Update 030 - March, 2022

Technical Update 030 - March, 2022

• Optional Total Building Area (Above & Below Grade)

• Optional Bathroom/Washroom in Property Details

• iGUIDE Method of Measurement Definitions Clarified

• Reminder: New iGUIDE Viewer BETA

Optional Total Building Area (Above & Below Grade)

It was previously announced that, with the formalization of ANSI Z765-2021 and RECA RMS-2017 standards, the option to include below grade area in a building’s total area

would no longer be available. Based on feedback from users in certain regions, we decided to bring it back (albeit with some necessary changes)!

The renewed option to “Include below grade in Total Area” will no longer affect the standard Total Area of a building as it used to, but will instead generate an additional Total Area underneath; the area is clearly titled “Total Area (Above & Below Grade)” in a way to distinguish it from the standard Total Area. Below are two examples of iGUIDE Floor Area Information with this option enabled, one using ANSI Z765-2021 (left), the other using RECA RMS-2017 (right).

The “Include below grade in Total Area” Edit View page option will be available for all iGUIDEs that have selected a non-legacy Measurement Standard option. Like other options, this can be selected on the Create page, on the Edit View page, your iGUIDE Defaults and Banner Settings. This option will be available on or before Friday, March 18th.

Optional Bathroom/Washroom in Property Details

You might not have noticed it, but one of your iGUIDE’s subtle quirks is that Room Measurements of bathrooms/washrooms have always been shown in the Property Details even if the room options “Show Dimensions” and “Show Room Area” are deselected on the Edit View page (see image below). This behaviour is different from that of other Room Types, was originally designed as an optimization for residential real estate, but has since become an inconvenience to those in other industries.

Bathroom room options (left), Bathroom room measurements (right)

Thanks in part to the recent addition of the Property Industry selector on the Create page, we’re now able to optimize your iGUIDE for use in multiple industries. This particular optimization comes in the form of a new option to “Always report washrooms/bathrooms in Property Details” (see image below). For example, if the Property Industry selected is Residential, this option will be enabled by default in order to keep things exactly the same as before. On the other hand, if Commercial or Insurance & Restoration are the selected

Property Industry, this option will be disabled by default. However, please note that Property Industry selection does not affect options on the Create page if your account already has iGUIDE Default Settings saved.

The new option to “Always report washrooms/bathrooms in Property Details” will be available for all iGUIDEs, new and existing. All iGUIDEs created before March 1st will have this option appear as enabled. Only Residential iGUIDEs created after March 1st will have this option appear as enabled. All other iGUIDEs created after March 1st will have this option appear as disabled. All iGUIDEs created after this option is available will have the option enabled or disabled depending on the property industry selection (unless your account already has iGUIDE Default Settings saved). Like other options, this can be selected on the Create page, on the Edit View page, your iGUIDE Defaults and Banner Settings. This option will be available on or before Friday, March 18th.

iGUIDE Method of Measurement Definitions Clarified

Tomorrow, March 18th, two iGUIDE Method of Measurement Definitions will also be updated in order to clarify how walls are currently calculated in certain situations. The definitions of Finished Area and Unfinished Area will be updated as follows:

Finished Area is a per-floor calculation made by adding all enclosed areas in a house that are suitable for year-round use based upon their location, embodying walls, floors, and ceilings and which are similar to the rest of the house. Footprint of walls is attributed to finished area only when the walls are bounding finished areas.

Unfinished Area is a per-floor calculation made by adding all enclosed areas that do not meet the criteria for Finished Area. Exceptions are outdoor and non-walkable areas, for example porches or areas open to below. Footprint of walls is attributed to unfinished area only when the walls are exclusively bounding unfinished areas.

Reminder: New iGUIDE Viewer BETA

On February 22nd, the new iGUIDE Viewer was made available for BETA testing! Check the iGUIDE Forum for more information and instructions on how to participate. We’d love to hear your feedback. Want to see it now? Fun fact: Any iGUIDE can be viewed using the new viewer by adding ?viewer=refresh to the end of the URL.