definition
strict definition
gross floor area
The total area of all interior spaces within an object, including occupied, common, and utility areas.
The gross floor area includes all level interior enclosed space inside a given object (such as a building, a module, or a group of buildings). This includes the usable floor area as well as common hallways, lobbies, mechanical spaces, and storage spaces.
An area is only comparable alongside the standard it was measured to. National measuring codes differ over balconies, atrium voids and shafts, so two published figures for one building can both be correct.
A figure that covers a complex rather than a single building is a different measurement again. Where a tower shares a podium, the record has to say whether the podium is inside the figure.