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Review Usable and Non-occupiable Space on a Floor

Not all space on a floor can be used to house personnel and furniture. A floor typically has vertical penetrations (shafts, stairs,pipe shafts) and service areas (rest rooms, lobbies, mechanical rooms); personnel do not occupy these areas.

In ARCHIBUS, vertical penetrations and service areas as considered to be rooms and their room categories indicate that they do not house personnel and furniture. For example, a room might have a room category of MECH, REST. SHAFT, or CIRC. Room categories, in turn, are grouped into room super categories. The super categories are:

• Usable
• Service
• Vertical Penetration
• Other

To view your floor plan in terms of the broad classifications of usable area, vertical penetration, and service area, you view the floor plan in terms of room super category instead of category. For example, you may have room categories defining the following types of service area: primary circulation area, mechanical closets, and bathrooms. Each of these room categories has a super-category of Service.

Procedure

1. Load the Space Console and choose Space mode.
2. The middle section of the Space Console lists the floor plan drawings.
3. Click the selection boxes for the drawings you wish to load.
4. In the Highlights option at the top of the screen above the drawings, choose Super Category. The system highlights rooms according to the colors associated with their Super Category. Areas without colors are not assigned to a category or super category.
5. To see the super category that each color represents, click on the triangle next to the Highlights option. The system lists each super category and its associated color. You can move this legend to anywhere on the screen.
6. Optional: In the Labels option at the top of the screen above the drawings, choose Super Category. Each room now lists its super category: Usable, Service, Vertical Penetration, or Other. If you have multiple drawings loaded, the zoom setting may prevent the label from showing.

Next steps

• For more information on usable and non-usable area, see:
  • Vertical Penetration Area
  • Service Area
  • Usable Area
• If after viewing the usable and non-usable area of a floor you think that an area is not correctly categorized, you must change the room category assigned to the room. For information, see Select Rooms on the Floor Plan and View or Change their Properties.
• If you feel that a room category is not correctly classified as usable, service, vertical penetration, or other, a facility manager or other staff must redefine the room category. For information, see Define Room Categories and Types.