You paid for a number of square metres. Whether you got them is one of the easiest things to check, and one of the most expensive to miss: each missing square metre is money you’ve already paid.
Why the numbers can differ
The area in a contract is often calculated from the design, before the walls are built and plastered. Thick plaster, walls built slightly off the plan, or a different way of counting balconies and shafts can all make the real area smaller than the figure on paper.
Check how your contract counts the area: whether it’s the net floor area of the rooms, whether balconies and loggias are included and at what share, and whether walls or shafts are counted.
What you need
- A laser distance meter. A tape measure works, but it’s slower and harder to keep straight over a long wall.
- The floor plan from the contract.
- Paper, or a notes app, to write down each measurement.
How to measure
- Measure each room separately. For a rectangle, measure the length and the width at floor level, wall to wall.
- Measure twice, at both ends of the room. Walls aren’t always parallel; if the two figures differ, use the average and note it.
- Split odd shapes into rectangles, measure each and add them up.
- Leave out what your contract leaves out, for example shafts or the thickness of internal walls.
- Add the rooms up, and compare the total with the contract.
What to do if it’s smaller
- Write down each room’s measured area next to the contract figure.
- Take photos of the meter readings.
- Send the developer the figures in writing before you sign the handover act, and ask how the difference will be settled under the contract.
The contract decides what happens next: some set a tolerance, some adjust the price per square metre. If the amount is large, it’s worth asking a lawyer.
What a few square metres are worth
Multiply the missing area by the price per square metre you paid. The calculator on our home page does it with your own numbers.
Our report measures every room with a laser and sets it against your contract, room by room.