Facility Type
Planning Factor
fronting the individual room area and the partitions
enclosing the room area as part of the room area request.
Warehouse
85%
GSA then has added to this a factor of 20 percent to
Libraries
77%
convert individual room areas to agency usable area. GSA
Office
75%
must report the utilization of space by tenant agencies to
Courthouse
67%
the Office of Management and Budget. Target utilization
The space classification system is divided into general
ratios include 3.25 m2 (135 square feet) for primary office
broad categories with subcategories for specialized spaces.
space with 20 percent additional space for office support
The following are classifications currently used by GSA
areas. The agency may also calculate the usable area from
for planning purposes.
the individual room areas by directly multiplying the area
enclosed in the room by a factor. The following minimum
planning factors are recommended. For spaces requiring
Conveying Systems
wider aisles or more than one or two cross-aisles, or in
All elevators must comply with ASME A17.1, the
buildings with irregular column grids, curved or stepped
Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standard (ABAAS),
external walls or odd-shaped floor plans, higher planning
and Chapter 7: Fire Protection & Life Safety, Elevator
factors are recommended.
Systems.
Rooms size
Factor
All occupied areas of a GSA multi-story building or
Less than 10 m2 (100 sf)
1.4
facility must be served by at least one passenger elevator.
Less than 15 m2 (150 sf)
1.3
Areas of future expansion must be anticipated as well as
Less than 50 m2 (500 sf)
1.2
future configuration of existing spaces, to ensure all areas
Less than 100 m2 (1000 sf)
1.1
are provided elevator service in the future.
The ASME A17.1 current edition applies to the design
Step 3 Classify space according to the GSA space
of all elevators, lifts and escalators. Additionally, the
classification standards, and request space from GSA on
Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Standard (ABAAS)
the SF81. GSA must have a signed SF81 from the tenant
must be complied with for accessibility.
agency to process a space request.
The selection of type and quantity of conveying systems,
Step 4 GSA divides the sum of the tenant usable space
such as elevators, escalators and wheelchair lifts, must be
areas to be housed in the building by a building efficiency
made in conjunction with a thorough vertical
factor to convert the usable area tabulations to a gross
transportation traffic analysis of the facility.
building area. The gross building area is the size of
building Congress will fund. Efficiency factors used by
Elevators. If no separate freight or service elevator is
GSA for planning purposes include the following:
provided, one passenger elevator must be designated as a
service elevator with pads to protect the interior wall
surfaces of the cab. A minimum ceiling height of 2700
mm (9 feet) is required in service elevator cabs. Freight
elevators shall have a ceiling height of not less than 3700
mm (12 feet).
58 F A C I L I T I E S S T A N D A R D S
FOR THE
PUBLIC
BUILDINGS
SERVICE
3.1 Basic Building Planning Principles
Revised March 2005 PBS-P100
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