How to read a condo floor plan: strata area, balcony, PES

To read a condo floor plan, go label by label and ask whether each space is inside the area the plan states. URA’s balconies, PES and PRT handbook page describes private enclosed spaces (PES) and private roof terraces (PRT) as part of the private strata area of a unit. It does not say the same of balconies, so a balcony’s status has to be confirmed, not assumed.

At a sales gallery, the plan for one unit prints an area in square feet or square metres, and spaces labelled balcony, PES, A/C ledge or bay window. That matters because price per square foot divides a price by an area, and the result depends on what the area includes. On an illustrative S$2,000,000 unit, whether a 50 sq ft PES is counted moves the figure between S$2,857 and S$3,077 per square foot. This guide matches each label to what URA’s pages say, then gives a worksheet and a ten-line checklist. It is general information, not advice, and it describes no named project’s plan.

What do URA’s handbooks say, at a glance?

URA pages read on 3 October 2026 and reread on 17 October 2026; the date after each is the page’s own “last updated” line.

• GFA: covered floor area, uncovered area used for commercial purposes and strata area (covered or otherwise) are included as gross floor area, unless otherwise exempted (GFA handbook, 9 June 2026).
• A/C ledges: a ledge included as strata area is computed as GFA. A non-strata ledge up to 2.0 m wide, measured perpendicularly from the external wall, is excluded (ledges page, 6 June 2026).
• Bay windows: included as GFA, except those approved before 1 January 2009 (bay windows page, 6 June 2026).
• PES: a semi-outdoor area adjacent to a strata unit and part of the private strata area. Fencing that defines its extent may not exceed 1.3 m, and the developer installs a cover at least 2 m wide from the external wall (balconies, PES and PRT page, 6 July 2026).
• PRT: a semi-outdoor area at the roof level of a strata unit, also part of the private strata area (same page).
• Balconies: a continuous perimeter opening of at least 40%, a minimum width of 1.5 m as measured from the external building wall, and total balcony size for each dwelling unit capped at 15% of the internal nett unit size (same page).
• Price per square foot: for apartments and condominiums, URA’s median is calculated on strata floor area (URA glossary, 17 June 2026).

What is strata area, and how does it differ from gross floor area?

URA’s GFA handbook page uses “strata area” without defining it. Its balconies page describes PES and PRT as part of “the private strata area of units which are sold to homeowners”, and describes communal roof terraces as areas managed by the MCST for residents. Our plain-language reading, not URA’s wording: strata area is the part of a development sold with an individual unit, as opposed to the communal parts.

Gross floor area (GFA) is a different measure. URA defines it as the total area of covered floor space, including the half thickness of external walls or other building façade elements but excluding voids. It ties the allowable gross plot ratio (GPR) of a development, the ratio of a building’s GFA to its site area, to the Master Plan. Our inference: that makes GFA a development-level planning measure.

One space can be both. URA’s PES page says PES approved on or after 12 January 2013 are included as GFA, and the balconies page calls PES part of the private strata area. Neither tells you what a developer included in the area it quotes for a unit; that is a question for the developer’s documents.

Which labelled spaces are inside the stated area?

URA’s pages answer this for some labels and say nothing for others.

Named as strata area: PES and PRT. Even so, a quoted area might or might not include them, so check the printed figure.

Depends on the boundary: A/C ledges. URA’s ledges page says that for a ledge included as strata area, the GFA extent aligns with the strata area boundary regardless of the position of the vertical railings or screens. In our reading, a railing drawn on the plan therefore does not show whether the ledge is inside the unit’s strata area, so ask where the boundary falls.

Not stated by URA: balconies and bay windows. The balconies page sets rules for openness, width, size and screens but does not say whether a balcony is strata area. The bay windows page gives a GFA rule only and does not say whether the floor area under a bay window is part of a unit’s strata area. For both, the answer sits in the developer’s documents.

What can be built or enclosed on a balcony, PES or roof terrace?

URA’s balconies, PES and PRT page sets rules on what may be built or enclosed. It says the GFA of balconies, of PES and of PRT may be computed over and above the Master Plan’s allowable GPR, subject to a cap of 7% computed on the proposed residential GFA of the development. That 7% is therefore a development-level cap, while the 15% above is a per-unit cap. Beyond the rules above:

• Balcony: no enclosing with walls or glass panels. Balcony screens, for example vertical fins or louvred panels, may be allowed provided they can be drawn open or retracted fully and allow natural ventilation at all times, even when fully drawn closed.
• PES: URA says a 1.8 m screening wall may be proposed between PES that adjoin each other, for privacy. Homeowners are to be given a choice over the cover for the rest of the PES beyond the developer’s 2 m, as long as it is one of the approved designs and they obtain MCST (management corporation) clearance before installation.
• PRT: any structures must remain open-sided as viewed from the external façade.

