Floor area, roof area or inside the walls: how the line is measured

Two rules can both say 120 sq ft and still give different answers for the same pod, because they measure different things. Here is what each of the 15 places counts.

What is countedPlaces
roof areaSeattle
floor area measured from the interior of exterior wallsPortland
floor areaWashington County, Austin, Los Angeles, San Mateo County (unincorporated), Citrus Heights, Sacramento County (unincorporated)
projected roof areaDenver
aggregate floor areaPhoenix
areaSan Jose, Oakland, San Mateo (city)
floor area in the FAQ answer; the code text quoted in the same FAQ says projected roof areaSan Francisco
any dimensionRaleigh

Roof area runs larger than floor area

Seattle counts the roof footprint, and Denver counts projected roof area. Overhangs sit outside the walls, so the roof always covers more ground than the floor. As plain arithmetic, a 10 x 12 ft floor (120 sq ft) under a roof that reaches 1 ft past every wall covers 12 x 14 ft, or 168 sq ft. None of the three makers here publishes roof overhang or roof area.

Inside the walls runs smaller

Portland measures from the interior of exterior walls. With that method the wall thickness drops out of the count, which helps a borderline size.

"Less than" versus "or less"

Oakland and the city of San Mateo write the line as less than 120 sq ft. A 10 x 12 ft building is exactly 120 sq ft, so it does not meet those words. The other 120 sq ft places write "does not exceed", "or less" or "not greater than", which includes 120.

What the makers' numbers mean

Studio Home and Kanga name sizes in feet (10 x 12, 12 x 14 and so on). Autonomous gives one sq ft figure per pod (80, 102 and 105). None of the three says whether its number is measured inside or outside the walls. Read Nov 5, 2026.

Sources