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The load in pounds per square foot, from the load schedule, a code table or product data.
US floor live loads are commonly 40 psf for residential areas and 50 psf for offices, with corridors and assembly spaces higher. Presumptive soil bearing values in US model codes run from around 1,500 psf in clay to 3,000 psf in sandy gravel. The same unit also carries superimposed dead loads such as tile beds, screed and services.
Applied load
1.915 kPa
Converted using an exact defined factor of 0.04788025898033584 kPa per psf. A converted live load still has to be checked against the metric code's own load category and partial factors.
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.05 kPa per psf
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
psf to kPa Floor Load Calculator: 1.92 kPa — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- 1 psf = 4.4482216152605 N ÷ 0.09290304 m² = 47.880258980335842… Pa = 0.047880258980335842… kPa. Both inputs are exact definitions — 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg, g₀ = 9.80665 m/s², 1 ft = 0.3048 m — so the factor is an exact ratio; its decimal expansion repeats, and the displayed digits are the quotient carried to full working precision.
Inputs used
- Applied load (psf)
- 40
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.05 kPa per psf
Confidence note: Converted using an exact defined factor of 0.04788025898033584 kPa per psf. A converted live load still has to be checked against the metric code's own load category and partial factors.
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This result is a specification — 1.915 kPa — not a quantity. Put the thing it sizes into your project: how many, what you call it, and your supplier’s price.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-08-26 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations1
- 1 psf = 4.4482216152605 N ÷ 0.09290304 m² = 47.880258980335842… Pa = 0.047880258980335842… kPa. Both inputs are exact definitions — 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg, g₀ = 9.80665 m/s², 1 ft = 0.3048 m — so the factor is an exact ratio; its decimal expansion repeats, and the displayed digits are the quotient carried to full working precision.
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Floor loading written to American practice has to enter a metric model, and this is where a 40 psf residential live load becomes 1.92 kPa. The arithmetic is the easy part. ASCE 7 live loads do not map one for one onto EN 1991-1-1 categories, and the partial factors and combination rules sitting behind the two numbers are not the same, so a converted load is a starting value for the metric check rather than a substitute for it. Watch what the psf figure actually represents as well: the same unit carries superimposed dead allowances — screed, tile beds, services — as readily as live load, and the two attract different factors once modelled. Convert each line of the schedule separately rather than the total.