When Do You Need an NLA Survey?

Net Lettable Area isn't something you measure once and forget. Certain points in a tenancy or building's life are natural (and important) moments to get a fresh, accurate figure. Here's when.

1. Before Marketing a Vacant Tenancy

An accurate, current NLA figure is one of the first things a prospective tenant or their agent will scrutinise. If the figure is wrong, or based on an old plan, it can undermine confidence in the whole listing, or worse, create a dispute later once the tenant has moved in and re-measured themselves.

2. At Lease Renewal

Tenancies get modified over the life of a lease, fitout changes, partial subdivisions, reconfigured layouts. A renewal is a natural point to confirm the area on the new lease still reflects what's actually on site, rather than automatically carrying over a figure from years earlier.

3. During a Rent Review

Since rent is typically calculated per square metre of NLA, an inaccurate area figure directly skews a rent review outcome, in either direction. A fresh measurement removes that variable from the negotiation.

4. When Outgoings Are Being Disputed

Outgoings are usually apportioned based on each tenancy's NLA relative to the building's total. If a tenant questions their outgoings bill, an independent re-measurement is often the clearest way to confirm (or correct) the figure driving that calculation.

5. Ahead of a Sale or Valuation

Buyers, financiers and valuers all rely on an accurate area figure to assess a commercial property. An outdated or inconsistent NLA figure across a building's tenancies can complicate a sale process or undermine a valuation.

6. After a Fitout or Reconfiguration

Any time a tenancy's internal layout changes materially, new partitions, a subdivided space, a combined tenancy, the existing area figure is no longer accurate and should be re-measured.

7. When You Simply Don't Trust the Existing Figure

Sometimes the honest trigger is just uncertainty, the plan on file is old, unclear, or was never independently verified in the first place. If you can't point to when or how the current figure was measured, that's reason enough to get a fresh one.

How Arya Designs Can Help

Whatever the trigger, we measure the tenancy on site and calculate NLA to the Property Council of Australia's Method of Measurement. See our Net Lettable Area (NLA) Measurement service, or Lease Area Measurement if it's specifically for a new lease or renewal.

Ready to Get Started?

Tell us what's prompting the need for a fresh measurement, and we'll confirm the right approach and provide a fixed quote.