A plain English explanation of this ACT planning and property term.
Gross floor area means the sum of the area of all floors of the building measured from the external faces of the exterior walls, or from the centre lines of walls separating the building from any other building, excluding any floor area reasonably used and necessary solely for fixed mechanical plant, bicycle parking and associated end- of-trip facilities, and/or basement car parking.
Gross floor area is the combined floor area of all building levels, generally measured to the outside faces of external walls and to the centre of walls shared with another building. The definition excludes specific areas such as floor space used only for fixed mechanical plant, qualifying bicycle and end-of-trip facilities, and basement car parking. GFA is not the same as the building footprint: a two-storey building can have a GFA much larger than the area it covers on the ground.