RICS to address inconsistency in property measurement system

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the global body for setting standards in property sector, and 15 other property organisations have joined hands to address the issue of inconsistencies in the methods of property measurement across the world.

RICS is convening the first meeting of the International Property Measurement Standards Coalition (IPMSC) at the World Bank in Washington.

The meeting has been organised to launch an initiative aimed at developing a consistent international property measurement standard, RICS said in a statement.

The ties include International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Consortium of Real Estate Associations (ICREA), International Facility Management Association (IFMA), International Federation of Surveyors (FIG), International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC), among others.

From India, Confederation of Real Estate Developers' Association of India (CREDAI) is participating in the meeting. "An example of current inconsistency is the way in which floor space is calculated," RICS South Asia Managing Director Sachin Sandhir said.

He cited the example of India where the concept of super areas has been used to include outdoor swimming pools, stairs, common areas such as pavements.

In parts of the Middle East, he said the floor areas can include the hypothetical maximum number of floors that could be built on the existing foundations, while in Australia the measurements include outdoor parking spaces even when they are not physically adjoined to the property itself.

"To remove these inconsistencies across countries in measurement practices and to create and implement uniform measurement code, RICS has taken the initiative to bring some important organisations from across the world to discuss its implementation," Sandhir said.

These institutions will meet to address this issue through the proposed implementation of a universal standard of property measurement.