ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

International Property Measurement Standards

International Property Measurement Standards (IPMS) are a set of rules that people who own, build or measure buildings around the world use to help measure them in a consistent way. These rules are used to make sure that everyone is using the same methods to measure their buildings, which makes it easier for people to compare and understand how big a building really is.

So, let's imagine you're trying to describe your house to your friend who lives far away. If you just say "my house is big," they may not really understand what you mean. They might think your house is big compared to their tiny apartment, but they wouldn't know how big it actually is. That's where IPMS comes in. By using IPMS, you can measure your house and tell your friend that it's 200 square meters. This means that your house has a length of 10 meters and a width of 20 meters, which helps your friend understand exactly how big your house is.

Now, you might be wondering why it's so important to have a set of rules for measuring buildings. Well, imagine that you're a real estate agent trying to sell a building. If you measure it using one set of rules and your potential buyer measures it using another set of rules, you both might end up with different measurements of the same building. This could lead to confusion, disagreements and even legal problems. By using IPMS, everyone measures buildings in the same way, which makes it easier to buy, sell, rent or lease them.

In summary, IPMS are a set of rules that people around the world use to measure buildings. These rules make it easier for people to understand how big a building really is, and they also help prevent confusion and legal problems when buying, selling or leasing buildings.