Glossary
Joint-Use Space: Occupiable space, such as cafeterias, conference rooms, credit
unions, snack bars, and certain wellness/physical fitness facilities and child care
centers, which is available for common use by personnel of any Federal agency. Costs
for this space is divided proportionately among the tenants.
Layout: A floor plan showing the specific placement and non-loading bearing walls,
workstations, furniture and equipment of an agency operation. This service is provided
by GSA at no cost to agencies for initial occupancies and GSA-directed moves.
Market Survey: A field survey and physical inspection of buildings in the area of
consideration for the purpose of obtaining information on market conditions and the
availability of suitable space for a lease requirement. (See also acceptance inspection.)
Means of Egress (NFPA Life Safety Code, 5-1.2.1): A continuous and unobstructed
way of exit travel from any point in a building or structure to a public way. Consists of
three separate and distinct parts:
a. The exit access.
b. The exit.
c. The exit discharge.
A means of egress comprises the vertical and horizontal travel and shall include
intervening room spaces, doorways, hallways, corridors, passageways, balconies,
ramps, stairs, enclosures, lobbies, escalators, horizontal exits, courts, and yards.
Modular Furniture: Furniture designed to be arranged together according to a specific
set of dimensions. Components are usually free-standing (resting on the floor) and
may or may not actually join together. (See "Systems Furniture.")
NFPA: The National Fire Protection Association; produces a code used in many
jurisdictions to define fire protection requirements of building codes.
Net-to-Gross Ratio: A measure of the ratio of occupiable or rentable space to total
space in a building. The higher the ratio, the more efficient the building is.
Net Usable Space: The areas to be leased for occupancy by personnel and/or
equipment. It is determined as follows:
a.
If space is on a single tenancy floor, compute the inside gross area by measuring
between the inside finish of the permanent exterior building walls from the face of
the convectors (pipes or other wall-hung fixtures) if the convector occupies at least
50 percent of the length of exterior walls.
b.
If the space is on a multiple tenancy floor, measure from the exterior building walls,
as in (a) above, to the room side finish of fixed corridor and shaft walls and/or the
center of tenant-separating partitions.
VBA Design Guide
Page 5-16
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