Metric foot
International standard ISO 2848 (Building construction - Modular coordination - Principles and rules, International Organization for Standardization, 1984) is an ISO standard used by the construction industry. It is based on multiples of 300 mm (30 cm) and 600 mm (60 cm). The numbers 300 and 600 were chosen because they are preferred numbers due to their large number of divisors - any multiple can be evenly divided into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 20, 24, 25, 30, etc., making them easy to use in mental arithmetic. This system is known as "modular coordination". A related standard is British Standards 6750.
The standard unit of ISO 2848 is a basic module, a length of 10 centimetres (3.937 in) which is represented in the standards by the letter M. Adherence to the standard means that major dimensions such as grid lines on drawings, distances between wall centres or surfaces, widths of shelves and kitchen components are multiples of the basic module. As dimensions increase, preference is given to lengths which are multiples of 3 (see metric foot), 6, 12, 15, 30 and 60 basic modules. For smaller dimensions, the submodular increments 1⁄4 M (see metric inch) and 1⁄2 M are preferred.
A metric foot is a nickname for a preferred number length of 3 basic modules (3 M), or 30 centimetres (11.811 in). The 30 cm metric ruler was a similar length to the traditional imperial one-foot ruler. A metric foot is 4.8 millimetres (0.189 in) shorter than an imperial foot.
Although the term "metric foot" is still occasionally used in the United Kingdom, in particular in the timber trade, dimensions are most likely to be quoted exclusively in metric units today.
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