Placepoint

Boarea (BOA)

Boarea, abbreviated BOA, is the part of a building that is fitted out and suitable for permanent occupation: living room, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and similar habitable rooms inside the dwelling unit itself. The term is the Swedish area measure that comes closest to what the Norwegian public knows from property listings, but it is not the calculation the Norwegian public assumes it is.

The calculation follows Swedish standard SS 21054:2020, Area och volym för byggnader, which also defines biarea (BIA): rooms belonging to the dwelling unit that do not count as habitable rooms, typically storage rooms, the tvättstuga (laundry room) and other ancillary rooms, plus certain areas below ground level. BOA and BIA are the two measures that Swedish property listings and estate agents actually give the buyer, in the same way that BRA (bruksareal, usable floor area, UFA) is the standard measure in a Norwegian sales prospectus.

This is where the trap lies. In Sweden, BRA (bruksarea) is not the same as boarea. BRA is an overarching, aggregate area concept in the Swedish standard that covers all usable area in a building whatever its purpose, housing, commercial premises and other uses, summed into a single figure for the whole building. That is why BOA, not BRA, is quoted for the individual flat in Swedish listings. In Norway the relationship is the exact opposite: BRA is precisely the per-unit dwelling area under NS 3940, the figure that appears in every single Norwegian property listing. The same three letters, BRA, therefore mean two completely different things in the two countries: in Norway, BRA is the area of the home; in Sweden, BRA is a technical aggregate figure that you rarely see quoted for one home. If you use the Norwegian BRA figure as if it were Swedish BRA, you are comparing the wrong area.

Bruttoarea (BTA) is the sum of the areas of all storeys, measured to the outside of the external wall, so it is the Swedish counterpart to Norwegian BTA. Öppenarea (OPA) is wholly or partly open, roofed areas attached to the building, such as terraces and carports, and it is not counted in bruttoarea the way the enclosed building volume is. This corresponds roughly to how Norwegian BYA handles open roofed areas on the plot, even though BYA measures the footprint on the plot and OPA measures open surfaces attached to the building.

In detaljplaner and markanvisningar, some municipalities also use a term of their own, "ljus BTA": gross floor area above ground level that is actually in active use, used to calculate land price and exploateringsavtal. Ljus BTA is not part of SS 21054 and has no common national definition. Each municipality sets its own rules for what counts in the individual development agreement, and Boverket itself points out that municipalities are free to choose between byggnadsarea and bruttoarea as the measure in their own planbestämmelser.

Boarea is also one of the värdefaktorer (value factors) in the fastighetstaxering, the Swedish property tax assessment. The owner of a rental building (hyreshus) reports boarea and lokalarea (LOA) to Skatteverket together with the rent for the dwellings and the premises, and the taxeringsvärde is based partly on these figures.

In Placepoint you find boarea for Swedish fastigheter through Combify, from the taxering of company-owned fastigheter: per taxeringsenhet and in total for the whole fastighet. The figure appears in the record for the individual fastighet in Placepoint AI, next to lokalarea and the rent that the taxering is based on. We do not have Swedish bruttoarea, see BTA.

From Placepoint dictionary: Boarea (BOA)

More information: Swedish Institute for Standards: SS 21054:2020, Boverket: Utnyttjandegrad, PBL kunskapsbanken

English: Usable living area (BOA, per Swedish Standard SS 21054, not equivalent to Norwegian BRA).

Common questions we come across

What is boarea (BOA)?

Boarea is the part of a Swedish home that is fitted out for permanent occupation, such as the living room, kitchen, bedrooms and bathroom. It is calculated under Swedish standard SS 21054 and is the figure quoted for the individual flat in Swedish property listings.

Is Swedish BRA the same as Norwegian BRA?

No, and this is the most common mistake Norwegians make with Swedish property data. Norwegian BRA is the area of the home, quoted for each home. Swedish BRA (bruksarea) is an overarching technical aggregate figure for the whole building whatever its use, and it is almost never quoted for a single flat. For that, Swedes use boarea instead.

What is the difference between boarea and biarea?

Boarea (BOA) is the habitable rooms in the dwelling unit. Biarea (BIA) is the associated rooms that do not count as habitable rooms, such as storage rooms and the tvättstuga, plus certain areas below ground level.

What is öppenarea (OPA)?

Öppenarea is wholly or partly open, roofed areas attached to the building, such as terraces and carports. They are not counted in bruttoarea (BTA).

What is "ljus BTA"?

A municipal term used in some detaljplaner and markanvisningar for gross floor area above ground level that is in active use. It is not part of the national standard SS 21054, and each municipality defines it on its own.

Is boarea available in Placepoint?

Yes, for company-owned Swedish fastigheter, through Combify. You find it in the record for a fastighet in Placepoint AI, per taxeringsenhet and in total for the fastighet.

What is the Norwegian counterpart to Swedish boarea?

The closest is BRA, but the calculation method, and what the two terms are actually used for in the market, differ enough that a direct comparison can be wrong. BTA and BYA are the other Norwegian area terms, with Swedish counterparts in bruttoarea and byggnadsarea.