The show unit is where these rules meet what you can see. Where a sales gallery or show unit is erected, URA requires the developer to install the approved balcony screen at actual scale in the show unit. If the screen is not erected there because it may block the entrance, the developer must erect a mock-up of the full approved screen elsewhere in the show gallery premises. Mock-ups of only part of the screen, or scaled-down versions, are not allowed. Under rule 10(4) of the Housing Developer Rules, developers must also state in the Form 3 unit floor plan that balconies are not to be enclosed except with an approved screen.

If a balcony looks enclosed, ask whether that is the approved screen and whether it is built in, optional or extra. What an owner may change after completion is covered in what URA lets you change after you buy. The balconies page, as read for this guide, does not mention day-to-day use such as drying clothes, so put that to the developer.

Why does what the area includes change the price per square foot?

Price per square foot is price divided by area. The numbers below are illustrative and fictional.

• Home A, S$2,000,000: 700 sq ft including a 50 sq ft PES gives S$2,000,000 ÷ 700 = S$2,857 per sq ft.
• The same home, area quoted without the PES: 650 sq ft gives S$2,000,000 ÷ 650 = S$3,077 per sq ft.

Nothing about the home changed, yet the second figure is S$220 (7.7%) higher.

The trap appears when units are compared. A fictional Home B costs S$2,100,000 with 680 sq ft quoted without its 50 sq ft PES: S$2,100,000 ÷ 680 = S$3,088, which looks 8.1% dearer than Home A. Add the PES, 680 + 50 = 730 sq ft, and Home B is S$2,100,000 ÷ 730 = S$2,877, only 0.7% above Home A.

Our rule of thumb: do not compare square-foot prices until each area includes the same things. URA’s glossary entry says its median is calculated on strata floor area and, in the entry read, does not say how PES or other labelled spaces are treated, so our inference is that comparing a quoted figure with a URA median is approximate. Other price-list terms are explained in the new-launch glossary.

A worksheet for one unit

Copy this for each unit and file it with the plan, as in the new launch research file.

• Unit: project, block, stack, floor, unit type, plan date or version, and where you received it.
• Stated area: as printed, in sq ft or sq m.
• Labelled areas and sizes, if printed: balcony, PES, PRT, A/C ledge, bay window, other.
• Inside the stated area? For each label: yes, no or not stated, and who confirmed it in writing and when.
• Price per sq ft on the stated area: dated price ÷ stated area.
• Price per sq ft on a common basis: dated price ÷ (stated area plus any labelled spaces it leaves out).
• Open questions for the sales team.

What should you confirm in writing before relying on a floor plan?

Ten lines, one per label. Where URA’s pages are silent, the line says so.

1. The plan itself: a practical check of our own, not a URA rule. Confirm it is for your exact block, stack and unit type, and note its date or version, as in questions beyond the showflat.
2. Stated area: URA’s median price per square foot uses strata floor area. Ask which labelled spaces the printed figure includes.
3. Balcony: at least a 40% perimeter opening, 1.5 m width and total balcony size capped at 15% of the internal nett unit size. URA’s page does not say a balcony is strata area, so ask whether it is in the figure.
4. Balcony enclosure: walls and glass panels are not allowed. Ask whether an approved screen exists for the project and whether it is built in, optional or extra.
5. PES area and fence: part of the private strata area, fencing capped at 1.3 m. Ask its size and whether the figure counts it.
6. PES cover: the developer installs a cover at least 2 m wide. Ask what is provided and what more is allowed.
7. Roof terrace (PRT): part of the private strata area, structures open-sided. Ask its size, whether it is counted and what cover is allowed.
8. A/C ledge: a strata ledge is computed as GFA, a non-strata ledge up to 2.0 m wide is not. Ask whether it is in the unit’s strata area and in the figure.
9. Bay window: GFA unless approved before 1 January 2009. Ask whether the floor area under it is in the figure.
10. Price per square foot: recompute it on a common basis using the worksheet before comparing units or projects.

Before you rely on any plan, our guide to what a developer must have lists the show-unit and licence checks. To decide which spaces you would actually use, start from a household research brief, or see how the Amberwood at Holland guide reads a family plan against household routines. More on this stage is in the viewings section.

Common questions