REAL ESTATE LANDSCAPE

The Complete List of GFA Harmonised Condo Projects

MAR 2024

GFA Harmonised Projects

Project NameTypeNo. of UnitsEst TOPDeveloperSales Launch
Lentor MansionCondo533Q2 2028Guocoland, Hong LeongMar 2024
Norwood GrandCondo348Mar 2030CDLOct 2024
Emerald of KatongCondo846Jun 2029Sim LianNov 2024
Novo PlaceEC504Q1 2027Hoi Hup SunwayNov 2024
Nava GroveCondo552Nov 2028MCL, SinarmasNov 2024
The OrieCondo777May 2030CDLJan 2025
Aurelle of TampinesEC760Dec 2028Sim LianFeb 2025
EltaCondo501Q1 2029MCL, CSCFeb 2025
Parktown ResidenceIntegrated1,193Jun 2030UOL, Singland, CapitalandFeb 2025

Background In Brief

In a Circular published on 1 Sep 2022, titled Harmonisation of Floor Area Definitions by URA, SLA, BCA and SCDF, the URA announced that new harmonised floor area definitions that will be adopted by the agencies URA, SLA, BCA and SCDF. 

This new framework takes effect from 1 June 2023.

The Issue With Defining Floor Areas

In essence, the various agencies use different floor area measurements for various purposes.

For example, URA uses gross floor area (GFA) to measure building intensity, SLA uses strata area to demarcate ownership, BCA uses statistical gross floor area (SGFA) to measure the total floor areas of a building, while SCDF uses accessible floor area (AFA) to determine fire safety requirements.  

At the same time, URA’s GFA is measured to include the full thickness of external walls but excludes voids, whereas SLA’s strata area is only measured up to the middle of the wall and may include voids

The Solution

In consultation with industry representatives from the professional institutes, URA, SLA, BCA and SCDF have jointly reviewed the different floor area definitions to harmonise requirements across agencies, which aims to pave the way for coordinated submissions and improved productivity for the built environment profession. The key changes are summarised as follows:

  1. All agencies’ floor areas will be measured to the middle of the wall.
  2. All strata areas will be included as GFA.
  3. All voids will be excluded from strata area.
  4. BCA and SCDF will adopt an aligned definition for SGFA computation.

The Impact of GFA Harmonisation

As an impact of the GFA Harmonisation (or GFA Harmonization) framework, land released under the GLS (Government Land Sales) programme requires that Developers to put up Tenders for the land comply with the Circular issued on 1 Sep 2022. 

The very first private residential project launched under the GFA Harmonisation framework was Lentor Mansion.

Examples of the Implementation of GFA Harmonisation

The implementation of the GFA Harmonisation Framework is noticeable in 2 main aspects. 

Air Con Ledge

The first area is that AC Ledges are indicated as "Non-Strata", meaning that the floor area quoted by the Developer for the units that they are selling does not include the AC Ledge. 

The following examples : Lentor Modern, Lentor Mansion

Example of GFA Harmonisation

Strata Void Spaces

The second area is that pre-Harmonisation, many condo launches have unit layouts with strata void spaces, and these spaces are included in the strata space quoted by the Developer. 

After Harmonisation, whereas Developers could still construct units with void spaces if they want to, such units are (for now) no longer observed to be designed as part of the project. 

The following examples : Hillock Green, Lentor Mansion.

Example of GFA Harmonisation