Clueless Architect with a Question

[Gromatici]

Condo areas shown on a map are generally the "airspace" of the unit. So it's from the face of drywall to face of drywall. HOWEVER, in intent of the mapping is to show ownership and not the technical view of square footage. What that means is that the dimensions are shown only to a tenth (so that the square footage is assumed to be approximate). Also, closets and garages are not included in square footages as published by advertising according to state law, but for the condo's they are shown since they are generally a fee ownership. In the CC&R's pillars, utility closets and so forth are generally exempted from the ownership even thought the condo plan may show a simply rectangle of ownership.

The are certain rules when publishing the square footages so it's better to stick with that than what the surveyor will publish on his mapping.

[mbstanton]

The condo plans are generally the interior airspace up to the surface of the exterior walls. For commercial units, I usually add a note emphasizing that the the square footage calculation on the Condo plan should not be used for determining lease areas, as they are usually based on different criteria (i.e. center of demising walls).

The legislative details can be found under the california civil code, Section 1351. Go to www.leginfo.ca.gov then click "civil code" the search for "1251" or use the link below.

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisg ... n=retrieve

Hope this helps....
Mike

[dmi]

The best help I can provide to you, if you really are clueless is to suggest that you hire a professional land surveyor who has an estsblished a practice in the area of condominiums. There is a lot more to it than how to draft up a condo unit. The professional who works in the condo arena on a regular basis is aware of pitfalls, details to add to the project that will enhance the value of the project and how best to work with lawyers, title companies and local agencies to get your project thorugh the process without unwarranted delays.