... even saves you the trouble of calculating the areal of your copy – you really don't have to calculate anything but the percentage to get it right. You can even use a free percentage calculator found on the net.
True, and it proves your point. It is possible to insert the drawing approximately and scale it to size later. But of course, you miss out on the geometry fun.Agree... but the suggestion was not for you... 
One Laphroaig coming up, ( double is still not allowed in Norway, is it?) and might I join you with my Japanese Nikka Coffey Grain?
Puh, was worried there for a while. You are probably right, I think double-measure drinks may not be allowed in bars. Forgot that. But then, I have not been in a Norwegian bar for ages. I will make a note of trying the Japanese stuff. One Laphroaig coming up, ( double is still not allowed in Norway, is it?) and might I join you with my Japanese Nikka Coffey Grain?
Yes, but there seems to be some uncertainty as to the interpretation of the term "total area".
Total area equals the size of the plan measured on the outside walls.
That is how I understand it too: total area is generally area within the outside wall faces (@sorrow, you may note the special paragraph on Singapore in the Wikipedia link). Total area equals the size of the plan measured on the outside walls.
The fun starts is when other terms are used, e.g. net or extended values such as usable areas for tax purposes, purposes of sale, property value assessment, floor area ratio (to land area for building regulation/zoning purposes) and so on. And I am not sure that the article cec linked about total vs living area will apply everywhere. Just take some European examples:
FR: Surface hors œuvre brute, SV: Boyta, NO: Arealberegning av bygninger, DE: Grundfläche, NL: Vloeroppervlak, EU guide for Commission properties. Lots of similarities, but in practice there can reportedly be as much as 30% difference in area calculation within the EU/EEA in different contexts (Commission, I think, is working on harmonisation).
All building regulation can be confusing. And the finer details of area calculation may not be on top of the list of things to think of for normal SH3D use. However, when buying/selling, dealing with building permits and so on, measuring area should be left to professionals. To give one example: a widow sold a little house. After the sale it turned out that parts of the basement - a den and a bathroom - marginally did not satisfy minimum requirements for occupancy and should not have been included in the area in the contract. The widow ended up having to pay back a significant sum. The new owners, of course, kept using the den and the bathroom ignoring the legal requirements. And the building regulation was later changed, so the new owners can now include the basement area if they sell.
ok
PS cec - The country banning double-measure drinks also appears to have complicated rules for area measurements... In fact, I could not even find a Danish Wikipedia article on the topic.
