UAD 3.6 and the New URAR: What Changes for Square Footage

The redesigned appraisal report retires forms appraisers have used for years, and square footage is where many will feel it first. The measuring rules haven't changed: it's still ANSI Z765-2021. What changes is where each piece of area goes. This page covers the dates, the six fields, nonstandard area, ADUs and what to change in your workflow.

What is UAD 3.6?

The Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD) is the standard set of data that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac require in appraisal reports. Version 3.6 aligns it with the MISMO 3.6 data standard and comes with a redesigned Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (URAR). Instead of a set of fixed forms, the URAR is, in Freddie Mac's words, "a single data-driven, flexible, dynamic structure", where "the data that describes the subject property drives the appraisal report, not a form type or number."

It retires the familiar forms, including:

• Uniform Residential Appraisal Report (1004 / 70), with its desktop and hybrid versions
• Individual Condominium Unit Appraisal Report (1073 / 465) and exterior-only 1075 / 466
• Exterior-Only Inspection Residential Appraisal Report (2055)
• Individual Cooperative Interest Appraisal Report (2090)
• 1004C / 70B, 1025 / 72, 1007 / 1000 and 1004D / 442

The GSEs say UAD 3.6 also supports FHA, VA and USDA requirements; each agency sets its own implementation plan.

When is UAD 3.6 required?

The date that matters is the UCDP submission date. Freddie Mac's FAQ says the mandate "is based on the UCDP Submission Date, not the Loan Application or Effective Date." An appraisal inspected on October 28, 2026 and first submitted on November 3 needs to be a UAD 3.6 report, unless the lender holds an exception.

The six area fields

These replace the single GLA figure. Each is a total in square feet for the dwelling, measured under ANSI Z765-2021. Fields that don't apply are reported as 0.

Two things are not in the six fields. Garages: in the GSEs' job aid, a house with a 400 sq ft attached garage reports 0 sq ft of Unfinished Above Grade. And ADUs, which get their own breakdown (below). Porches, decks and openings to the floor below stay out, as they always have under ANSI.

Worked examples from the GSE job aid

Three of the examples Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac published, each a house with 1,500 sq ft on the main level:

• Partly finished basement: 1,200 of the 1,500 sq ft basement is finished with ceilings of 7 ft or more; the other 300 sq ft is unfinished.
• Basement with low ceilings: the whole basement is finished, but 600 sq ft of it has ceilings under 7 ft, so that part is nonstandard.
• Sloped second floor: 600 of its 1,000 sq ft is under 7 ft (but over 5 ft) and only 400 sq ft reaches 7 ft. Less than half meets the height, so the whole 1,000 sq ft is nonstandard.

Nonstandard and noncontinuous areas

"Nonstandard finished area" is Fannie Mae's term for finished space that doesn't qualify as finished square footage under ANSI: it fails the ceiling-height rules (7 ft, 6 ft 4 in under beams and ducts, the sloped-ceiling half rule) or it's reached through unfinished space. Fannie Mae asks appraisers to:

• calculate it and report it separately (now in the two Nonstandard fields),
• explain why it doesn't comply,
• acknowledge any contribution it makes to value, and
• include above-grade nonstandard rooms in the room count.

Noncontinuous finished area is different: attached finished space that isn't an ADU and has no interior access to the house. Fannie Mae has it reported on its own line in the sales comparison grid. For the ceiling rules in detail, see ceiling height rules.

How are ADUs reported?

The redesigned report counts units first: Units Excluding ADUs, Accessory Dwelling Units and the levels in each. Each ADU then gets its own area breakdown with the same six fields, and its ingress/egress is recorded as interior/exterior access or exterior only access. Freddie Mac describes the URAR as collecting "more detailed information about ADUs, such as size, condition, rooms, and location."

That is the job aid's example: the ADU's 728 sq ft is reported in its own breakdown, never added to the house's 1,291 sq ft.

What should appraisers change in their workflow?

1. Confirm the format on every order until May 19, 2027, since some lenders may still be on UAD 2.6 under the exception.
2. Classify every area in the field by three questions: finished or unfinished, above or below grade, standard or nonstandard. A walkout level is below grade; a garage is never finished.
3. Measure ceiling heights, not just floor dimensions. In sloped rooms, note where the ceiling crosses 7 ft and 5 ft so you can apply the half rule.
4. Note how each finished area is reached. A finished connection makes it standard; access only through a garage or unfinished attic makes it nonstandard.
5. Identify ADUs and their access, and keep their area out of the main dwelling's figures.
6. Check your sketch software produces the six-field and ADU breakdowns from the sketch, and that its output follows ANSI. Fannie Mae holds sketch and 3D-scan output to the standard.
7. Add the declaration when figures come from plans, an exterior-only measurement or estimates. Fannie Mae expects full ANSI compliance since the GXX001 code was retired.

Getting the figures from a floor plan

For desktop work or checking a third-party plan, FloorFigures measures a PDF or image of the plan for free and keeps the categories apart: above-grade finished, below-grade finished, garage and unfinished areas, with openings to below subtracted, the ceiling-height rules applied and totals rounded to the whole square foot. It doesn't fill UAD forms; you carry the figures into the matching fields. See how to calculate GLA for a full worked example.

Sources

• Freddie Mac, UAD and Forms Redesign FAQs.
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, UAD ANSI Reporting Requirements job aid (June 23, 2026, PDF).
• Freddie Mac, UAD 3.6 announcement, January 2026 (PDF).
• Fannie Mae Selling Guide B4-1.3-05.