This Substitute Section on Agents Responsibilities is to be used as an insert in the Residential Square Footage Guidelines booklets you already have in your possession.

The 2001-2002 Update Course will include coverage of this topic.

Summary of Changes

In response to concerns expressed by many licensees, the Commission recently amended its Residential Square Footage Guidelines to describe a wider range of circumstances under which the Commission would consider it to be reasonable for an agent, especially a listing agent, to rely on the expertise of others with regard to square footage to be reported. Under the revised version, it is generally reasonable to rely on square footage determined by other persons if: (1) The other person possesses special expertise in determining square footage; (2) the other person utilizes the Commission's Guidelines; (3) the square footage determination is made in connection with the current transaction (not a previous transaction); and (4) the other person personally measured the dwelling and calculated the square footage. The revised version also provides an expanded discussion of the degree of accuracy required when determining square footage and those very limited circumstances when it is not reasonable for an agent working with a buyer to rely on square footage reported by the listing agent.

Real estate agents are expected to be able to accurately calculate the square footage of most dwellings. When reporting square footage, whether to a party to a real estate transaction, another real estate agent, or others, a real estate agent is expected to provide accurate square footage information that was compiled using these Guidelines or comparable standards. While an agent is expected to use reasonable skill, care and diligence when calculating square footage, it should be noted that the Commission does not expect absolute perfection. Because all properties are unique and no guidelines can anticipate every possibility, minor discrepancies in deriving square footage are not considered by the Commission to constitute negligence on the part of the agent. Minor variations in tape readings and small differences in rounding off or conversion from inches to decimals, when multiplied over distances, will cause reasonable discrepancies between two competent measurements of the same dwelling. In addition to differences due to minor variations in measurement and calculation, discrepancies between measurements may also be attributable to reasonable differences in interpretation. For instance, two agents might reasonably differ about whether an addition to a dwelling is sufficiently finished under these Guidelines to be included within the measured living area. Differences which are based upon an agent's thoughtful judgment reasonably founded on these or other similar guidelines will not be considered by the Commission to constitute error on the agent's part. Deviations in calculated square footage of less than five percent will seldom be cause for concern.

As a general rule, the most reliable way for an agent to obtain accurate square footage data is by personally measuring the dwelling unit and calculating the square footage. It is especially recommended that listing agents use this approach for dwellings that are not particularly unusual or complex in their design.

As an alternative to personally measuring a dwelling and calculating its square footage, an agent may rely on the square footage reported by other persons when it is reasonable under the circumstances to do so. Generally speaking, an agent working with a buyer (either as a buyer's agent or as a seller's agent) may rely on the listing agent's square footage representations except in those unusual instances when there is an error in the reported square footage that should be obvious to a reasonably prudent agent. For example, a buyer's agent would not be expected to notice that a house advertised as containing 2200 square feet of living area in fact contained only 2000 square feet. On the other hand, that same agent, under most circumstances, would be expected to realize that a house described as containing 3200 square feet really contained only 2300 square feet of living area. If there is such a "red flag" regarding the reported square footage, the agent working with the buyer should promptly point out the suspected error to the buyer and the listing agent. The listing agent should then verify the square footage and correct any error in the information reported.

It is also appropriate for an agent to rely upon measurements and calculations performed by other professionals with greater expertise in determining square footage. A new agent who may be unsure of his or her own calculations should seek guidance from a more experienced agent. As the new agent gains experience and confidence, he or she will become less reliant on the assistance of others. In order to ensure accuracy of the square footage they report, even experienced agents may wish to rely upon a competent state-licensed or state-certified appraiser or another agent with greater expertise in determining square footage. For example, an agent might be confronted with an unusual measurement problem or a dwelling of complex design. The house described in Figure 8 in these Guidelines is such a property. When an agent relies upon measurements and calculations personally performed by a competent appraiser or a more expert agent, the appraiser or agent must use these Guidelines or other comparable standards and the square footage reported must be specifically determined in connection with the current transaction. An agent who relies on another's measurement would still be expected to recognize an obvious error in the reported square footage and to alert any interested parties.

Some sources of square footage information are by their very nature unreliable. For example, an agent should not rely on square footage information determined by the property owner or included in property tax records. An agent should also not rely on square footage information included in a listing, appraisal report or survey prepared in connection with an earlier transaction. In areas where the prevailing practice is to report square footage in the advertising and marketing of homes, agents whose policy is not to calculate and report square footage must disclose this fact to prospective buyer and seller clients before entering into agency agreements with them.