“Below-Grade” Area

“Below-Grade” per the Residential Square Footage Guidelines booklet by NCREC is defined as “space on ANY LEVEL which has living area, is accessible by interior stairs, and has earth adjacent to ANY exterior wall on that level”.  And “if earth is adjacent to ANY portion of a wall, the ENTIRE level is considered “below-grade”. 

Due to the fact that listing these different areas separately would be “impractical”, agents are permitted under the guidelines to report square footage of the dwelling as the total living area of both above and below grade areas.