Actual Square Footage of House

Firstly - Appologies for this question, I think I already know the answer, but would like confirmation ..

Just say the plans for my house are 40 foot by 30 foot, with the width of all external walls being 1 foot.

Someone has recently said to me that the actual sq footage of a house should not include halls etc (Only livable rooms ...

My question is, is the actual squared footage of the house

A. 40 by 30 * 2 (2 Storey) = 2400 foot sq ?

OR

B.
The Length is 40 = but the rooms inside = 38 (2 walls are 1 ft wide)

Is it say 38 * 28 = 1064
Minus hall 8 * 8 = 64
Minus Hotpress 8 * * = 64

Leaving 2000 sq foot

----------------------------------------------

2000 or 2400 sq foot ?

Thanks.

area

Afaik: You would be correct in assuming that you take the actual inside dimensions to make the calculations, ie the 38 feet by 28.
Hallways, bathrooms etc are still classified as 'habitable' areas and therefore will be included in the habitable area of the house.

You can also deduct the area occupied by internal walls from the 28x38 but not, as far as I know the area occupied by closets such as hot presses (not 100% sure on that)

In Europe, at least Germany, there is also a height restriction - ie any internal area where the ceiling is less than approx 1.4 m is not counted as 'habitable' for the purposes of calculating size of house.
I don't think this exists in Ireland - would probably mean a lot of dormer owners have smaller houses than they thought !
Laoise

area

> In Europe, at least Germany, there is also a height restriction - ie any internal area where the ceiling is less than approx 1.4 m is not counted as 'habitable' for the purposes of calculating size of house. I don't think this exists in Ireland

As far as I know a similar rule DOES apply in Ireland. For example, many attic conversions don't strictly comply with building regulations due to height clearance issues etc. and can't be advertised as an extra bedroom for example when reselling. You'd probably want to check the relevant building regulations to be sure about the letter of the law in this respect though.

http://www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIPol.nsf/wvNavView/wwdConstruction?OpenDocument&Lang=en (www.environ.ie/DOEI/DOEIP...nt&Lang=en)

hight

2.4 meters is the minimum for height.