Usable area

Usable area (užitná plocha) is a figure commonly used in Czech property listings: how many square metres of the flat or house can actually be used. Unlike floor area, however, it is not defined consistently by the Building Act or other housing regulations, so sellers and agents may calculate it in different ways.

Areas defined in Czech regulations

• Floor area under the Building Act: the sum of rooms and spaces in a building, measured to the inner face of the vertical structures.
• Floor area of a flat as a unit under Government Regulation No. 366/2013 Coll.: also includes internal walls, columns and chimneys and the area under built-in wardrobes or a bath.
• Floor area for heating cost allocation under Decree No. 269/2015 Coll.: excludes terraces, balconies, loggias and ancillary spaces outside the flat.
• Building footprint: the outline measured to the outer face of the external walls, so including the walls.

What usable area often adds

In a building divided into units, balconies, loggias and terraces are common parts of the building under Government Regulation No. 366/2013 Coll., even if they can only be reached from the flat; the flat owner has exclusive use of them. They are therefore not part of the flat's floor area. Sellers may nevertheless include them in the usable area in a listing, together with a cellar, garage or attic space under sloping walls.

How to read it

When comparing listings, ask what the usable area includes and compare like with like. For a flat, the floor area is stated in the owner's declaration, which comes with floor plans showing the floor areas of the flats. For a house, the sources are the building documentation and the RÚIAN register, which records floor area and footprint for buildings with a house number based on building documentation approved by the building authority. A difference between the figures is not an error in itself, but it is a reason to ask.