Convert square feet to square meters

The formula

square meters = square feet × 0.09290304

square feet to square meters — quick reference

Dividing by 10.764 is right; the source is where it goes wrong

A square metre is 10.7639 square feet, so the arithmetic is a single division and this page will do it exactly. The error that actually happens is upstream: American listings, floor plans and lease schedules are quoted in square feet measured to a wall line that European practice does not use. A US commercial lease usually charges rentable area, which adds a share of corridors, lobbies and plant rooms to the space you can stand in.

The ratio between rentable and usable area is called the load factor and commonly sits between 1.10 and 1.20. Converting 1,000 rentable square feet gives 92.9 square metres of billed space and perhaps 80 square metres of floor. Both numbers are true; only one has furniture on it.

When the figure came from a plan drawn before 2023

United States land records used the survey foot, 1200/3937 of a metre, until it was retired on 31 December 2022. It is longer than the international foot by two parts in a million, and squaring doubles that — negligible for a room, arguable for a farm. On 100 acres the two definitions differ by about 1.6 square metres.

The practical rule: an interior dimension, a listing or anything drawn with a tape is international feet, and this page is correct for it. A figure lifted from a deed, a state plane coordinate or a pre-2023 survey plat may be survey feet, and the surveyor who produced it is the only person who can say for certain.

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