terrace, the maid's room, the garage, the pool deck.

BUA on a villa. A ground-plus-one villa with a 1,500 sq ft footprint on each floor has a BUA of about 3,000 sq ft before balconies and terraces. Our guide to villas in Dubai lists projects by type and price.

BUA on an apartment. For apartments, developers more often use suite area, balcony area and total area than BUA. Where a brochure gives an apartment's BUA, it usually means the total built area of the unit including its balcony. Check against the floor plan.

GFA, or gross floor area, is a planning measure rather than a sales figure. Dubai's planning authorities use it to control how much floor space can be built on a plot. It describes a whole building or plot, not your home.

Floor area ratio. Planning permission for a plot usually sets a floor area ratio (FAR), which is the GFA divided by the plot area. As a made-up example, a plot of 10,000 sq ft with a FAR of 3 could carry up to 30,000 sq ft of GFA. That is why GFA matters most to anyone buying a plot to build on; our guide to plots for sale in Dubai covers it.

Why GFA is smaller than BUA. GFA leaves out some spaces that BUA counts. Under the Dubai Development Authority's rules quoted above, balconies are excluded from GFA but included in BUA, and terraces and pools count as services in BUA. So on the same building, BUA is normally the larger number.

When a home buyer sees GFA. Mostly on a plot sale, a master plan or a whole-building purchase. If a brochure for a single home quotes GFA, ask how it relates to the area in the sale contract.

On an apartment floor plan, the suite area is the enclosed home, the balcony area is the open space attached to it, and the total area is the two added together. The total is normally the figure that appears in the price list and the sale contract.

Suite area. The living space inside the apartment's enclosing walls, measured to the line set in the developer's measuring rules. Some measure to the outside of external walls and the middle of walls shared with neighbours; others measure differently. The sale contract says which.

Balcony area. Law No. 6 of 2019 treats balconies and other ancillary parts allocated to an owner as part of the unit (Article 9). That is why they are usually included in the area you pay for. A large terrace on a lower floor or a penthouse can add a lot to the total area without adding indoor space.

Total area. Also called saleable area or unit area. When you compare apartments, compare suite areas as well as totals: two apartments with the same total can differ widely in indoor space if one has a much larger balcony.

What is not in the area. Under Article 9, facilities attached to a unit, such as parking bays, storage rooms and gardens, are part of it even if they are not next to it, but their area is not included in the unit's net area. Parking bays designated to a unit cannot be sold separately from it (Article 10).

Plot area is the land: the area inside the boundaries of the plot, shown on the plot plan and, for a villa, on the title deed. It includes the land under the house and the garden, driveway and any pool area around it.

Plot area and BUA together. A villa has both figures, and they tell you different things. The BUA tells you how much house there is. The plot area tells you how much land there is. A larger plot generally means more outdoor space and more room for an extension, subject to the community's rules and approvals.

Townhouses. Townhouse brochures often give a plot area and a BUA too. Because townhouses share walls and have smaller gardens, the plot area may be close to the footprint of the house.

Changes to a plot. Under Article 39 of Law No. 6 of 2019, substantial alterations to a unit's structure or external appearance need the approval of the master developer, the Dubai Land Department and the competent authority. Do not assume unused plot area can be built on.

Not as a standard term. Carpet area, the floor inside the walls that you could cover with carpet, is widely used in India, where it is defined in law, but it is not a standard measure in Dubai sale contracts.

Dubai developers usually price on total area and show suite area separately. The Dubai Land Department's own rule on area differences refers to the "net area" of the unit. If usable space is what matters to you, ask for room dimensions on the floor plan, compare suite areas, and measure the finished unit at handover.

Whichever area the seller chooses to divide by, and there is no single rule. For apartments it is usually the total area including the balcony. For villas and townhouses it is usually the BUA, but some quote it on the plot.

That makes price per sq ft a useful tool only when you compare like with like. The worked example below uses made-up round numbers to show how much the answer moves.

The example apartment. Say an apartment has a suite area of 900 sq ft and a balcony of 100 sq ft, so a total area of 1,000 sq ft, or 92.9 sq m. At a price of AED 1,500,000:

• On the total area, the price is AED 1,500 per sq ft.
• On the suite area only, it is about AED 1,667 per sq ft.

Same apartment, same price, two figures 11% apart. If another apartment is advertised at AED 1,600 per sq ft on its suite area, it is actually cheaper per sq ft of indoor space than this one.

The example villa. Say a villa sits on a plot of 4,000 sq ft and has a BUA of 3,000 sq ft. At AED 4,500,000:

• On the BUA, the price is AED 1,500 per sq ft.
• On the plot area, it is AED 1,125 per sq ft.

Neither is wrong. They answer different questions: how much you pay for the house, and how much you pay for the land.

Compare on the same basis. When you compare projects, check whether the size shown is the total area, the suite area or the BUA, and convert every price to the same one. Our guide to the cheapest villas in Dubai and the Dubai villas hub show villas by price.

Directly. In Dubai, each owner's share of the building's service charges is set by the area of their unit, so a larger area, including a balcony if it is part of the registered area, means a larger charge.

The rule. Article 25 of Law No. 6 of 2019 says an owner's share of the annual service charges is calculated on the ratio of the unit's area to the total area of the jointly owned property, using the area recorded in the Real Property Register. Article 11 sets the owner's share of the common parts on the same basis.

How to work it out. The Dubai Land Department says you can take the approved rate for the project from its Service Charge Index and multiply it by your unit's area. In the example above, an illustrative rate of AED 15 per sq ft on a registered area of 1,000 sq ft would give AED 15,000 a year. Rates differ by project and year, so look up the real one.

Villas and plots. In a villa community, charges for shared roads, parks and lakes are usually collected as usage charges by the master developer. Article 26 says usage charges apply to completed buildings, buildings under construction and vacant land alike.

The approval process and what the charges pay for are in our guides to service charges in Dubai and owners associations and committees.

Multiply square metres by 10.7639104 to get square feet, and divide square feet by 10.7639104 to get square metres. Those are the Dubai Land Department's own conversion factors.

The square metre is the official unit of measurement in the emirate, so title deeds and DLD records use square metres. Developers' brochures and price lists usually use square feet.

Prices convert the other way. A price per square foot becomes a larger number per square metre. Multiply by 10.7639: AED 1,500 per sq ft is about AED 16,146 per sq m. Make sure you are comparing the same unit before deciding one home is cheaper than another.

Dubai law protects you if it is smaller, and stops the developer charging more if it is larger, unless the contract expressly says otherwise. That is why the area basis in your contract matters at handover.

Article 12 of Law No. 13 of 2008 says the area of a sold unit is deemed correct. If it increases after delivery, the developer may not claim any increase in price. If it decreases, the developer must compensate the buyer unless the decrease is inconsequential. The Dubai Land Department explains this as compensation where the decrease exceeds 5% of the net area of the unit, and says an increase may be charged only if the sale contract expressly agrees it.

Using the example. If the 1,000 sq ft apartment above were delivered at 940 sq ft, that is 6% smaller, beyond the 5% line. At 970 sq ft, 3% smaller, it would be within it. The clause in your contract that defines the area and the method of compensation is covered in our guide to the off-plan SPA.

Measure at handover. Take the floor plan to your inspection and measure the main rooms. Our snagging guide and handover guide explain how to record any difference before you accept the unit.

The table below lists Dubai projects that offer villas, with the lowest published villa price first. Open a project to see its floor plans, BUA and plot sizes.

For more ways to browse, see villas by type, the Dubai villas hub, or all off-plan projects.

Ask these questions of every floor plan and price list.

1. Which area is the price based on? Total area, suite area, BUA or plot area.
2. What does the area include? Walls, balconies, terraces, roof terrace, maid's room, garage, pool deck.
3. How is it measured? To the outside of external walls, the centre of shared walls, or the inside face.
4. What is the suite area? For an apartment, compare indoor space as well as the total.
5. What is the plot area? For a villa or townhouse, and whether any part of it is shared or restricted.
6. Which area will be registered? It sets your service charge share.
7. What does the contract say about area changes? And how any compensation is calculated.
8. In square metres? Convert, so you can check the figures against the title deed later.

• BUA (built-up area). All built, covered floor space, including walls, and usually balconies and covered terraces.
• GFA (gross floor area). A planning measure of the floor space on a plot, used to set the floor area ratio.
• FAR (floor area ratio). GFA divided by plot area: the planning limit on how much can be built.
• Plot area. The land inside the plot boundaries.
• Suite area. The enclosed part of an apartment, without the balcony.
• Total area. Suite area plus balcony: usually the figure in an apartment's price.
• Net area. The area of the unit as defined in the sale contract, used in the Dubai Land Department's 5% rule.
• Carpet area. Floor inside the walls; an Indian term, not a standard Dubai measure.

Browse off-plan projects and villas with these figures in mind, and check the area basis on every price list. Before you sign, read our guides to the off-plan SPA, service charges and the true cost of buying off-plan in Dubai.